Is it true that stainless Howa rifles rust faster than their blued counterparts?

[Hunter270Win]

Been hearing and reading this a lot

 

[Hunter270Win]

It would be common sense to think the stainless are more rust resistant, no?

 

[BBob]

It would be common sense to think the stainless are more rust resistant, no?

Depends on the alloy. Some alloys like 410 don’t have very good corrosion resistance. If it’s just the action rusting it could be it wasn’t passivated post heat treat. Could be a surface contaminant from manufacturing that’s inhibiting the passivation layer from forming. Could be a number of reasons.

 

[Castle Rock]

It’s a Howa, who cares?

 

[Hunter270Win]

It’s a Howa, who cares?

What do you mean?

 

[Hossauce]

Stainless will rust in air, gotta keep oil on it, blue prevents the reaction from occurring!

 

[Johnwell]

Stainless will rust in air, gotta keep oil on it, blue prevents the reaction from occurring!

This doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The chromium in stainless forms a protective barrier of oxidation that should keep the steel from rusting. The nice thing about stainless is that this barrier is self-forming. No processing is required to get the chromium to make the protective layer; and if it is scratched/machined off it has chromium all the way through. It’s not stain-proof though (with a few exceptions), just stain-less so it can and will rust or discolor under certain conditions. Oiling helps but depending on the grade of steel shouldn’t be necessary in most applications.

Blued steel is a steel oxidation layer to protect carbon steel from rusting. It can still rust though, because the oxidation layer isn’t a perfect barrier. Oiling helps keep the moisture off.

Carbon steel left “in the white” will rust in air with humidity without a barrier of oil.

I don’t have any experience with the stainless howa rifles, but I would assume they’re using similar grades of stainless steel to other companies.

It’s a Howa, who cares?

Not sure what you mean by this either; my howa mini is by far my best shooting rifle. Never had any issues with it other than I think their bottom metal/magazine is straight trash.

 

[Terrapin]

I’m not sure what steel they are using for their blued models, but I turned down a barrel about six months ago. I figured the bare steel would rust immediately. So far, it’s still as shiny as the day it came off the lathe.


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[Hunter270Win]

Stainless will rust in air, gotta keep oil on it, blue prevents the reaction from occurring!

Explain. The bore of a stainless rifle vs a carbon steel would surely be more rust resistant, no?

 

[bnewt3]

"Stainless" is a blanket term that covers alot of alloys. but there is a wide range of stainless from slightly more stain resistant than a plain carbon steel up to very stain resistant. I have no idea which stainless howa uses, a quick google search didnt reveal anything except that 416 is common in rifles, 17-4 is less common.

From wikipedia so take it how you want:

Unprotected carbon steel rusts readily when exposed to a combination of air and moisture. The resulting iron oxide surface layer is porous and fragile. In addition, as iron oxide occupies a larger volume than the original steel, this layer expands and tends to flake and fall away, exposing the underlying steel to further attack. In comparison, stainless steels contain sufficient chromium to undergo passivation, spontaneously forming a microscopically thin inert surface film of chromium oxide by reaction with the oxygen in the air and even the small amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. This passive film prevents further corrosion by blocking oxygen diffusion to the steel surface and thus prevents corrosion from spreading into the bulk of the metal. This film is self-repairing, even when scratched or temporarily disturbed by conditions that exceed the inherent corrosion resistance of that grade

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

This film is self-repairing, even when scratched or temporarily disturbed by conditions that exceed the inherent corrosion resistance of that grade

Except when its scratched by carbon steel / iron which can leave behind iron contamination and a propagation point for corrosion.

 

[Hunter270Win]

So all things considered the bore of a stainless Howa would be more durable than a carbon steel Howa since there is no blueing?

 

[bnewt3]

So all things considered the bore of a stainless Howa would be more durable than a carbon steel Howa since there is no blueing?

if by durable you mean less likely or slower to rust, then yes.

but TBH its not that stainless doesnt rust, it rusts differently and/or more slowly. instead of widespread rust that penetrates the metal, IME it typically shows up as spots that tend to stay localized and not penetrate into the metal.

Ive had a few tiny spots of rust on my stainless tikka barrel. no big deal. scrub it off with pretty much anything thats not carbon steel/iron and its gone.

 

[Thegman]

Except when its scratched by carbon steel / iron which can leave behind iron contamination and a propagation point for corrosion.

I have no idea if stainless Howas actually rust easily, but this is what I was thinking could be the issue if it is the case.

I've had stainless Kimbers that would develop tiny rust spots, especially anywhere near salt water.

I think it may have been from using blast media on both carbon and stainless barrels and leaving carbon steel specs in the surface of the stainless. That was my guess anyway.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

if by durable you mean less likely or slower to rust, then yes.

but TBH its not that stainless doesnt rust, it rusts differently and/or more slowly. instead of widespread rust that penetrates the metal, IME it typically shows up as spots that tend to stay localized and not penetrate into the metal.

Ive had a few tiny spots of rust on my stainless tikka barrel. no big deal. scrub it off with pretty much anything thats not carbon steel/iron and its gone.

If you get some minor rusting you can use something like Bar Keepers Friend its an abrasive and acidic cleaner that will buff out rust and help the passivation of the stainless. Keep in mind surface appearance will be affected in terms of surface scratches, different matte appearances, etc.

I have no idea if stainless Howas actually rust easily, but this is what I was thinking could be the issue if it is the case.

I've had stainless Kimbers that would develop tiny rust spots, especially anywhere near salt water.

I think it may have been from using blast media on both carbon and stainless barrels and leaving carbon steel specs in the surface of the stainless. That was my guess anyway.

Yeah something like that is what would come to my mind if someone was saying the stainless was showing alot of rust spots as a common occurrence in a product. So sort of iron contamination of the stainless.

 

[Oldffemt]

I have a tikka stainless barrel that I bought here cheap because it spun in the barrel vise while being removed leaving a really shiny band around it just in front of the chamber area. I have to imagine the vise was probably either cast or carbon steel. I scrubbed it with a red skotchbrite pad for literally a minute and it looks like a factory finish again. I’ve cleaned up another tikka stainless barrel that had some rust spots and scratches using the same method and done several multi day backcountry hunts with that rifle without any rust issues. It feels in natural to go at a rifle with abrasives but as long as you don’t apply too much pressure while scrubbing, the results are pretty good ime. Thought somebody here could benefit from my experience.