What is the life expectancy of a polymer frame, independently from use???

[saturno_v]

Anybody knows how long before the polymer material start to lose strenght because of aging???
What happen?? It lose elasticity?? It becomes brittle?? It cracks??? Less resistant to heat stress?? Intense use accelerate the process or not??

Thanks!!

 

[jocko]

ask

ask glock owners, they have been around longer than any polymer framed handgun, I don't seem to recall any wearing out, from age or dehydration. You know they say plastic thrown in a dump will be there a 1000 years from now, Can't say that for a peace of metal thrown in a dump..

 

[Blarelli]

I have seen a couple of older poly guns start to flake a little bit (Ruger, Glock). Kind of like it had a think layer on the top that was slowly coming off in a couple of spots on the grip. Nothing that would have any effect on the functioning of the gun though. The ruger is an early production 22/45 (probably a '93 or so), and the glock is a pretty old model 17.
At the rate those two are discintegrating I would say they will last the next couple of hundred years.

 

[WinchesterAA]

but jocko.. the barrel is metal, and so is the slide..

half a gun doesn't provide much fun =)

 

[Kenneth Lew]

ask glock owners, they have been around longer than any polymer framed handgun, I don't seem to recall any wearing out, from age or dehydration. You know they say plastic thrown in a dump will be there a 1000 years from now, Can't say that for a peace of metal thrown in a dump..

Correction,

H&K VP70s were around long before Glocks.

 

[bannockburn]

saturno v

I've got a Glock 17, purchased new in 1986. Still looks the same, still functions the same as the day I bought it. I keep in an extra plastic case that Glock sent me. When I'm not using it, it's in my safe. Absolutely no evidence of any kind of wear, abrasion, or deterioration to the polymer frame.

 

[jmr40]

The Remington plasic .22 rifles have been around since the 1960's. Maybe it was late 1950"s, and seem to be holding up well. If anything I would think the technology to make plastics since then has improved.

 

[Disaster]

Aluminum alloy frames will fail before the polymers they are using. Aluminum has a finite fatique strength life.

 

[Storm]

ask glock owners, they have been around longer than any polymer framed handgun, I don't seem to recall any wearing out, from age or dehydration. You know they say plastic thrown in a dump will be there a 1000 years from now, Can't say that for a peace of metal thrown in a dump..

Correction,

H&K VP70s were around long before Glocks.

Yup, by 20 years. And, the HK P9S by 11.

The notion that plastic equals cheap or weak is antiquated thinking.

 

[Moonclip]

I had a Nylon 66 stock crack from rattling about in a trunk. I have seen a Ruger P97 break off a small piece of the polymer after much abuse as a range rental, unfortunately it was in a critical area by the slide rails.

My Glock 22 tupperware case has cracked

 

[Geno]

The internet, and several Glock-oriented magazines are full of publications describing Glocks enduring happenings that flat-out would destroy most other pistol, including steel. I don't lose sleep worrying that my Glocks will break, melt, deteriorate, or become more attractive over time with character-marks. Glocks are ugly, rugged, reliable.

 

[jocko]

sorry about that

forgot about the HK's, even goes further to prove my point. Nothing wrong with the polymer guns, todays material is probably even more advanced than 40 years ago. As far as some of the polymer finsihs "flaking". Hell my next door neighbor is a real "flake", but he seems to be doing OK.

 

[mr.72]

the biggest problem with plastics like this that leads to deterioration is sun exposure. this causes "outgassing" where some more volatile compounds are released from the plastic causing it to become brittle or flaky over time. you can slow this process down by replacing some of these oils, actually petroleum jelly works pretty well as does regular mineral oil (like baby oil), at least in plastic products that are more well known for sun degredation (automotive interiors, for example).

however a CCW does not get nearly enough sun exposure typically for this to be a problem. maybe if you left it out on your lawn for about 5-10 years you would see some degradation on the side facing up.