If there’s any at all… what are the pros and cons of having a pistol with the slide made from stainless steel? Compared to other pistols made with different material.
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Pros and cons to every finish. Cerakote is one of the best finishes as far as being non-corrosive and being long-lasting. Every finish suffers from dings and scratches,etc. It all depends on what you like. I like matte, but that wears off, too.
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Are you referring to the material used to manufacture the slide…not coating?
To be honest you won’t see any difference using the gun with different slide.
Stainless steel cannot be parkerized. It contains chromium which makes it more corrosion resistant.
SS cracks and deforms easier (which may be important factor if you planing to mill it).
The only reason I’d consider stainless steel slide - no coating at all, nice bare steel look.
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Many popular pistols today have a stainless slide that is coated black, and they call the non-coated version stainless. Some older handguns, or modern clones, might have non-stainless variants. It might help if we knew which model and year you are referring to.
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I was specifically looking at the Taurus G3C. They had all black matte option, but they also had one with the slide being silver. The silver one was cheaper than the black, so I didn’t know if the price difference had something to do with durability, or just popularity.
I have two G2C’s with stainless slides, love them…
Less noticeable wear on the slides from being holstered.
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According to a 2019 post on Taurusarmed.net, the black slide on a G2 is a carbon steel (not stainless).
I might assume then, that the black G3C slide is also carbon steel. I don’t see a stainless version of the G3C on the Taurus website.
Personally, I prefer stainless for resisting rust over time, particularly for an EDC, even though I prefer a black slide.
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Besides the advantage of stainless steel resisting corrosion it has a bit of a disadvantage for concealment, for me at least. I almost always wear dark pants. If my cover garment is caught by the wind and the firearm becomes slightly exposed the stainless slide is going to be more noticeable that a blued or black slide. If only stainless was available in today’s firearms market I would take it if that was the only option available for the firearm of my choice, I would take it. Otherwise, I would choose blued or black.
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I think it depends on where you live. If you live near or on the ocean, then the corrosion resistance of SS is more of a concern. There are many models offered with coated SS slides. I have 2 that are black coated SS slides, 1 FN and 1 Sig Sauer.
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Thanks for pic. I see this listed on a few online dealers websites, but it’s not yet listed on the Taurus site.
My preference for stainless is because I sweat a lot, and often work outside in the summer… and even in the winter worry about condensation from working outside and going inside. Be aware, even SS (especially brushed) can show signs of rust.
I’ve considered purchasing Taurus pistols/revolvers for awhile, just never got around to it. The last time I was thinking of picking up an 856 (this was within the last 6 months). When I went into my local FFL I thought I was in luck, as they had one new, and one used. I looked closely at the used one (stainless) and saw small spots of rust freckled all over. I’m pretty sure the shop would do what they could to make it presentable before placing it in the case, so I wonder what it looked liked before.
I’m not trying to bash on Taurus, plus I don’t know the environment of which that firearm was in. Over the last year I saw a couple S&W snub noses for sale with strange black circular marks all over the frame. I’m curious as to what condition these firearms are kept to accumulate these marks. However, the rust spots on the SS Taurus left a lasting impression.
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Taurus doesn’t make stainless steel G3C. You will have to go with G2C to have such slide.
All G3C models are tenifer coated which, as professionals say, is more corrosion resistant than stainless steel.