I finally got my long-awaited upper yesterday, and, although I'm happy with the .5 MOA test target and the apparent workmanship, he neglected to follow instructions to do the barrel to match the FF handguard. I've never had a non-treated barrel on a "black" rifle, even though I've seen plenty of examples of them. How much more care and feeding is involved. and if I ultimately can't deal with it, what are the easiest DIY options to rectify it? I'm dealing with a 20" HBAR and a .750 adjustable low-profile gas block.
- Thread starter Veer_G
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stainless steel or chrome molly? Chrome molly in the white would be a maintenance nightmare I would think. With the humidity on the East Coast I think you could just watch the rust form in real time.
Stainless steel. And no, we don't all have the luxury of living with arid climes.
I have been on the East Coast I have know idea how you guys stand 100 degrees with 100% humidity. .
Others can chime in but for protection I don't believe that you need to do anything to it. If you don't like the looks, cerakote or duracoat. I never have issues with my stainless but chrome molly I do have to keep an I on and I live where humidity is rarely above 20%.
Others can chime in but for protection I don't believe that you need to do anything to it. If you don't like the looks, cerakote or duracoat. I never have issues with my stainless but chrome molly I do have to keep an I on and I live where humidity is rarely above 20%.
I would just hit it with black krylon
I've run my rifles with minimal cleaning with bare stainless barrels and no issues. I live within shooting distance from salt water on he east coast.
I have had rust in non-stainless barrels before but only after heavy use with no cleaning.
I have had rust in non-stainless barrels before but only after heavy use with no cleaning.
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like said above veer, you really could just use some paint on her, nobody will tell.
obviously it isnt going to last as long but you can redo as nec, and at your convienence you could send it in...
obviously it isnt going to last as long but you can redo as nec, and at your convienence you could send it in...
Stainless won't rust up very quickly, if at all. You could pull the barrel and glass bead it matte. Alot of barrels come that way or get it cerakoted or duracoated. None of my stainless barrels have shown any surface deterioration and I live in hot humid Virginia.
I live in New Jersey and have several bare stainless barrels. No problems at all and some are getting close to 20 years old. I only bother with coating barrels on hunting rifles now, and sometimes, not even then. A bead blasted stainless finish is stealthy enough.
Barrels are consumables, for that reason I dont coat them. I have SS WOA barrels that have 3500+ rdsbon them and they still shoot tiny five shot groups. Shoot it and dont worry about it.
Call the guy and see what he'll offer as a discount - and then - think about hitting it with Krylon. If the thing shoots like he says it will, then I'd probably just live with it - BECAUSE - I've found that "good" customer service and a company "paying attention" to what the "customer requested" is becoming very hard to find. Order what you want and "live with what you get" seems to be the norm AND okay nowadays... I recently had a friend order a barrel - chambered, fluted, threaded for MB, cut to length and crowned for installation on a Rem 700. Threads on the MB were so rough that a TBeast muzzle brake would not thread on. He took it to a local gunsmith who said there was no way to salvage the threads for the MB. He called the company and they accepted the return and after 8 weeks admitted the threads were not "in spec". IDK how much of this BS we are willing to accept and say "I orderd this but it's just a gun so don't worry about it".
If it's kept wiped down you wont have any problems with it. I have two SS barrels with slight rust coloring. Both were alum oxide blasted (one was 80 grt, the other came factory blasted but looks similar). One was handled, then put back in the box for several months before it was used. The other was shot and sat in the safe for a couple of months without wiping down (parked receiver / SS barrel will be OK, right...). Since they're blasted and SS there's not much I can do about it. I could try oil and a kitchen abrasive pad I guess. Steel wool is not an option due to being a SS barrel.
If you want to see what I'm talking about, let me know and I'll try to get some photos over the weekend.
I have a few painted rifles, but I understand they will eventually look like shit with a lot of use, at which point I'll sand them down a little and re-paint. I'm not sure how I'd feel about painting just the barrel on an upper. A smith could ceracoat or there's a moly based coating I had put on a WOA SPR barrel. It's flat black.
If you want to see what I'm talking about, let me know and I'll try to get some photos over the weekend.
I have a few painted rifles, but I understand they will eventually look like shit with a lot of use, at which point I'll sand them down a little and re-paint. I'm not sure how I'd feel about painting just the barrel on an upper. A smith could ceracoat or there's a moly based coating I had put on a WOA SPR barrel. It's flat black.
Yeah, they had 7 months to get it right and now I'm supposed to be ecstatic that I got my assembled shit back and am still stuck removing the handguard (slight PITA, polylithic VLTOR) and doing the work myself to get what I want. And I'll be damned if I send it off. At this rate I'll never have had a chance to shoot it.
