I have a choice of either stainless or blued slide on a XD-S that will be my primary CCW. Outside of "prettier", what are some pros & cons for each as a CCW? Is there a difference on ones eyes while quickly drawing a bead on target? Is one easier to conceal, draw, maintain in that use, etc.? Let the discussion begin!
Stainless will likely be more resistant to rust and scratches but probably heavier and shiny. I prefer dark weapons.
Purely cosmetic but I like stainless steel weapons because I don't like when the bluing gets worn off blued guns from holster wear.
I prefer SS because I live near the shoreline and corrosion due to salt air exposure is an issue. Low maintenance is also a plus but you will still have to wipe paw prints off and wipe the gun down at the end of the day. SS will rust, it will just give you more of a margin for error. Carry guns get a lot of holster wear and people often go SS and duracoat or other treatment for durability. I don't have an issue w shiny - if I have to draw my gun I want the BG to know exactly what I have in my hand and make an "informed decision" as to whether he should continue his threat on my life or loved ones. I have a laser as well which serves the same purpose. I would rather not have to shoot anyone. If shiny gets the job done, I consider it a plus.
For a carry weapons, seeing a lot of moisture I would choose SS. Seems to me it would hold up to corrosion from sweat better.
XDs aren't blued. It's a finish/process called Melonite. It is pretty much the same as Glock's Tenifer finish. It is extremely durable. Early XDs that had a slightly different finish (I forget the specifics)which had some issues. It's been sorted for a few years now. IMHO, if you get a recent production XD to rust, you either neglected or abused it. I have a XD40SC, the finish has been just fine. But it all honesty, I'm not that hard on it. Extra credit reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferritic_nitrocarburizing So, they are both durable, get whichever finish you like best.
Blued steel, although they look really nice, is pretty high-maintenance compared to modern finishes like nitride coatings, parkerizing, hard chroming, or stainless steels. Blued steel is incredibly thin compared to coatings and plating and not very scratch resistant. Blued steels also are not very rust resistant and can start to develop rust if they are not kept oiled and/or properly stored. Afterall, bluing is in itself a byproduct of oxidation. Perhaps shiny stainless steel might be a problem if you're doing stealth operations in the military where you don't want a reflection to give away your position, but I hardly think it's a big deal for CCW. However, many manufacturers are going towards low-glare satin and sandblast finishes on stainless steel. About the only con to stainless steel I can think of is that they can be a wee bit heavier than carbon steel all things being equal.
After reading about the Melonite finish I personally would see no advantage in the stainless finish that would warrant the extra cost of the stainless. Mine is the Melonite finish and I have experienced no problems with it at all.
ive been carrying my xdm compact 45 all summer and been sweating on it quite a bit in the extreme heat for wisconsin. i havent done anything to protect the exterior ive only wiped down the frame and slide rails barrel and recoil spring to keep the dust out. i havent touched the exterior with oil and no rust. the standard black xdm finish is pretty durable so far
I'm hard on pretty much everything so it's stainless for me when given a choice! If it is meant to run I expect it to run if it is supposed to be a protective finish I expect it to protect! So far stainless has not let me down.
I had the opportunity to buy the bi-tone version of the XDs about 3 wks ago & I passed. Just want the all black for no particular reason. Still waiting for it to arrive though, LOL. One thing did come to mind- magnetic. If one wanted to hold the gun (desk, car, bed side, etc.) in a magnetic mount, that would rule out SS polymer framed guns.
I guess once upon a time the concern with stainless steels used to be the potential for galling such was the case with some of the AMT Hardballers back in the 80's. But you really don't hear much about galling issues anymore with more modern heat treating and fabrication techniques.
