Plastic with soul?

Walther P99 maybe?

 

Nope.

 

I think the CZ 75 SP-01 Phantom may qualify as "having soul".

 

But it is possible to have both, in one gun.

 

Beautiful pistol ! I bet you paid a steel price for it, though.

 

Thank goodness we have great selections and numerous guns and brands to choose from.

 

I have a few polymer frame guns that hold a certain allure that gives them some soulful quality to them.

One of them is my Ruger SR9c. I love the streamlined styling and the overall shape of the grip frame. It's not really plastic but reinforced fiberglass that fit's my hand very perfectly and feels warm to the touch. It also has great sights and one of the best triggers I have ever encountered with a striker fired pistol.

Number two on my list is my CZ P07. While some may say this blocky looking gun has no visual appeal to it and they might be right, but the ergonomics and solid build quality lend credence to the saying that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". What I found to my surprise is that the grip frame reminded me of that of a 1911 and that's definitely a good thing in my book! Likewise I discovered that it's quite easy to swap out (with the parts needed included with the gun) the decocker for a thumb safety making it possible to carry it in Condition One. I really like this gun!

The third gun for your consideration is my HK VP9 in all of it's technological splendor. Remember when I wrote that the Ruger SR9c had one of the best triggers; well meet the new contender for that title! Incredibly smooth and light and with a short reset, it's got everything going for it. Add to that a polymer grip frame that is so easy to adjust and configure to where it feels just right in your hand, along with great sights, and you've got a winning combination in a semi-auto pistol.

So I guess that to me the real "spiritual life" of a handgun isn't so much if it's made from aluminum alloys, plastic, polymers, or fiberglass, or to how it appears styling-wise; but really how good the gun feels in your hand, how nice the trigger is, how readily the sights are to acquire, and most importantly how reliable and accurate it is. These are the things that give soul to my "plastic" guns.

 

The browning was 834 after tax and nics from Cabalas.

 

I got nothing... It's real steel or no deal

 

My Ruger P95 fills my hands pretty heartily, and feels like it has some of what the OP is talking about. Perhaps it's because it's of the older, hammer-fired design, and that I was once issued its aluminum-framed predecessor. It's a solid shooter, but far from "state of the art."

 

Nope. I’ve had several plastic guns over the years and am down to three. Two Springfields and my HK VP9.

The VP9 is as close as I’ve come. Maybe it’ll change when I spend more time with my XDm 10mm compact. But it’s unlikely.
Plastic guns are strictly for utilitarian purposes with me.

 

About to ramble...

The first semi-auto centerfire handgun I bough was the XD-40 Service (middle). The lower left XD-40 Tactical was bought a few short month later. I have replaced most of the fire control parts with aftermarket and done all the fitting and tuning. I designed, machined and fitted my own magazine well flare, I designed and machined my own magazine extensions. ( Both done before commercial magwell and mag ext were on the market.) I have put nearly 40,000 rds through it mostly in USPSA competitions. So yeah that gun has as much soul IMHO as any lump of inanimate material can have.

All the revolvers I actually use (and I use revolvers more than semi-autos for the past few years) have rubber grips and most are stainless. Rubber is for go, wood for show IMHO. I also carry nearly all my handguns semi-autos or revolvers in polymer or polymer/leather holsters.



The idea that wood and blued steel is some how better than polymers and modern metal finishes flies in the face of what modern materials and finishes can do.

These are more of my guns with soul and they have lots of polymers on them.



That is not to say that wood and blued steel are not nice.

My pre-64 Model 70


My Winchester 9410

Both of these wood and blue steeled guns have every bit as much soul but I do not see them as better or worst than my polymer based guns. They all have memories attached to them of adventures and triumphs and even a few defeats and times spent alone in the woods or with family and friends.

As I said in my earlier post whether a gun has "soul" or not has far more to do with what I have done with it than what it is made. Nothing is better than a tool/gun that is ugly from honest wear, it stands tribute to the success and trials its user have overcome.

 

I love my plastics. But there is something about a nice polished model 10 that hits me in the feels.

 

What if you put rubber grips on your model 10 and stuff than in a hybrid holster?

 

I prefer steel. I mostly carry steel framed handguns. With that said, the only polymer handguns that I feel have even a fourth of the character of steel framed guns are made by HK.

/End Thread

 

I have a couple plastic framed pistols that I'm very fond of, but it's the all steel ones that I love and that shoot like they're an extension of my hand. It's like a woman with um, "augmentation" may be, well, "functional," but I'll always prefer an all-natural woman.

 

The Mona Lisa is still the Mona Lisa even if you put a burlap sack over it.

 

+1... I have S&W M&P 2.0, Glocks, XDs, Berettas, Sigs, Walthers, etc polymer handguns, and HKs are the highest quality and only non disposal plastic handguns on the market.

 

For me, it is not asmuch what a gun is made from as the design of the gun.

I like shooting striker fire guns at the range but I’m not comfortable with them for carry.

I like my H&K P30SK V3 trigger (DA/SA) for carry but I am warming to one with the LEM trigger.

My opinnion. Obviously, others will have theirs and that is OK by me.

 

I’ve never felt inanimate things have much soul. Some are more aesthetically pleasing to my eye, but at the end of the day they are just things.

True beauty, to me, with things is in the functionality. Glocks (and other polymer) appeal to me on a utilitarian standpoint. 1911s and revolvers also appeal for the same reasons, but do look better to my eye.

 

Soul? Remember the original t.v. commercials for the Kia Soul? The hamsters? (I think they were hamsters). One of the most obnoxious commercials ever aired. Go ahead, just try to get THAT image out of your mind.

 

I think the discussion has been reduced to

vs.

 

Soul was probably a bad metaphor. Metal rusts away to nothing. Plastic just breaks up. I think rust may degrade to something useful in the soil. Plastic I’m not sure about. I guess it might be valuable if you had a match in a very cold environment. I think it would melt and make a fire for awhile like a candle.

 

Jeez.

Am I supposed to post pics of the four that I own, and all my USP Tacs and Experts?