Generally rust issuez in stainless are caused by contamination...in this case reuse of media that was used to blast regular steel. The regular metal rusts in the matte area and sets up a rust chain reaction that otherwise your barrel would have resisted.
Is it bead blasted or polished?
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I agree with king, contaiminated blast media is the rust. There arr many grades of stainless steel and barrels are made of some of the highest quality.
Don't matter.
Hint.
Well, I guess I'm not salty until I subject my shit to a "Flashdance"-grade shower and scrawl "Bitch Bastard Mother Fucker" down its buttstock.
My latest Savage an 11VT .308, is named "Redress".
I just peed a little from that Window Licker comment...Lol
I think it's time for the Verg to head back to the Pit. We put time behind our Triggers's here, not our Keyboards..
And the Sir is a sexy looking Trout!!...
Just about all my rifles have stainless steel barrels and even shooting in the rain and snow has not left one mark......as long as it gets dried out after it comes back.
So, you wanna tell me just what you get out of throwing a scoped rifle into a marsh next to a dead fish, to say nothing of the shower scene with the laminate bolt? Is The Patch not doing it for you by itself?
This thread has gone full weird. Fish/gun pictures speak volumes about the psyche of the photographer. Hint....
Um, yeeeeah. Apparently, Watersports Boy has left the building.
Not sure what I'm going to do yet. As it is I'm debating a JP Enterprises silent captured spring setup, and tearing the house apart for a DMR trigger that's around here somewhere.
I hate it when you can't find the good parts you have lying around but every drawer you open has 5 milspec triggers inside.
Our times have become very interesting indeed when we really do need an inventory management system.
Haha, yea. Over stocked on A2 grips also. Just can't seem to throw stuff away though.
I've joked about doing a collection of A2 grips to use to as gravel to pave the road at the range I shoot at.
To the OP, I would contact them and have them make it right. But if you are in a hurry just rattle can krylon it and go shoot the shit out of it. Maybe the next barrel they will get right.....
Flyright, i thought i was the only one that was starting to think the same thing. Im not sure when or where it became acceptable to have something not turn out right or what you asked for and be expected to just accept it, yet this is where general opinion seems to be going. Most of the reasons i usually hear associated with this are "its just not worth it to send back right now"......
Sucks when you specify and it doesn't come back as planned.
Ive heard the thought that untreated stainless is better in match conditions for reducing heat through radiational cooling and not attracting additional sun heating like black would. If that is true I don't think I shoot at the level to realize the advantage.
If you wanted a certain finish I think it will drive you batshit crazy over time to not have what you wanted. You will be conflicted everytime you look at it.
If its shooting .5 MOA groups though do you want to risk losing the magic?
Why don't they ever screw up something easy like putting on the wrong pistol grip?
Ive heard the thought that untreated stainless is better in match conditions for reducing heat through radiational cooling and not attracting additional sun heating like black would. If that is true I don't think I shoot at the level to realize the advantage.
If you wanted a certain finish I think it will drive you batshit crazy over time to not have what you wanted. You will be conflicted everytime you look at it.
If its shooting .5 MOA groups though do you want to risk losing the magic?
Why don't they ever screw up something easy like putting on the wrong pistol grip?
I have several firearms with unpainted stainless barrels. Living in New Haven CT and then Houston TX, I've had plenty of experience with humid conditions and I've never had any issues with rust. Keep them indoors put them away dry after they have come up or down to room temp. About the worst thing you can do is put away a cold rifle in a humid room- condensation. But, even then, you are unlikely to see rust on a stainless barrel. If I worry at all, I worry much more about the blues barrels. And, when push comes to shove, regardless of how the outside is treated, it is the bore that I ACTUALLY care about. Stainless or not, that's not going to be coated on any firearm. But, if it was supposed to be coated, have the smith make it right.
I hear day glow orange is all the rage this year. Hint.
If you don't get the shop to take care of it and don't want to paint or cerakote it, I think Eezox is GTG.
If you don't get the shop to take care of it and don't want to paint or cerakote it, I think Eezox is GTG.
My issue would be with the money spent. If the price paid included coating the barrel, then I would absolutely expect a partial refund for not getting what I paid for.
If you want it painted and it bothers you get it painted but your not going to have any performance gains or issues if you dont. I shoot my AR's in pouring rain, 2 gun, 3 gun, DMR matches and my SS barrels have never had a mark on them. Pull the bolt and clean it, mop the chamber, spray out the upper receiver, relube, throw it in the safe.
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