Harry Callahan
New member
Anybody consider carrying it for everyday social work or asking for trouble(scratches, possible damage)?
Bright Stainless Steel
- Thread starter Harry Callahan
- Start date
Bill DeShivs
New member
Scratches are easily polished out.
jglsprings
New member
Bright stainless is fine for carry. Unless it's structural damage it most likely can be polished out...
Before...
After...
It would be like carrying a nickel plated gun. If you like bright and shiny go for it.
Before...
After...
It would be like carrying a nickel plated gun. If you like bright and shiny go for it.
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lee n. field
New member
If it's going to be carried, it's a given that it will pick up signs of honest wear. It would not bother me.
buckhorn_cortez
New member
I have a custom stainless 1911 that came from the gunsmith with highly polished flats on the slide. That gun would scratch if you looked at it too hard. Honestly, it had scratches just from carrying it in a pistol rug.
If you don't mind the "honest wear" look - which, to me, ruins the aesthetic of the high polish as it slowly turns it to a matte surface - then you're good to go.
I sent my gun to Robar and had them electroless nickel plate the gun - after they polished the scratches out of the slide flats.
Frankly, if you want a silver gun with polished surfaces having it hard chromed is probably the best route - although that scratches too as sand (or dust from sand) is harder than hard chrome on the Moh's Scale as the dust is really small quartz or silica particles.
My hard chrome 1911 has scratches in the hard chrome from dust in the holster and drawing / re-holstering the gun.
The most practical surface treatment on a raw stainless gun for pure utility of the finish is a matte bead blast - it hides scratches and can easily be redone.
If you don't mind the "honest wear" look - which, to me, ruins the aesthetic of the high polish as it slowly turns it to a matte surface - then you're good to go.
I sent my gun to Robar and had them electroless nickel plate the gun - after they polished the scratches out of the slide flats.
Frankly, if you want a silver gun with polished surfaces having it hard chromed is probably the best route - although that scratches too as sand (or dust from sand) is harder than hard chrome on the Moh's Scale as the dust is really small quartz or silica particles.
My hard chrome 1911 has scratches in the hard chrome from dust in the holster and drawing / re-holstering the gun.
The most practical surface treatment on a raw stainless gun for pure utility of the finish is a matte bead blast - it hides scratches and can easily be redone.
walks with gun
New member
My foul weather work gun is a old S&W 5906, looks great after 20+ years.
It won't get any more scratches than any other gun.
If you find in a few years that you don't like the look have it redone in a matte finish or re-polished. Colt will do either for you.
If you are concerned about that then use another gun for that situation. I can't shoot all my guns at once some are better for some jobs then others.
Plus, practically speaking, when was the last time you had to worry about being shot because your gun was too shiny? If it's not a daily concern maybe one shiny gun won't hurt.
Don't let worrying about what gun you will carry come the zombie 'pocalypse or the (what do they call that when all the good folks get lifted up to heaven except for you and all your friends and family and you're left behind to fight it out) anyway don't let concern about that stop you from buying a pretty gun that strikes your fancy today.
tipoc
If you find in a few years that you don't like the look have it redone in a matte finish or re-polished. Colt will do either for you.
If you are concerned about that then use another gun for that situation. I can't shoot all my guns at once some are better for some jobs then others.
Plus, practically speaking, when was the last time you had to worry about being shot because your gun was too shiny? If it's not a daily concern maybe one shiny gun won't hurt.
Don't let worrying about what gun you will carry come the zombie 'pocalypse or the (what do they call that when all the good folks get lifted up to heaven except for you and all your friends and family and you're left behind to fight it out) anyway don't let concern about that stop you from buying a pretty gun that strikes your fancy today.
tipoc
I bought a couple of used SS 1911's with highly polished flats, and matte on the radius's. The matte finish, while scratched a well, wasnt to bad, but the polished flats, showed the wear and scratches a lot more, and badly. I got both cheap due to how they looked. I bead blasted both to a matte finish overall, and the results were much nicer, and the later, accumulated wear, was a little less noticeable, but still more noticeable, than most of my carbon steel guns.
Ive had the same basic results with a couple of revolvers I cleaned up, and polished bright. The finishes quickly got beat up with just occasional use.
Ive always found SS guns, polished or matte, to show wear and scratches much easier, and more readily than carbon steel guns of any finish. A carbon gun with a hard chrome finish, is a much better choice, than SS. Same look, better resistance to rust and wear, and you dont have the galling issues some SS guns seem to have.
Over the years, the outward appearance of the finishes on the few SS guns that I carried, did not hold up as well, or as long, as the carbon guns to daily use. The SS did hold rust off better than the blued or parked guns, but not as well as the hard chrome or tennifer treated guns. The SS guns did rust/corrode, as did the hard chrome, but the HC was to a much, much, lesser extent. I have yet to have a tennifer treated gun rust at all. Blue and parkerizing, usually dont fare well, rust wise. Most all the finishes on the carbon guns I own/have owned, seem to be a lot more resistant to scratches and wear, than SS.
Ive had the same basic results with a couple of revolvers I cleaned up, and polished bright. The finishes quickly got beat up with just occasional use.
Ive always found SS guns, polished or matte, to show wear and scratches much easier, and more readily than carbon steel guns of any finish. A carbon gun with a hard chrome finish, is a much better choice, than SS. Same look, better resistance to rust and wear, and you dont have the galling issues some SS guns seem to have.
Over the years, the outward appearance of the finishes on the few SS guns that I carried, did not hold up as well, or as long, as the carbon guns to daily use. The SS did hold rust off better than the blued or parked guns, but not as well as the hard chrome or tennifer treated guns. The SS guns did rust/corrode, as did the hard chrome, but the HC was to a much, much, lesser extent. I have yet to have a tennifer treated gun rust at all. Blue and parkerizing, usually dont fare well, rust wise. Most all the finishes on the carbon guns I own/have owned, seem to be a lot more resistant to scratches and wear, than SS.
I have J frame snub's that are polished stainless, and nickel plated that I carry OWB under a untucked shirt..
I'm not concerned about it being shiny, because if I have to pull it from concealment, I will be firing at someone pretty quick. So shiny is the last problem I would be worrying about.
And minor scratches polish out pretty easy with Flitz, on both stainless and nickel.
I'm not concerned about it being shiny, because if I have to pull it from concealment, I will be firing at someone pretty quick. So shiny is the last problem I would be worrying about.
And minor scratches polish out pretty easy with Flitz, on both stainless and nickel.
Overkill777
New member
I like bright stainless steel the best. My model 66 handles wear better than any other gun I own.
To the people who say blued "conceals" better, if someone can see the color of your gun you haven't done your job of concealing it at all.
To the people who say blued "conceals" better, if someone can see the color of your gun you haven't done your job of concealing it at all.