Apparently I -do- have a bias (metal vs plastic)

[ZeSpectre]

I've been saying for a long time that I don't care on the polymer vs metal debate.

For example, I think the XD is a fine firearm and have handled/shot/owned a few others that I thought were just as nice like Glocks (though I hate the grip angle). But as I was packing things up (we're moving in a few days) I noticed that in the course of all my buying, selling, and horse trading, I seem to have gotten rid of EVERY polymer handgun I owned.

Seriously, this was not a conscious decision, I just kept the pistols that I liked the best and sold or traded the ones I was lukewarm on or disliked for one reason or another.

I also seem to have a strong preference for SIG and CZ bottom-feeders and Ruger wheelguns (which is REALLY odd since I consider myself a Smith & Wesson wheelgun guy).

I don't know which is stranger, that I do seem to have marked preferences or that I never even noticed until just now :evil:

[1911 guy]

There are usually three types of gun owners/shooters.
1) Rabid newbie fans. They swear by only one particular model of firearm, in a specific caliber. All else is deemed lesser, even though they have no experience with said "lesser" product. Example, everybody who raves about the "DEagle".

2) Generalist shooters. They range from once a year deer hunters to people who go out every weekend for plinking fun. Any functional gun that looks halfway decent is fine. Many of them/us have trigger time on a variety of platforms. We might prefer something other than what is being discussed, but don't have hardcore convictions about it. Example, most everybody on this board.

3) Mission specific shooters. They have one over-riding goal in mind when shooting. It might be anything from making .22 caliber holes in ridiculously tight groups to busting clays at absurd angles and distances. They often gravitate to one specific type of firearm based on their experience and demands. Example, watching Jerry Miculek run a S&W revolver.

[Kitchen_Duty]

Well, I guess I can kinda join in: Hello my name is Sam and I'm a gun-a-holic.

Let them be plastic or metal they are all fine to me :)

-Kitchen

[Tommygunn]

You know, in a way, I'm a bit of the opposite ....
I used to disdain polymer guns like the Glock.
~~BUT~~
In December I bought a Walther P22 and back on April 5th I bought a Springfield XD45. I looked at a Glock when I was buying that but prefered the XD over it for a couple of reasons.
And I like both guns.
Now, for those 1911 lovers out there: I hear ya! Maybe I'll get a 1911 sometime .... but I just can't buy every gun I want at the same time!;):cool:

[Seancass]

i think its strange and wonderful that you can "not notice" what guns you have.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#$&#$&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

[whg]

I tend to lean towards metal myself. I've shot the polymer frames, but I have a phobia [irrational as it is] of the hammerless polymer with the safety in the trigger. Just don't like it. I also find it easier to get back on target with a firearm that has mass to it like my Beagle or 1911s. Perhaps a polymer with a hammer, frame safety and some lead weights would work. Who knows.

Walt

[Grandpa Shooter]

I buy guns for a specific purpose-----to shoot with. I started out buying a high capacity semi auto pistol for self defense. Then I bought a stainless revolver. Then a Russian .380. And so forth. The only thing I have never bought and have no particular need or like for is a shotgun. Other than that, I will modify whatever I buy to suit me. Since I never sell or trade guns, it doesn't matter what I do to them.

They are all good!

[kamagong]

I prefer steel over polymer myself with the 1911 being my weapon of choice. But the operative word is "my." What works for me doesn't necessarily work for the next person, so who am I to criticize what that person is shooting?

The way I see it is that anyone who likes guns is good, doesn't matter what he/she likes. Any gun owner is one of us (whether he's using a wheelgun, polymer wonder, or 1911) and not an anti.

[DawgFvr]

To each his own. Metal and wood for me. Now that I'm older and wiser, I have found that weapons are more than just tools...they can also be pieces of art. Life really is too short to harbor ugly weapons.

[MCgunner]

I'm one of 1911 guy's generalists, I suppose. I have a variety of platforms for a variety of jobs. I tend to be too logical about a gun for a specific job, try to justify the purchase of a gun for a specific reason I might need it. That's my main flaw. I'm over-coming this flaw a little bit by thinking you just can't have enough options (IE for concealed carry). OTOH, there's the "beware the man with one gun" thing, but seriously, how can anyone live with ONE STINKIN' FIREARM? :D

Anyway, I have plastic DAOs, all metal DAs, a bunch of revolvers, both DA and SA, and even a single shot Contender. I have cap and ball revolvers, side by side shotguns, a pump, an auto shotgun, bolt rifles, SKSs, a few other mil surps, a lever action, five different .22 rifles, both bolt and auto, a Hawken, single shot shotgun, yadda, yadda, yadda. What ever it is, I either just wanted it or had a reason for getting it.

