Hard chrome is an excellent finish for a hunting rifle (for any rifle). We've had literally hundreds of guns hard chromed over the years and the customers have always been happy. I personally own a Winchester 9422 that was completely hard-chromed (looks like a stainless rifle). For a no-glare finish, get the gun glass bead-blasted before chroming (usually the refinisher will do this). Hard chrome can only be done to steel, so alloy frame guns (like a S&W Airweight) cannot use this finish although you can get all of the internal steep parts plated.
When it comes to sources, I had the best luck with Metaloy (owned by Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat, and located at the same address). They do a good hard-chrome job at a good price, and have been doing so for almost two decades.
Robar's NP-3, a combination of electroless nickel and Teflon, is another good finish. Like hard-chrome it is a plated finish, but nickel is softer than chromium. NP-3 has a grey tone with a hint of bronze in it, and it is self-lubricating so it is great for guns that will be used in harsh environmental conditions, say, a custom 1911 that you're taking with you to Iraq for a year -- but get the front strap checkered because that gun will be slippery! NP-3 can be applied to alloy guns. A great use for NP-3 would be to refinish the action and internal parts of a Browning .22 Auto, and the traditional blue barrel would contrast nicely.
If you want a black protective finish, then the best in my experience is Black-T from W.E. Birdsong. If you've ever seen a Benchmade knife with a matte black blade, then you've seen Black-T. It is used to coat mechanical parts on US Navy mine-clearing robots, and will withstand 400 hours in a salt spray bath. However, like most other similar finishes, it is basically a paint (although Black-T has a lot in common with powdercoating), and will eventually wear if subject to abrasion. It also has Teflon embedded in the finish and although Birdsong says it can be run dry, I use a modicum of Break-Free on my two Black-T 1911s to help them last longer. You can also get 'Green-T', which is a NATO green version of the same finish. A two-tone 1911, with a black slide and green frame, is very attractive and very practical -- another good finish for those heading to the Sandbox. We've also done black and green AR-15s, and boy, do they look nice. My H-S Precision heavy-barrel .308 takedown rifle came from the factory finished in Black-T, so that's another good endorsement.
Robar also offers a finish similar to Black-T that is a little more glossy. It's a good finish but we found our customers preferred Black-T. There's also BearCoat, which is another similar finish, but our experience with this finish is that it is best applied as a protective finish to non-moving parts (actions and barrels) because it tends to be thicker than Black-T (and tolerance becomes an issue -- you haven't seen an angry gunsmith until you see one having to file away a newly-applied finish to get a gun back together).
So... for moving parts and the ultimate in metal protection I recommend hard chrome. For moving parts where lubricity is extremely important, NP-3 is a good choice. For a dark finish on non-moving parts that will not be subject to regular abrasion or abuse (rifle barrels, actions, and the like) I recommend Black-T, with the Robar finishes being a good alternative.
For your particular application (a Remington 700-based rifle with a stainless barrel in .260 for hunting) I'd get the whole rifle Black-T'd and be happy with a beautiful matte black non-reflective finish and I'd know that the bore of my stainless barrel would rust before the rest of the gun would. You don't mention your stock, but this would look GREAT with one of the Boyd Brothers 'pepper laminated' black and grey gunstocks, and given that the rifle was put together right you'd have one heck of a nice-looking and nice-shooting rifle.
Hope this helps.
