Which of the polymer pistols is the toughest?

Glock/HK

i have had nothing but positive experiences from either one of these weapons. i favor glock because they are more slender and cost effecient. also the trigger on HK's feel like mashed potatoes. glocks and HK's are the only "plastic" pistols that i trust and their reputations speak for themselves.

Glock rules the polymer world right now; but H&K is catching up
with the USP, as is SIG with the SIG PRO. Not far behind is the
Springfield XD's; which may over take the SIG PRO?

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

Ala Dan,

There are more Sig Pro's sold here in the US than Springer XD's? That really surprises me.

I love the looks and feel of the Walther P99.Imagine its as tough as the others(Glock, HK, SigPRo, XD).

Hk and springer xd

In regular use, I don't think you'll wear out any polymer pistol from any of the big companies (Glock, HK, Sig, SA, etc).

I think if I had to pick one (and I will get one sometime in the future) I'd go with a Glock because of all the durability tests I've seen...and I want a 10mm

Without a doubt the HK USP line. Probably some of the most reliable pistols in the world.

IMO the Sig Pro is better made and overall a better pistol than the Glock equivalent , but it's more a matter of personal preference and subjective details ( IMO : better , more substantial build , better ergos , better trigger , easier for me to shoot well and more accurately ) I think it's one of the best values in pistols going . HK's and XD's are not available for sale in MA so my experience with them is limited to looking at them in shops out of state . The HK seems like a solid piece , as does the XD but I wasn't too impressed with how well the Springfield didn't seem to hold up in the finish department . Honestly , I don't think you could go wrong with any of the above .

Toughest Glock? It would seem to be the Glock line. Or maybe there are just more insanely defensive Glock testers out there.

I've owned two G23s and nothing has broken on either of them though I will admit, they definately aren't my favorite guns. Friend has put between 13 and 50 rounds through it every week (give or take a couple weeks per year) through it since at least 1996 and swears he's never had it fail to feed, eject or fire. Even going with the 13 rounds per week, that's over 5,000 rounds. Even if you can buy defensive 40S&W ammo for $5.00/box, that's over $500 in ammo. If you can afford $500 in ammo, you can afford a recoil spring, mag spring or new mag every once in a while. Anything else will be covered by warranty.

My guess is if you get a Glock or an XD and only feed it standard pressure 9mm ammo from major manufacturers, it's going to last a very long time.

FN Forty-Nine and FNP-9/40

My Forty-Nine has swallowed everything I've stuffed in the magazine, is rated for hot loads and lacks all those stupid little feel-good devices like safeties. No problems at all.

Of course, I'm a bit biased, but my gun has never failed me. You also never hear about FN guns blowing up. Glocks do it, USP's do it, XD's do it. Give Sig time and the Sig pro's will do it too.

FN = supreme plastic autochucker

For all the time i'd been browsing gun boards, it's the Glock and the HK USP line that had built a reputation of durability and accuracy over thousands of rounds fired.

Behind them would be the Walther P99, HS2000 (Springfield XD) and Sig Pro, if only because of their relative newness as compared tothe first two, but these three had built a good following of their own as well.

One that had gone awry would be the Taurus Millenium line, which had a series of frame crack issues plaguing it since its introduction. But the newer Pro series seem to hint that Taurus had already licked this early design/material problem. Hope they did. A lot would also attest to the good qualities of the Kel-tec and Kahr P-series pistols.

FWIW, I've never read anything about any polymer gun crumbling to dust

my USP has had over 5K thru it, including the ill-advised lead rounds, with no hiccups at all, and still chucking them in.

My G34 has had over 6000 rounds through it. I have cleaned it exactly once, which it did not need. It hasn't required cleaning at all since I have owned it (bought it new! No failures to put a round through the target at deadly speed. It is an amazing *fighting* firearm.

It is not the most accurate, or gee-whiz to shoot, or even fits my hand the best, but it WILL go bang, and for that, I absolutely love it!

Chuck Taylor the gun writer has one of the oldest Glocks in the country (1985 or so). His GLock 17 is used as a teaching gun at his school and gets shot a LOT. He's taken it around the world training. Last count I heard, 185,000 rounds (not 18,500, one hundred eighty-five THOUSAND rounds) with almost all original parts, basically springs and mag replacements, that's it.

He's stuck it in the Pacific Ocean for six months and nothing happened, frozen it into a block of ice doing a test in the Alaskan north (along with several other guns) and nothing happened, done all the mud/goop/dirt/sand tests, etc...... still ticking.

However, Taylor says the Springfield XD-9 is catching up to it in rounds fired and how it's holding up. Something around 10,000 rounds fired I think.


My personal G30 is stock aside from sights, and 8 or 9,000 rounds later, has no problems aside from it doesn't like Winchester White Box (hard primers).

I have owned HK usp's about ten years... also had a socom for a while... I liked them both... They will go forever... At one point I had eight glocks... but in competition ( IDPA ) I started having problems with breakage on my glock 31 in 357 sig. plastic guide rods... spring cups... springs locking block.... many small parts.. I now am down to a 17-C and a 36 and my 31... I still have a new in box 20 / 21 lower in 2nd generation that I may build into something some day.

My recomendation would be to go with the HK over the glock... in 9mm or 45 acp you might do OK with the glock for a long time.. but the ability to carry an HK cocked and locked with one trigger pull makes me happy... If you decide on a glock get a 3.5 lb connector and polish the internals with some flitz... not to remove metal.. but just enough to smooth up the surfaces.


I can help anyone out that want to do that with a glock.

Quote:

There are more Sig Pro's sold here in the US than Springer XD's? That really surprises me.

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It really shouldn't surprise anyone that's tried/owned a Sig Pro.

I just wish they made a 239 sized SP , without a doubt I would have one . It surprises many people how well the Pro shoots , I was sceptical of the writers like Ayoob that claimed it performed better than a *classic* too but am now convinced that it is at bare minimum , equal .

STI/SV, duh

Quote:

There are more Sig Pro's sold here in the US than Springer XD's? That really surprises me.

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It really shouldn't surprise anyone that's tried/owned a Sig Pro.
__________________
JMag
Sola virtus nobilitat (Virtue alone ennobles)

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Uh JMag, the quality of the gun is not what surprises me.

Marshall,

Did I say something about quality??? What does surprise you?

"polymer" = fancy word for plastic

the sigpro by far.. see for yourself, take one apart!!

STI/SV, duh

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Ain't it the truth. Pretty much anyone who buys one of these expects to run 50,000+ through it.