Angels and pin heads. But, I really hate when plastic-striker fans try to act like they are somehow wiser or smarter because of their choice, as if in doing so, they validate their own choices and intellectual superiority. I don't compete in pistol competitions so frankly competitors are irrelevant to me.
A post on the first page even smacks of elitism "There are a lot of traditional gun owners out there who cling to steel and wood, and can't/won't join the 21st century." Eh, really? Like clinging to guns and God? You do know that striker-fired comes to us from the 19th century, poly guns from 40 years ago, and nothing on any handgun is newer than that, right?
I don't like polymer striker-fired guns and yet I carry. I carry in forests and swamps - I'm a forester. I also have a Master's degree and while my watch is a wind-up and my cell phone does nothing but send and receive calls, these things are choices I make based on personal requirements made for solid reasons. I can't wear quartz because of a funky bio electrical system that makes them unreliable. I think only fools would carry a phone that is approaching the size of the bag phone I used to keep in the truck. I don't actually want to browse the internet away from home - I have a life that does not revolve around the internet (an ironic statement of course because I type this post here).
I carry revolvers or pistols made of steel and wood with the only polymer being perhaps the finish or the grips. Why? I do know about polymers and the fact they do degrade all on their own. Sure, torture tests and the like have shown poly pistols last a long time, but who has worn out a Ruger Police Service Six??? My Springfield P9 is going like a champ despite being 20 years old, my Colt Trooper is 40, my hunting rifle is 50 and my shotgun is 80 years old. They all work great. They all STILL work great.
But, I buy tools to last forever. I use Trimco pipe wrenches, my newest is 100 years old, because not only are they among the best-made wrenches, they are designed to be repaired. I don't actually WANT to throw something away. I don't WANT to use something up and discard it unless it is a styrofoam cup or a wooden pencil.
I use Williams wrenches because I want to use them until I die. They will still work for my son. I could get cheaper wrenches that will wear out, but why on earth would I want to? Why would I buy a wrench and blithely declare that it is okay if it lasts only as long as me, I won't need it later anyway when I could get a tool that WILL last that long, and longer? I still can use my great grandfather's cross-cut saw as well as his bit-and-brace and clocks. I keep time with a mantle clock that predates anyone living today. Yeah, quartz is more accurate - as long as the battery runs and I haven't had a quartz clock last more than a decade before throwing away and replacing. My clock radio died a few weeks back, and it was 30 years old.
My point? I do buy tools (and handguns are tools) that last forever when I can. That does not make me some kind of backwards hermit. I don't buy to throw away and that does not a fool make me. My specific reasons are reasoned, intelligent, and with solid merit. And my choices have YET to let me down. I don't give a rat's butt about what competitors use as I don't carry for target sport. You know, I don't wear Under Armor cleats even though professional football players do. Imagine that.
But beyond that, I have a more solid reason for my choices - and remember I do actually carry. I like hammer-fired single-action pistols because they operate exactly like my rifles and shotguns. There are just about no "safe action" long arms. Since I am already used to using a rifle and shotgun that require safeties, that operate using a hammer, why on earth would I want something that didn't? Most here accepts that rifles and shotguns make better defensive weapons than pistols, so it seems most here have nothing wrong with safeties and hammers, which seems that most here are clinging to the 19th century after all. Who uses double action hunting rifles? Shotguns? Carbines? Everyone who goes to a 3-gun event with a Glock and an AR has already conceded the merits of single-action hammer-fired firearms with safeties. I just like to remain consistent with what I shoot.
I don't like either striker-fired or poly-framed pistols (or combinations of both). You do? Fine by me, I won't call you names. Manufacturers go that route because they offer a much higher profit than the more expensive-to-make traditional models. You don't like what I like? Okay, fine by me, too. You think I am clinging to the 20th century (eh, we all cling to that period, but that's fine by me) by my choice (and by extension, that makes me somehow backwards) okay, too.
Congratulate yourself on your wisdom and smarts. I'll be out back shooting my equally reliable arms.