I have a bias against cheap 1911s due to bad experiences with two. I prefer true DA for carry as opposed to "safe action". I have a bias against overly expensive guns that are ostentatious. I don't see that a gun is better because it costs more, necessarily, unless maybe you're comparing 1911s. You might delude yourself, but I'm lookin' for the bargains, generally, by necessity. Not to say that a 1000 dollar revolver isn't a great gun, but I can do the job with less. I just get annoyed at people suggesting I can't.

Anyway, plastic is not a problem with me. I like change. Most gun guys, and especially the old farts, are set in their ways. I'm 55, but I have an MP3 player and download stuff like "Seether" and "Godsmack". I have a Pioneer turn table I bought in 1975, also, but I never use it. You can listen to Led Zeppelin only so much until you want something different. I EVEN have a cassette deck, a VCR, a DVD player (ain't got a recorder, yet), and I disconnected the 8 track recorder years ago. I can change with the times.

I'm a practical guy. I really ain't the art lover.

[FranklyTodd]

I have found that weapons are more than just tools...they can also be pieces of art.

I totally agree with this. However, one thing I notice very frequently on this board (not meaning this thread - but all over) is that folks can't compartmentalize the difference between "artistic" preferences, and those motivated by guns' efficacy when used for defensive purposes. I try (and admittedly sometimes fail) to differentiate - I have a Glock 26 that is as useless as, well - I can't think of any "useless as" sayings that aren't dirty - let's just say it absolutely sucks as a work of art. It works pretty well as a defensive handgun - size, power, reliability. I don't really care if it gets rained on, scuffed up, etc.

It's not always a money thing, either, my other carry gun is an M&P340 w/CT grips - talk about way overpriced! :eek: However, it filled a need/want I had for carry - it's cool in some ways, I guess, but certainly not a work of art. Same thing with my new LCP - art? not hardly! :barf:

When I see some folks guns, particularly 1911s and large revolvers, with the history and ornamentation - I am in awe, but certainly not because they are better for defensive purposes - they truly are works of art. Someday I'll start an art collection replete with fancy 1911s, but I'm not there yet - 3 kids, mortgage, blah, blah, blah. If I can't convince myself that a weapon has practical use, I can't justify it at this time... :o

[Eightball]

I wouldn't consider myself biased, really. In my case, I just like to have a firearm fill a specific role that is lacking in my collection. As it sits, that includes one plastic-framed .22 semi-auto, and that's about it. If metal fills the bill, it gets the spot, same with plastic. I'm just more picky about my plastic.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I'm kind of in the same boat - I was *slightly* more conscious of my bias than you were, but also more or less unconsciously ended up, for various reasons, getting rid of all polymer guns over time, through the trading process - not intentionally, but just because I didn't like this or that on them, and wanted something better and better value. I now gravitate almost exclusively to Sig, Kahr, CZ, 1911s, and BHP (and clones/variants of same). Also revolvers - Tauri, Dan Wesson, and pre-lock Smiths. Nuttin like a big hunk o' STEEL. :) I don't do any ruger or Smiths with suicide locks on them. I'm not totally OPPOSED to polymer - in fact, I kind of want either a Spfld XD or Taurus 24/7 OSS and maybe an HK USP... but I'm not gonna jump on it until it's a smokin deal, since I have my bases covered for self-defense at the moment.

[Crimp]

I do like the metal pistols both for feel and looks, but I have 3 XDs that I wouldn't part with.

[grimjaw]

I like things about both. I love the heft and looks of a quality wood/steel firearm, but I also love the fact that I don't have to baby the finish on the Glock. If the Glock had a better trigger, I probably wouldn't own another handgun besides a subcompact.

jm

[jdc1244]

It’s a matter of finance and priorities. Periodically I have a given amount of money and after a review of my budget and possible expenses for the near future make the decision ‘it’s time to buy a gun.’ I go to my ‘Great List of Guns’ to see what’s next. Plastic is at the bottom of the list. At the rate I’m currently going I’ll be too old to shoot or dead when I get to the plastic.

If I had, say, $8000 per month free-and-clear to buy guns with I’d get to the plastic sooner.

