TimboKhan
Member
This thread is not intended to spark a 1911/Glock battle, start an argument about why you should buy a Glock or an XD or whatever else or to spread lies about polymer pistols (and, I guess, rifles and carbines) This thread is for new shooters and curious folks to ask questions about polymer pistols and to get reasonable answers to those questions.
I got the idea for this thread here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=3568085#post3568085
Where a guy brought this up:
And received answers like the following:
These were two interesting and helpful answers that helped to dispell a myth about Glocks. It struck me that others probably had some questions, and that some of us might know the answers to those questions. Anyway, we will see. This thread will either be helpful, or will go down in flames! (literally and metaphorically, I guess...)
I got the idea for this thread here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=3568085#post3568085
Where a guy brought this up:
Plastics are made with petroleum products. That means they contain what is known as "aromatics". They actually evaorate from the base materials over time.
The blue haze you find on the inside of your car windshield is not from cigarette smoke. It's from the aromatics that evaporate out of the plastics used in the interior, notably the dashboard, which condense on the cooler windshield.
A good friend is an engineer at the GM proving grounds in Mesa AZ. He gave me a tour once. While there, I noticed a bunch of cars parked out in an empty field. Upon examination, I noticed that the windshields were so fogged as to be opaque. When I asked who smoked in them, he told me that they are test vehicles, used to see how fast and how bad the aromatics in the plastics evaporate, and how the base materials degrade and fall apart.
That process is a natural one in plastic. No matter how many people claim they have old Glocks, science won't be denied.
Now, I'm not a plastics engineer but the above makes sense to me. What are y'alls feelings on this?
And received answers like the following:
Depends on the plastic (polymer). The material that collects in cars is actually mostly from the foam padding in the seats, not from the vinyls. Most polyvinyl plastics are extremely stable - so stable that they are a problem for landfills. The polymers typically used in handgun frames can probably be expected to last hundreds if not thousands of years - far longer than any steel parts. These platics are designed to resist chemical breakdown even in the presence of strong solvents found in some gun cleaning products.
BTW, not all plastics contain aromatics. Aromatics are a specific organic compound - so names becausde many have distictive smells. Aromatics are distinguised by their carbon rings structures. Most polymer plastics are composed of long chain hydrocarbons, often with halogens.
These were two interesting and helpful answers that helped to dispell a myth about Glocks. It struck me that others probably had some questions, and that some of us might know the answers to those questions. Anyway, we will see. This thread will either be helpful, or will go down in flames! (literally and metaphorically, I guess...)