I have heard sst Barrels shine sometime while hunting when the sun light hits them. Anyone had this happen to them?

Just like the top of a tin can. Anything that will reflect light will reflect light. Thats why folks use camo tape and paint and finishes that do not reflect.

That is one of the downsides of using a stainless gun. It's worse if you polish out the stainless. A matt finish helps, but you still have a large piece of silver steel that is easy to see.

I used black and stainless guns several years ago and have went back to wood and blue steel. It is not as good as the new camo stuff, but in my opinion better than the stainless and such. Besides I just like the feel of wood.

I have a friend that simply paints his rifles with camo paint. He Masks off the front and back lens and power adjustment on the scope and using several different camo spray cans does the whol rifle including the bolt.

When he begins to develop a shiny spot he just touches it up. It's ugly but it works. To him a firearm is just a tool and it has one use--to kill animals.

To me my guns are works of art to be appreciated in themselves. The fine lines the metal work, the checkering and engraving all reflect the work making a fine weapon. The fact that they fulfil the purpose of hunting is also nice.

My Stainless Barrels Are Glass Beaded To Reduce The Shine. I Have Seen Some Blue Guns Really Shine When The Sun Hits Them Also So It Is A Personal Choice

Have been on drives in heavy woods and you can see the high polished guns winking like a signal mirror as the drivers move along. Matte finished stainless would show up less but a dark matt finish is better.

Have been on drives in heavy woods and you can see the high polished guns winking like a signal mirror as the drivers move along. Matte finished stainless would show up less but a dark matt finish is better.

Thick coat of wax...don't buff it, let it dry to that dull haze. Cuts the shine, water proofs, and whatever grime gets on it will come off with just a rub at the end of the day.

Depends on the area...but if it has a good number of bleached white dead falls, that white stainless (matt) barrel blends in pretty well.

I have heard sst Barrels shine sometime while hunting when the sun light hits them. Anyone had this happen to them?
The real question is whether most animals care or can tell the difference. No doubt there are natural things that shine in the woods.(Water, ice, snow).We humans tend to process things from our perspective. Now if I were hunting humans it might make a difference. (Sure as **** I wouldn't be wearing blaze orange!) As it is I have yet to experience game (turkeys excluded) that is color or shine sensitive.

Good answer Cossack!!!

Ruger's SS barrels are way too shiny. I used to have one that I camo taped every hunting season.
Cossack - I agree with you to a point, but there is another side to that. I don't want to attract ANY attention to myself. The flash of a barrel certainly would catch a deer's eye. My luck, that would be the time I decide to scratch my nose :rolleyes: . I like a matte finish on my hunting rifles. It's one less thing to think about.

"As it is I have yet to experience game (turkeys excluded) that is color or shine sensitive."

cossack

I do a lot of coyote hunting and they seem super sensitive to that reflective stuff. Had them catch a flash off my blued guns and turn tail at over 300 yards. From a dead run in to a dead run out. I use some of those camo skins things now to help along with camo cloths.

I once sat by a trail waiting for a nice deer to go by and had a hunter walk by me. He appeared cocked and locked and was stalking something. His eyes were wide and he walked in a crouch weapon at ready. He passed by me not more than 15 feet away. I was dressed in blue jeans and had a red cap and red shirt on.

I had a wood and blue gun. I never said a word or moved. I was afraid he would shoot me by mistake. I think this was the most scary moment I ever had in the woods. This fella never saw me nor would he have seen a deer unless it had jumped on him.

Sorry to get off the subject, but I know that movement rather it be a flash or just getting out of a car to take a picture can send a whitetail deer over the ridge.

Mule deer seem to be somewhat an exception to this. I don't know how many times I've jumped a bunch of mulies and stopped them in their tracks when they was on a dead run by whistling, shouting or waving my hat. Don't know if their just curious or what, but it seems to work often as not.

I agree with you the movement, also a moving upright posture and unnatural sounds can affect deer. But I once rode up on a bunch of deer with my mountain bike hunched over the handlebar, they let me get within 20 yards of them before trotting away. Turkey, yes; coyotes, yes; even ducks but I'm just not convinced that deer react to shine all that much.

Coyotes are VERY good a picking out human shapes forms (as are dogs).

FYI, the latest Successful Hunter has a column by Dave Scovill where he recounts bicycling past all sorts of critters, who seemingly could not figure out what he was. Interesting.

The super-camoed turkey guns are amusing to me. Sitting stock still, I called up a turkey with a blued 870 / walnut stock, at stonethrowing distance. It never knew I was there.... till I pulled the trigger :)

Of course you gotta sit still!!!!!!!

Of course you gotta sit still!!!!!!!

LOL Mike, if I could just get my son to really hear THAT.

It's tough. I figured if that turkey got any closer, it was gonna be able to see the veins throbbing in my neck!

If the DEER see the flicker of a barrel reflecting ,than send a bullet behind it. If they see you without you seeing them than walk slower and buy some swarovski's.

Well, first of all... I have to make my sarcastic comment that I've been holding back on since this thread was introduced. YES!!! The stainless barrel will shine in the woods as much as anything else with that same specularity and finish on it!!! And, just in case you want to know, a tree that falls in the woods when nobody is there to hear it DOES make a sound.

ok... now that I finally got that out of my system... The simple answer to your questions is "yes" ... that stainless barrel will reflect light ... and as others have said, the matte black finish is best in this regard... then comes the satin brushed stainless... then the polished blue finish. But think about one thing for a moment... A LOOOOONNNNNGGG time ago there was ONLY polished blue finish, and people took out lots of game with those "old timey" polished blue rifles w/ wooden stocks.

I think people worry WAY too much these days about their camo, and rifle finish, and bullet selection, etc. To go hunting means way more than just getting an outfit that blends in with the surroundings, getting a rifle that wont reflect any light, or having the perfect bullet. People seem to be on a trend of forgetting what it takes to actually "hunt" an animal and have started to try to rely on the product manufactures to make them "invisible" and make them a "perfect marksman"... You see countless numbers of people in the hunting/fishing stores these days thinking that if they buy the right outfit and the best rifle/ammo that they will become the next boone and crocket miracle hunter... it's hysterical to me. It's these same people that do not know how to tell if a deer is 2 yrs old or 8 years old... they dont know what a rut is, or what scrapes or rubs are... so on and so forth... yadda yadda yadda...

Sorry to go off here, but my point is that there are way too many other things to worry about other than "will my stainless steel rifle barrel and action reflect too much light in the woods". I can promise you that if you become proficient with your weapon of choice, and if you truly learn about the game you're hunting, and learn to apply that knowlege to hunting that game... you could have the most light reflective gun there is and still take way more game than most people that hunt today.

hope this helps ease your mind.