Are all steel guns soon to be a thing of the past?

I dunno 'bout that: Ruger rolled out their SR1911 ........ Steel.

And their new .22 sp101. Steel. They are sellin' all they make......
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The 1911 is a hundred year old design. If Ruger's SR pistol series had steel frames, it would be a little different. Revolvers are still mostly steel, but they're working on it.

It may well end up being like the watch industry: you will still be able to buy a finely crafted timepeice, but most of the dumb masses will be just as happy with a $5 digital disposable piece of plastic with a chip in it.
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That would be fantastic. If plastic means the pistol will be at least an order of magnitude more accurate while costing several orders of magnitude less than a steel version, I'd be all over it.
 
they're not going anywhere period.

even if they tried to, which they won't, some joe schmo would make a living and care for his wife and kids doing it the old-fashioned way
 
Anyone here really want to shoot a polymer framed .500 S&W?

The light weight of polymer is an advantage in smaller calibers (9mm, .40, .45) and a disadvantage in larger calibers (.44 mag and up).
 
This does not take into account that plastics primarily come from oil products...steel and other metals can be recycled and reused almost infinitely as long as the resources are recollected. Your old car could become steel and aluminum frames for pistols. But all that gas your car used is essentially lost forever.
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Well, I think it does.

The hydrocarbon chains that they distill or crack from oil for petrol are not necessarily the same as those for plastics. Also recycling plastic is far easier and cheaper. You also don't need to recycle immediately, whilst with steel, you do. Leave steel lying around and it rusts and corrodes reducing the useable proportion, not to mention the energy needs of recycling.

If our recycling culture was more developed, steel would be more available and cheaper too. I think of all those plane, train, tank graveyards and all those scrapyards. How many SR1911s could be milked from those?!:eek:

Anyone here really want to shoot a polymer framed .500 S&W?

The light weight of polymer is an advantage in smaller calibers (9mm, .40, .45) and a disadvantage in larger calibers (.44 mag and up).
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But are larger calibers the way the market is going? Not really. Yes, people sell them, but most people with several guns will have a few 9mm, a few .45s but unlikely to have a few .500s, assuming they have one at all...
 
Polymer guns have come a long way. I actually like my HK45 more than its metal cousin, the p220.

I still have my doubts about the long term durability of where the plastic meets the steel.
 
I don't like plastic guns any more then plastic woman. I'd rather have dependability, a comfortable gun that shoots every time on the range or in combat, and a comfortable woman who can cook a great meal every time she steps into the kitchen.
 
I don't think steel guns will ever be extinct. The revolver is still going strong after a lull because of the hi-cap rage the wheelgun is coming back. Maybe marksmanship instead of spray and pray will also come back.
Two New York cops recently went 10 for 16. The problem is that 9 were bystanders.
 
Be a thing of the past? No, at least I don't think so. But I do not see the price of all steel firearms going down anytime soon. Personally in carry guns I love polymer. It's weather resistant, extremely light and durable, wont wear like aluminum framed guns, and keep's the costs down. Sure nothing beat's the feeling of an all steel gun in your hands, but for practical use polymer does just fine.

I still have my doubts about the long term durability of where the plastic meets the steel.
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Believe it or not you should be more worried about long term durability of where aluminum frames meet steel.
 
That's not something new and has been a concern with the Colt Commander. Since some people apparently shoot outlandishly large amounts of ammunition, an aluminum frame will eventually develop cracks. Other brands not made as well as Colt, like the old Star pistols, will have parts loosen. But they were delightfully lighter and this fellow would never shoot a Colt enough to crack the frame. But I did manage to shoot the Star BKM I had, bought new, enough to cause parts to come loose.

Colt responded by introducing a steel-framed Commander and Star always had the steel-framed BM. Ironically, Colt now has an alloy frame full-sized model, which I'd love to have. By the way, I don't think the lighter alloy-framed models are any more difficult to shoot at all.

Yet aluminum framed pistols were quite common for a while. I've never read any such complaint about S&W pistols cracking or shooting loose, though I no doubt will now.
 
I know of an old model 12 with a cracked frame and I saw a Sig frame that was crumbling. Look how many aluminum framed and plastic guns that are out there and working well. I still don't love them but I do have some.
 
@PJP

This is true, gas and plastics don't come from the same portions of crude. But I was poorly trying to point out that most(if any) oil products are not infinitely recyclable. Both metal and oil are limited resources, but metal(base element) unlike oil(compound) can almost always be recovered, even the rust can be turned into perfectly good iron again. Whereas when hydrocarbons or polymers get degraded or oxidized returning them to their original state is no small task.

RE: Aluminum frames

Aluminum frames will always be subject to failure due to the nature, of the metal. Unlike steel, aluminum will fail under loads less than what would cause immediate failure when those loads are sustained or repeated over time. A good common example is an airplane. They're mostly aluminum and the wings don't just fall off(or other parts), but they require constant maintenance of the aluminum structures to prevent failure. When properly made, I do not think anyone could complain about the number of rounds they get out of a aluminum frame before failure.

This is not to bash aluminum frames, just putting some info on the table so the mode of failure is clear.
 
Yeah, I think old timey steel guns will disappear. No one will still want 1911s by the 1990s. I mean, we recently selected the double action, high cap Beretta for the military, right? :o And now that we have digital watches, who needs old fashioned Swiss movements anyway? Oops, time warp. :o

People still want steel frame guns now and will for quite a long time for their private collection. It's about DESIRE. As for military and LE, their selection is based on different criteria and we'll see far less of them in the future. I don't particularly care to be on this Earth by the time you can no longer get steel frame guns or internal combustion engined automobiles.
 
What is this? An Andy Rooney segment?

The hang up on steel is just a nostalgia thing. Without meaning to offend, it's a non-scientific based personal preference. Heck yeah, steel will be completely out the moment that a suitable replacement is found. It's like anything else. In fact, it is already almost completely out as most semi-autos these days are alloy or polymer framed. Offhand, other than some 1911 formats and a few CZ's (and some of their knockoffs), who makes "all steel" guns anymore? Although they are still out there, they are already "a thing of the past."

Whilst I am putting on my flame retardant suit, please note that 1/2 of my semi-auto collection is steel on steel. The other half is a mix of alloy and polymer based platforms. FWIW.
 
I thought it's The Market that decides. If polymer sells, they will sell it. If The Market says "Steel", Steel will sell.
 
That Rock River 1911 Poly, for which CWKahrFan posted a link, looks interesting. I will be happy to rent one as soon as a local range has it, just to see how it handles and shoots.

Perhaps due to "balance memory" if there is such a thing - like muscle memory, so far I've found that poly frame guns with steel slides feel too top-heavy to me and that slows me down at the range. Kinda like I wouldn't want power steering on a race car, if that makes any sense. But maybe it will be different with the familiar grip of a 1911 shape.

Anyhoo, next time I win anything, I want to buy a stainless Ruger 1911. And if the Rock River turns out to be a great compromise, I might want to buy one of those, too.
 
As long as I keep buying handguns they wont be things of the past, the only plastic on any of my handguns are the grips on a few of them.
 
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