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will a stainless steel gun rust?

I just bought a used Taurus 85 stainless 38 spl revolver, it's about 25 years old but looks like new. This is my first stainless steel gun. I'm wondering if there's any special things I need to be aware of or cleaning methods? I'm also wondering if stainless steel could rust? in theory stainless means it cannot get stained or rusty. I have a chrome bore AK, cleaning is always super easy, wondering of cleaning a SS revolver would be the same.

Answer:

Q: will a stainless steel gun rust? A: Under certain conditions, it can rust. But stainless steel will last longer than blued steel will under such conditions. Also, some parts of a stainless steel revolver might not be stainless steel. The internal parts may be normal steel. Q: I just bought a used Taurus 85 stainless 38 spl revolver, it's about 25 years old but looks like new. This is my first stainless steel gun. I'm wondering if there's any special things I need to be aware of or cleaning methods? A: There are no special methods required. Stainless steel is fairly convenient easy to clean and maintain. Carbon-fouling can still build-up and metal discolorations may occur. These can be cleaned up with cleaning solvents and the use of a Scotch-brite cleaning pad or something similar. If it gets a scratch, the scratch can be polished away or left alone and the scratch can become a badge of honor or something. Q: I have a chrome bore AK, cleaning is always super easy, wondering of cleaning a SS revolver would be the same. A: Stainless steel is pretty tough on its own. Chrome-lining a stainless steel barrel wouldn't be considered cost effective in most circumstances. Cleaning the inside of a stainless steel barrel will be similar to cleaning a blued steel barrel that is not chrome-lined.
Stainless steel does not rust. But your Stainless Barrel is not true stainless steel. True stainless steel is a mix of steel and chrome, and the chrome has a certaion percentage of the overal weight.. But a Stainless barrel does not contain enough chrome to be true stainless, so it can rust.
Stainless steel WILL rust, but it takes longer. Just think of Stainless as stain less - less, but still present. Clean it as you would any other blued firearm. Keep the same coating of protective oil or preservative lubrican on it as you would a blued gun, and it will look shiny pretty much forever. Stainless steel is not rustproof...it is merely MUCH more forgiving of a harsh world than blued steel. Stainless is not the same as hard chrome. Stainless is STILL steel...so you may have to brush it in places a lot to get the crud out, especially after those thousand-round marathon shooting sessions. But the results are pretty impressive, as you will soon see. Happy shooting!
Yes, stainless steel will rust. It is not rust proof, it is rust resistant. You still should oil your gun after you shoot it.

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