Biodegradable magazines? A possibility?

[servantofinari]

Okay, I wasn’t sure where to put this as it doesn’t pertain to any one fire arm type. I was down at the local café today. I have been going there so long that the biodegradable utensils (takes them about six months) are nothing impressive. But I realized something. If you could make disposable silverware that would biodegrade why couldn’t you make magazines for weapons out of it? I know that the starch based plastic like stuff they make the utensils out of is way too soft but it seems like a possible future for firearms. It is also a sustainable method that would still be possible if metal was no longer easily manufactured for those kind of uses. i know thats a long shot but hey. Just a thought, wanted to get some feedback.

Check this site out. gives an idea as to what could be done. http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/112_news19/index.html

I think you are missing the point. And i think I'm in the wrong crowed here, selling donuts to people who need tires as it were. Look at the army, the navy, the paramilitary nut jobs. Why spend fifteen to twenty five dollars on a magazine that could get run over, crushed, shot, ex. when you can get one you shoot, drop, and forget. Okay, i see the issue with not being able to reload them but that is an acknowledged flaw.

 

[alemonkey]

Why would you want to?

 

[colorado_handgunner]

For the same reason we make guns out of stainless steel, longevity. Firearms of quality should far outlast their owner and even their owners heirs. Why then would you want a major portion of the weapon to degenerate over time. No offense intended, but this would be the exact opposite of what you want in a firearm. I prefer that my magazine feed bullets when I expect it too, not fall out in little planet-friendly pieces.

 

[BhmBill]

*** for? Firearms contribute what? .00003% of the worlds overall pollution. Plus, you want guns to last. Erosion and wear (biodegradable is exactly that) are exactly what you DON'T want your gun to have.

If you want to cut down on pollution or something, I'd recommend finding a new material to make tires out of, since that's where about 80% of the pollution emitted from cars/trucks comes from.

 

[crzbiker]

I like the idea. After you have finished at the range (while the magazine is still warm) you could dip it in salsa and have a quick lunch. Mmm good.

 

[BhmBill]

I like the idea. After you have finished at the range (while the magazine is still warm) you could dip it in salsa and have a quick lunch. Mmm good.

edible and biodegradable are not the same thing, lol

 

[xwingband]

I've learned a lot about materials in my college classes so my two cents (or more) are this...

PLA (poly lactic acid) and other natural polymers only do good is you consider that they end up at a land fill and are allowed to sit. This would be a small fraction of the total trash being made so the impact is small.

Also PLA materials have been shown to gum up recycling more than they help. They look just like PET and other clear plastics so they don't get filtered correctly. When they get melted they act differently and gum up recycling. Even if they're identified via the numbers on the bottom, they're currently #6 which is "other" and simply gets dumped.

A more interesting way would be sustainable metals. Aluminum despite it's initial cost of manufacture (damn high with energy costs) is extremely easy to recycle. A soda can recycled can be back on the shelf in two weeks when around the correct facilities (most urban areas).

If your mag stops functioning it'd be nice to just send it off to be melted and make a new one!

I also like BhmBill. There are other more effective ways! Ride a bike instead your car when possible! Take a bus, etc...

 

[Oro]

A soda can recycled can be back on the shelf in two weeks when around the correct facilities (most urban areas).

Seems to me washing a bottle and recapping it would be even cheaper...

 

[chris in va]

Magazines need to be reloaded and reused, not just dropped and left on the ground. Pretty weird line of thinking.

 

[JWarren]

And here I was trying to figure out how I could KEEP my gear for a LONG time.

I'd be pretty miffed if I had some magazines disintegrate in 6 months-- especially considering I have magazines in boxes that I haven't touched in 6 months.

Look at the army, the navy, the paramilitary nut jobs.

I'm not sure where you are going with that....


-- John

 

[Sunray]

Steel is biodegradeable. That's what rusting is. A man made material being broken down to its natural state.

 

[ezypikns]

Just because a thought pops into a person's head...

doesn't mean it should be expressed vocally.

 

[BhmBill]

Steel is biodegradeable. That's what rusting is. A man made material being broken down to its natural state.

Not to try n' give a chemistry lesson or anything, but steel is not organic, so biodegradation can't occur. Carbon steel is not considered organic either, even though it contains carbon.

Rust is oxidation, which is a form of degradation, but it isn't biodegradation.

Now... back on topic.... BIODEGRADABLE?! WATTT?!

 

[average_shooter]

Magazines need to be reloaded and reused, not just dropped and left on the ground. Pretty weird line of thinking.

Not considering that movie from Armalite (or maybe Colt?) from way back in the day when the AR family of rifles was first coming on the scene.

Someone posted the video here not long ago and I remember the part where the narrator said that the mag was designed simply and cheaply so it could be discarded on the battlefield when empty.

So, that "pretty weird line of thinking" has been around quite some time now. And was begun by the manufacturers themselves.

 

[rojocorsa]

Well, can't you just reload the magazine after taking it out of the gun? Why on earth do you need a bio-degradable mag anyway?

 

[TRGRHPY]

Great, so I pull my glock out because someone is breaking in to my home and the mag falls out and bullets spill all over the place? Besides, who the hell just chucks magazines away? And you can still recycle them if they get banged up.