(Maybe)

[NGIB]

At one point my collection was split about 50/50 with steel & poly and it's now about 90% steel. I like poly guns OK but they just happened to be the ones I traded away for something I wanted. Broke my heart to trade away my Sig Pro SP2009 - but for it and a little cash I got an almost new Para LTC in stainless.

I'm also trading away my last poly Kahr on Saturday. Not that I don't like it, I just got a trade offer I couldn't pass up. Also recently traded away my Kahr P45 for a Para C645 LDA - which replaced the Kahr as my carry.

Actually had a Glock for half a day and traded it for something else I wanted. The polys sure do trade well...

[Black Majik]

I also prefer a metal framed gun opposed to plastic, but there are times which the platform works better over another. Case in point, I enjoy shooting 1911s followed by SIGs, but somehow the polymer guns work just as well. The funky grip angled Glock, oh so souless has the capacity to being one crazy accurate pistol. The trigger sucks, the gun points high, and the thing feels like an airsoft gun, what's to like about this thing? I'm not a G-lock koolaid drinker, but I do see where it also shines. Same goes for the XD, M&P, USP and P2000 et all. They work their intended purpose. They shoot just as well as their metal counterparts, however unenjoyable it may be to shoot.

I suppose I agree with 1911guy. There are so many great platforms that it'd be a shame to limit ourselves to what the frame is made out of.

But yes, Zespectre, I see your point too. :)

[redneckrepairs]

I know what the op means , a while back it occurred to me that i had traded off all my 1911s ( except a detonics ) and had not really realized it . I fixed that with a colt ss xse lol. I like my gvt model , Browning hp , HK p7, ppks, woodsman , smith revolvers , ect.. However as i type this inside my waistband is a plastic framed Kahr and thinking about it i carry one or the other of them ( i have two ) more than all the other pistols i have put together. Do i particularly " Like " them ? No not really they are fugly with all the soul and charisma of a used car salesman's white shoes . However they are thin , light , and "shoot where they look " with no muss fuss or trouble . As another plus i dont care if they get banged up a bit going around my daily dutys on the ranch . crawling around under tractors , handling hazmat such as battery acid , welding ect.. I dont take pride in them in a sense but they are good solid tools that dont let me down .

[hill billy]

I have no love one way or the other but I have noticed lately that all I really have in the way of handguns are .45's.

[sm]

Oh I don't care...
..as long as the thing is OLDer, and falls into some category like : "everything we need in guns and ammo was done by 1955" or the Curmudgeon Code such as the 1974 Winchester Super X Model 1...

Nope, I don't much care, I gots my druthers and convictions, but I don't care...


I and mine have taken note of recent medical studies, reports and concerns about plastics used for and in the mfg process of medicine, foods, spices and the like.
Seems there is some contamination and altering of chemicals of medicines and the like.

That must be the problem, 'cause as I was coming up, Glass, Metal, Wood, & Leather did not cause folks to get all whomper-jawed as they seem to today.

Teething pains were satisfied by chewing on some wood stocks, GI 7 rd mag for a 1911, leather holsters and glass bottles.
We did not have polymer teething toys...and we all turned out all right.

Humm...

*reprobate*

[mavracer]

wow what a plesent thread about preferences with no negativity.I too have found my collection full of metal guns.I think I'm becoming an old curmudgeon myself.

[Ltlabner]

I carry a Glock 23 everyday. Shoots well, relatively accurate when I do my part and so far uber reliable. It's a gun.

However, I prefer metal framed weapons in terms of astetics or "wow factor". Love my Beretta 85 and CZ-40P for sheer classyness. They are firearms.

[Dale_Hash]

My only experience with plastic guns was when a shot a borrowed Glock in the Oregon Glock Championships a couple years ago. I am a little old for retraining and couldn't seem to remember to lift my finger off the trigger after each shot. This year they are changing the name to the "Oregon Plastic Gun Championships" So their popularly seems to be growing.

[MCgunner]

I do have this penchant for pretty side by sides. Now, you gotta understand, I'm poor folk, can't afford a Purdey or H and H side by side. And, there's just something about an ornate Turkish gun that doesn't quite cut it. LOL! So, I have this old Spanish built Sarasqueta I got in 1971 and a new Spartan 20 gauge I got last year for doubles. Not art, but go bang reliably and hit birds as well as any. If I ever hit the lotto, though, I'm going to build my shotgun collection with eye candy. Handguns? Bleh, tools, just tools. I appreciate single action revolvers in the company of ornate side by sides, but auto pistols and DA revolvers or just sorta tools. Engraved ones are nice, but I wouldn't do one for myself.