Thread: Tikka T3 to Begara B14 Extreme Hunter

Almost all stainless barrels are made from 416 stainless which is only truly stainless after it has been hardened, which rifle barrels are not. So most of them will be "rust resistant" at best. Surface finish has a large impact on how fast they develop rust spots. Tikkas have a pretty fine bead blast finish, so seem to do better than most for rust resistance. If you polished the outside, you would find it will rust a lot less, however, this is not very practical for hunting rifles.

If barrels were made from 316 or similar alloy, they could sit in salt spray for a year with no rust, but they would be almost impossible to make due the machining properties of the alloy.