The last year for the magnum stainless steel barrels in those years was 1970. I had checked the catalogs for previous discussions on the forum and verified which year the switched from stainless to ordnance steel and found my post by doing a search on "stainless" to answer your question.frank r wrote:Does anyone know what year they started using stainless steel barrels that were blued on early 700?
were they all marked stainless steel? I have a 1970 BDL in 7mag it is stamped under the 7mag mark stainless steel. I have seen a 300 win mag stamped the same way .. I seen a 1972 BDL in 7mag not stamped stainless steel.
But I seen a 1972 hang tag for a BDL that said at the bottom stainless steel barrel in 7mm mag and 264 win mag.
so the tag stated only 7mm and 264 mag stainless steel barrel. So wondering if anyone had information on this subject.
Thanks frank.
Coincidentally, I just ran across a 7mm Mag BDL in a local gun shop which was a stainless steel with the stock style they switched to in 1969. I didn't have a barrel date code list with me, but I presumed that it had to be either a '69 or '70 vintage, and it didn't appear to have been restocked. It was pretty well-worn.
Numerous discussions about many subjects have taken place on the forum and are in the archives, so doing searches on the subject will usually provide lots of information.
Den
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