The reason I'm going to hold out for a stainless slide is because the early CS series was initially only supposed to be available with blued carbon steel slides ... and then stainless slides replaced them ...
I'm lazy, and I like stainless, if possible ...
Scandium ... Interesting history.
When I was asking about the possibility of a pistol with a Scandium frame AND SLIDE, I was told that there weren't any immediate plans for such a model ... and then the guy told me about the "interesting problems" that would have to be resolved before such a thing could even be considered. Apparently .... just maybe ... nothing "official", mind you ... strictly hypthetically speaking ...
... Ahem ... some "testing" MAY have revealed some interesting results, so far ...
Slide velocities with significantly decreased slide masses are ... hypothetically, mind you ... wild.
He also said that watching the high speed imagery of how a Scandium alloyed frame behaved under recoil ... think .357 Magnum ... was fascinating. Picture the rippling surface of a pond when a rock is thrown in it.
The increased strength of aluminum after being alloyed with minute amounts of Scandium, and the ability of the alloy to withstand certain stresses, is really incredible.
I really like my 4013TSW ... but the thought of a 7+1 compact Scandium alloyed aluminum 4013-type pistol is VERY appealing. Also, if & when S&W decides to produce a Scandium/aluminum 908S/3913TSW or CS9, I just may have to "upgrade" some of my pistols.
For some weird reason, when I was asking about the possibility of a Scandium frame & slide pistol ... the fellow I was talking to started to mumble about how it might be interesting to see how a .380 pistol did with those components ... and mumbled about how S&W was licensed to make the Walther PPK design ... mumble, mumble ...
I imagine it might be easier, in some repsects, to develop a blowback design pistol to experiment with spring rates, at first ... but I'm merely a layperson.
Just imagine what the design engineers at S&W are probably "considering", as we speak ...
I love surprises like that ...