Are all steel handguns passe?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Maybe the military and law enforcement no longer issue them but I doubt that their day is over for SD use. There are too many old sticks in the mud (like me) out there. Steel is what I own, steel is what I carry. I also happen to be pretty good with it.
 
I personally prefer steel, nothing against plastic, just a matter of preference.

To those who say steel is on life support or on it's way out the door, I heartily disagree. How long have polymers been available? steel is still going strong because someone, somewhere wants it. Basic Economics.

Case in Point, the argument about the black powder vs. cased ammo back in the day, keep in mind, you can still buy black powder guns today.
 
Since I wouldn't carry any full size gun, the lighter polymer weight isn't an asset for me. My CZ-75b with factory rubber grips has little recoil. A thing I don't like about the hi-cap polymers is that gun weight seems to change as you run through the magazine. IMHO, plastic triggers aren't the greatest either.
 
Maybe my daughter who is mid twenties and shoots with me often, is old fashioned. Her comment while we were in a gun shop recently...

"polymer guns are soul-less".

As carry guns they have their place, but it seems to me that a steel gun is more fun at the range. I doubt that steel guns are on the way out. They just feel right to too many people.
 
Steel framed pistols have been on life support for decades, some guys just haven't figured it out yet. They will always have a place for guys who play games with their guns at the range and in magnum revolvers, but their day is over for serious SD, military and law enforcement use.

You wish!....I don't think CZ, Colt or Beretta will stop making steel & aluminum handguns anytime soon.

So what if they're not the cats meow of the modern day. :rolleyes: ....... Which I'll remind you usually means made cheaper/junkier but just as expensive to purchase based on marketing hype.

To insinuate that steel pistols are somehow inferior for "serious" SD or military and police is ridiculous! Besides a few extra onces of weight, how are they not serious?

Lets see what steel can do that plastic can't:

Crack skulls.
Be ran over by a Humvee etc, picked back up and fired.
I've lost my footing, slipped and crashed into a large rock. I can still get up and fight but my polymer framed pistol is ah broke. :eek:
Steel, endure extreme heat.....polymer melt.

Do I have polymers, yes, do I like them as well NO......It's kind of like a Chevette or Corvette.....They'll both get you around town but one does it with sophistication, class and style and the other does it with no feeling of pride.

Whatever trips your trigger is fine with me but don't claim they're not up to the task of serious work. :rolleyes:
 
They both have their place to me, and whether the frame is steel, polymer, or what have you, isn't usually a selling point for me. The exception is with high pressure rounds like the 10mm. In most cases, it comes down to the question or performance and ergonomics for me.
 
While I am a fan of steel pistols, the suggestion that polymer frame guns are somehow less durable is pretty hard to buy, considering the verified round counts in polymer guns versus steel and alloy frame guns.

Do this with your steel 1911:

http://www.theprepared.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90

Lets see what steel can do that plastic can't:
Crack skulls.
Be ran over by a Humvee etc, picked back up and fired.
I've lost my footing, slipped and crashed into a large rock. I can still get up and fight but my polymer framed pistol is ah broke.
Steel, endure extreme heat.....polymer melt.

Most polymer pistols have plenty of steel - enough to use as a bludgeon. Though perhaps not as heavy as an all steel gun

As noted, show me a polymer gun where the frame broke because someone fell. The link above shows a polymer gun being thrown out of an airplane and still operating fine.

Extreme heat? Are you going to bake your pistol in the oven? A polymer framed pistol can survive any heat that the user can. Get a steel frame too hot and you'll ruin the heat treat an render it unsafe.
 
Lay one on concrete and smack the frame real good with a hammer and then do the same with a steel frame......Then will discuss durability. Not just round count.
 
Polymer is the future, I tried to hate Glock for 15 years. Now it's my main carry gun. Go Figure.
 
Did you read the link? Polymer framed gun dropped 500 feet from an airplane going 100 mph.

I've destroyed enough guns for the PD to know that steel frame guns will fail under a 2 pound sledge. Poly guns will too.If you'll provide the steel and polymer framed guns, I'll do the hammer test. :)

But really, how likely are you to have your gun attacked by someone wielding a hammer just heavy enough to damage a poly framed gun, but not a steel gun?

The reality is that in durability tests that are measuring typical types of wear and tear, steel framed guns just can't keep up. Try and find one recent competition where an all steel auto bested its polymer competitors.

But that is not what this thread was meant to be about. It's more about buying trends. At one point, revolvers were the standard and auto were considered by the firearms cognoscenti to be not as reliable or desirable.

Now, revolver sales make up a small percentage of all handguns sold. The current trends seem to favor polymer framed guns as well, and gunmakers are reacting to this by offering more and more polymer framed guns. 'Plastic' guns is no longer synonymous with cheap and unreliable.

The question is have we reached the point where to the typical gun buyer is all steel now retro? Is this just a trend, or have all steel guns taken a permanent back seat to their polymer brethren in terms of sales?

I'd also be interested to know the age of the posters - at least generally. I'd be willing to bet that the all steel crowd mostly falls on the far side of 40.
 
Polymer is the future, I tried to hate Glock for 15 years. Now it's my main carry gun. Go Figure.

I am exactly the same. But the Glock still doesn't 'feel right' to me. In fact I have yet to find a polymer gun that feels like a proper gun to me. At the range, I love my CZs, Browning and 1911s. But when it comes to putting something in a holster, my G23 is still the standard carry. It's light, reliable and accurate. If feel about it what I feel about the AK - it lacks grace and character, but it performs it roles better than almost anything else.

My son, on the other hand, find poly guns completely natural, and my all steel guns heavy and with the wrong balance.
 
Maybe my daughter who is mid twenties and shoots with me often, is old fashioned. Her comment while we were in a gun shop recently...

"polymer guns are soul-less".
"soul-less"???

Really?


I weep for the future of this nation.
 
Do you steel lovers actually carry?

And by "carry" I don't mean throwing it in your glove box or strapping it on for a trip through the "bad areas." I mean eight hours minimum while doing everyday tasks.
My last boss asked me to carry at work. Government Model IWB 10 hours daily.
 
A Glock 23 w/o mag is 21oz., loaded with 14rds. of 180gr. cartridges it weighs 31oz. A 1911 weighs 38-42oz. w/o mag and ~45-~48oz. loaded with 9rds.

Three pounds? My wife is snickering while pointing at her purse.
 
The leap from heavy steel to polymer wasn't taken in one step. Most of my autos and several revolvers use lightweight metal alloys. The widespread use of plastic guns by law enforcement is more cost driven than anything else. If Sig sold P226s to agencys for $350 or whatever a Glock costs them things might be different.
 
I too went through the plastic fantastic phase. I couldn't wait to get a Glock back in the day. I'm 32 now and I have noticed that as often as I can afford to shoot it comes to an in the safe more and shoot less issue. I fight off rust issues, get mad at how soft and able to damage aluminum is, and the Glock just stays the same. But when I get to go shoot I don't care to shoot anything but the all steel 1911 or all steel revolver. I too have looked at the CZ75 family and I think it might be just the thing. That or a Hipower.
 
I think the cost of steel will eventually make it far too expensive for the normal shooter to afford and thereby obsolete those weapons due to cost. The makers will follow the money and make more poly frames leaving the steel frames to high end custom shops. It is sad but true. That being said when I was a kid they called my 1911 "old slab sides" and the revolvers were a thing of beauty(they still are) I also think my old 1911 is still beautiful after 40 years.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top