My plans are to cerakote so does it really matter if you go CM or SS on the barrel? I would think not.

The inside of the barrel doesn't receive any cerakote. It can be coated with some of the bore coating agents.... Stainless will always stain less if treated the same, and coating just makes it that much better. Win/win with stainless.

Yep. The bore matters most to me. Would rather have an SS barrel over any fancy exterior coating, but it is rather humid here.

My take exactly.

In my mind there are only two reasons for a CM barrel. You are going to blue it, or really want a light contour cut rifled barrel from a maker who won't do it in SS.

Cerakote is extremely durable for paint, but it will scratch and wear. Any scratches with CM will need to be oiled to prevent rusting.

Put Dyna Bore Coat in the bore and Cerakote on the outside and there is no exposed metal to rust.

Dyna also makes an outside metal coating called Gun Shield. I asked Doug at Dyan if I could put Gun Shield on the outside of a still-in-the-white CM barrel that wouldn't get blued for a year or so (though it's not sitting in a humid area). Doug said if I put Gun Shield on the outside of the barrel the smith wouldn't be able to get it off to blue the metal. You could put Gun Shield on the barrel before Cerakote if you were worried.

The part about Cerakote being scratchable is true, though I have never had any trouble with Cerakote scratches. Blueing will scratch too, I've also not had problems with that. I tend not to drag my rifle across rocks, and the thickest briars I've hunted looking for rabbits didn't scratch the blueing on the shotgun.

I don't think I own a cerakoted rifle that isn't scratched. Any way you look at it, unless you're wanting a blued steel finish, stainless is a step up and I can't find a reason not to use it with or without coating.

DBC will not prevent the bore from rusting. I tried and it failed miserably.

I've CKd blued rigs and still wished the bbls were SS afterwards. Humidity is a huge issue here and all my CM guns rust if not constantly oiled. I thought DBC and DGS would be the answer, but sadly it wasn't. It did help, but not any more than routine cleaning.

I don't purchase CM rigs any longer. Heck, even SS rusts here, but it's usually very minor and wipes away with ease.

If you found DBC and DGS that ineffective against corrosion, it was likely applied incorrectly. IME it has been absolutely effective, including on a rifle that was in a house fire and looked like it had been pulled out of Davey Jones' locker. The residue wiped out of the bore with one patch. The rest of the rifle took a bunch of elbow grease, oil, steel wool, etc.

I live in the south also. I haven't tried DBC so can't comment on that, but the rest of Reloader's post I completely agree with. Any rifle I'm going to hunt with is stainless, period. It might or might not get cerakoted but the guts of it and the barrel are going to be stainless. I put up with 25 years of having to constantly clean and oil chrome moly guns to keep rust away until stainless became commonplace, I can't see any reason to do it any more. It's something that folks living in drier climates can't really comprehend, but stainless steel guns have made my life a lot easier.

Cerakote is very handy when you go the SS barrel/CM action route for a build. Not only does it match everything up, but it keeps the action from becoming a rust nightmare.

To the O.P,

Spring for a stainless barrel for sure. The bore is where you will have trouble with corrosion with a CM barrel and that's where it matters most.

I see you are in NC so I'm sure you have the same humidity issues I do. No way I wouldn't spend the 50 or 60 bucks difference on a SS barrel if I were you.

I like CM. IF!! You take care of your rifles, it is not an issue.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on this Jordan. I know it was applied properly. As a matter of fact I did a 4th coat on the one test gun I experiemented with the DGS product on. The metal was thoroughly cleaned and degreased prior and only touched with nitrile gloves. It did indeed slick up the metal as they claim and it also kept surface rust at bay for a while. I purposely did not oil the metal just to test the stuff and after a few hunts the rig developed surface rust. I talked to them about it and was told to put more on it the next time.

As to the UBC application, I went over and beyond their recommendations for cleaning. Polished the heck out of them and powder solvent and CR10 patches came out the same as they went in. Degreased the heck out of them with DA, dried and applied more that called for(it was dripping out the muzzles). Waited longer than required and shot more curing rounds than required yadda yadda. First hunt in 100% humidity(light rain as well) revealed light rust in the bore. It wiped right out, but proved to me the stuff is not the best for weatherproofing CM. I don't doubt it's usefullness, but it ain't waterproofing CM.

You have to realize that we get lots of humidity down here. My guns commonly look like a cold coke can on a hot summer day while hunting. Hence my comment on even SS rusting a bit. That said, while hunting in less humid areas, I've not had much of an issue with CM.

I think that with a CM action and barrel, Melonite might be a better way to go than Cerakote. Melonite offers good rust protection and there's no coating to scratch or chip.

Interesting, thanks for the explanation. Are you sure that it was rust coming out of the bore, and not copper/powder fouling reacting with the humidity and heat?

Good ole dark redish orange rust, not the normal blue and grey from powder/copper. As I said, I do think it helped, but it didn't waterproof it.

I agree with Gasman on melonite. Thinking about it for the blued rigs I do keep that don't have Ck. CK is good stuff, but it does wear off and scratch rather easily on a rig that's not babied.

'loder,
Do you use Wipe out? I get the reddish orange color from wipe out for some reason.

I've had the exact opposite experience with DBC. I, too, hunt in humid, wet conditions and even with a ML using real BP, I've had zero problems with rust - even when the bore isn't cleaned soon after firing - using DBC.

I was also wondering if he was seeing copper or some other residue, rather than rust.

My thoughts as well, if I'm paying for a surface treatment, I'd take Melonite/nitride any day over Cerakote or any other coating. And it can be done on stainless as well.

No coating of any type is ever used for the chamber. So yes, go with a stainless barrel.

Rust, plain and simple. You could see it with the naked eye near the muzzle as well. Not my first rodeo

I'm not trying to discredit you or anything, it's just that your observation goes squarely against all the experience I have with the stuff, which is fairly considerable.