plastic strength vs. steel

[Baphomet]

I think before the question can answered it must first determined if we are we discussing yield strength, compressive strength, tensile strength, fatigue strength or impact strength... These are all very different material qualities and the answer to the question, "Which is stronger (steel or polymer)?" will vary depending on what exactly it is you mean when you use the word "strength".

 

[MachIVshooter]

Plastics have their place, but I prefer metal. Incidentally, all of my polymer guns are Kel-Tec, and the only problem I've ever had was the mag catch in my P3, and I believe the guns to be very durable. However, I'd much rather have a case head separation in my S&W 5906 than in my PF-9. Metal guns tend to only Ka-Boom out the top, instead of blowing apart the grip, cracking the frame, etc.

I've had multiple case separations in .40 and 10mm, in both S&W and Tanfoglio steel guns. The worst that ever happened was a bent extractor. I usually just have to remove the rest of the case.

So, yeah, polymer is OK, but I'll trust in steel.

 

[RedLion]

I think before the question can answered it must first determined if we are we discussing yield strength, compressive strength, tensile strength, fatigue strength or impact strength... These are all very different material qualities and the answer to the question, "Which is stronger (steel or polymer)?" will vary depending on what exactly it is you mean when you use the word "strength".

Then throw in all the different types of steel, and the different processes to make a frame, along with all the different polymers and their respective processes... and then your head explodes.

Glocks have been around a while, and a few other polymer guns have been tested quite extensively, so I'd say for the guns that use them, polymers are just fine.

 

[Baphomet]

... I'd say for the guns that use them, polymers are just fine.

Precisely.

The other question that comes to mind for me is this: If a material "A" can withstand, say, 20x what's required of it under the worst, most extreme conditions imaginable, and material "B" can withstand 25x what's required of it under those same circumstances, do the numbers even matter? I think about this not only when reading arguments like this one (steel v. polymer) but also when the topic is... is...

Dare I even say it? *Forged v. MIM parts.




*Lets not go there...

 

[Skillet]

I KNOW for a fact that a gun company would not risk their reputation on some newfangled plastic thing that they are not sure about in the durability region. The plastics are very reliable, because companies like GLOCK build thier reputation on that. If plastics weren't safe, gun companies would still use metal for frames on all of their guns, or go out of business. It's that simple. As far as metal vs. plastic goes, I think it is all down to the chemistry involved, which is way beyond my boundaries of education with just a high school chem. class under my belt and I'm sure things have changed alot since then.

As for me, I just like metal guns. I don't have anything against plastic ones, I just like them because I feel like I am holding something more finely crafted in my hands when it's metal. Maybe it's been bred into me as a human being over centuries of humans using metals for weapons. I guess you could say it feels more intimate, like it has a history somehow. I know that's weird but weapons have been made of metal since the bronze age. When I am holding a plastic weapon I feel like I am holding one of my nephew's many pop guns. But what is weird is I don't have an issue with plastic stocks on long rifles.
Maybe there is some sort of a psychological name for my issue-

gun-metalosis

 

[easyg]

I like guns that I can carry all day long.

Which also means that I don't like guns that are needlessly heavy.

If polymer will not work, then by all means, use steel.
But if it works with polymer, then by all means, use the polymer and reduce the weight.

 

[NMGonzo]

I shoot equally bad with both.

I prefer steel because it gives me the illusion of less muzzle rise.

 

[huntsman]

The plastics are very reliable, because companies like GLOCK build thier reputation on that.

Doesn’t Glock refurbish some of their trade-ins? I'm not familiar with what's done just that it is.

 

[Dnaltrop]

I don't claim to be any kind of expert on which plastics are in which guns today... I have fond memories as a child of pushing my finger through the crumbling antique plastic fixtures in my Father's 1950 Buick (to his great anguish)

In recent years, many collections of plastic Art, historical artifacts etc, are disintegrating even under the best of conditions. The agents binding the particles of the plastics together sweat out of the material and leave the item in question to slowly decay.

http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications/newsletters/24_2/popart.html

I have no bias against Polymer guns, they have a very secure place in the world. I happen to prefer the weight of steel in general.

I'm curious, without an in-depth knowledge of what materials are used in each gun, how recently would plastics in these categories have been excluded in general from today's pistols?