 

[Blackbeard]

Do we have a big problem of plastic guns and/or magazines ending up in landfills? Is there a market for disposable pre-loaded magazines? Do we use 'em once and throw 'em away? The motto of the greenies is "reduce, reuse, recycle." Almost everything about guns gets reused. The only parts we use only once are the bullets, powder and primers. Maybe you can come up with a biodegradable bullet that has the same characteristics of a lead core copper jacketed bullet for half the price. That I would buy. Magazines, forget it.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

Manufacturers of guns and other munitions have long touted the supposed benefits of "throwaway" components. Of course they do -- the thrown away components must be replaced by the manufacturer. That's why, by the way, our rocket launchers now are one-shot deals like the A4 and Javelin instead of reusable like the Bazooka series and Blindicide platforms. It's also why our M16s use easily-damaged magazines. The Tomahawk missile was the penultimate throwaway munition -- in one impeachment afternoon Bill Clinton fired off almost a hundred million dollars of equipment into the Sudanese desert. That's a very expensive fireworks show.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Look at the army, the navy, the paramilitary nut jobs. Why spend fifteen to twenty five dollars on a magazine that could get run over, crushed, shot, ex. when you can get one you shoot, drop, and forget.

As a paramilitary nut job (I guess, not sure what that means), I'll tell you why.

Politics. What will happen if we are all using your biodegradable 20 round magazines and a magazine capacity ban is put in place again?

Grandfather clauses don't do much good if all you have is magazines that melt in the rain

Oh, I think I'd rather not.

 

[JWarren]

TRM,

Think of this....


All of a sudden we have a situation where we have a global crisis where our military has to respond...

But we have to wait 6 months before we can take action while we produce enough magazines since we don't want to keep that many on hand in times of peace as they rot away.

Of course, as we get up to the amount needed, the first batch has already rotted away.




DoD wrote:

The Tomahawk missile was the penultimate throwaway munition -- in one impeachment afternoon Bill Clinton fired off almost a hundred million dollars of equipment into the Sudanese desert. That's a very expensive fireworks show.

I remember that. Didn't he blow up a few tents?


-- John

 

[akodo]

degradable mags?

NO

Mags cheap enough that in the heat of battle soldiers just drop em and not worry about it (and in training just drop em and later on afterwards go back and get them)

yes

Heck, I don't even want biodegradable stripper clips!

make me some bright orange SKS ones so I can find em if I drop em!

 

[KarenTOC]

I think people are seeing "biodegradable" and ignoring everything else. I think "disposable" is the more important quality in the mags of the OP's post. (It's generally a good idea that anything disposable also be biodegradable, "just because.")

Also, the OP doesn't mention whether the disposable mags would come pre-filled. I really don't see a point in disposables unless they're also ready to use immediately. They'd probably be shrinkwrapped, so their biodegradibility wouldn't be an issue until 6 months had passed from unwrapping.

These new mags would likely supplement, not replace, regular mags, and it would be a good idea of a gun could use both.

Handloaders would be able to buy fillers* so that after loading their own cartridges, they could fill the disposable mags they would buy in bulk (*shrinkwrappers sold separately).

Maybe they'd have a military use; I can't speak to that. But on the civilian side, I think their main use would be for plinking or practice.

• Imagine cheap, disposable, biodegradable, pre-filled mags that you use once, and throw away.
• Imagine picking up several boxes on your way to the range.
• Imagine a day at the range with zero time spent refilling emptied mags.
• Imagine all the money you'd spend on the extra mags you would go through. (Some could, conceivably, consider this a disadvantage.)

"Cheap" is, of course, a relative concept. But if production volume is high enough, and demand is strong enough, chances are the price of the disposables would probably be no more than 30-50 percent higher than the equivalent number of rounds purchased loose. People will happily pay the extra convenience (proof: 7-11, mcdonald's drive-ins, and pre-assembled cigarettes).

In conclusion, I can say without fear of contradiction, that I really need to stop reading forum posts when I'm under the weather.

 

[Wes Janson]

The Tomahawk missile was the penultimate throwaway munition -- in one impeachment afternoon Bill Clinton fired off almost a hundred million dollars of equipment into the Sudanese desert. That's a very expensive fireworks show.

If you can point me towards a reusable long-range cruise missile, I'll gladly pick up a couple. Makes it much easier, not having to fill out another Form 1 every time I press the launch button.

 

[Duke of Doubt]

WesJansen: "If you can point me towards a reusable long-range cruise missile, I'll gladly pick up a couple."

A fully-laden B-52 out of Diego Garcia is reusable, cheaper and more effective for most missions than a barrage of Tomahawks. Tomahawks were designed for missions where manned aircraft would suffer unacceptable loss rates, such as when penetrating Soviet radar-directed SAMs and AAA to hit CCC targets on Warday. Not when cruising over the Sudan, blowing up vacant tents.

 

[JWarren]

If you can point me towards a reusable long-range cruise missile, I'll gladly pick up a couple. Makes it much easier, not having to fill out another Form 1 every time I press the launch button.

I think Wes' joke was talking about the "WARHEAD."

I can't imagine a reusable warhead.



-- John