Has your polymer pistol ever bent or been damaged by sitting?

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Hi Carl

Ruger frame is not polymer, it is glass filled nylon. I don't know exactly what is the difference, but Ruger is very specific.
https://www.ruger.com/products/lcp/specSheets/3701.html

I am surprised though, it has a whole aluminum trigger unit that takes all the stress like LC9 or LC380.

How many rounds you shot before they started cracking?

One thing, it's a lot of pressure from the 380ACP putting on such a small pistol also. That's why I never want to push to the limit on the size and weight.

I always believed that you start to look for cracks in them at around 1500 rds. I had one that made it up to about 2200 rds. Ruger might now have a new upgraded material by now, but I would not know.
The good news is Ruger would keep replacing them. But they did give me a warning that I was coming to a end of getting them. So I keep the last one I received and just do not shoot it any more. The Gen 2 (Not LCP ll) with the nice DAO trigger.
You can push some small 380's to extreme limits. But they will have steel chassis or steel inserts. I am in the process or was pushing one very hard and no sign of wear.

 

[Sarge]

The only living thing I ever saw damage a Glock was a 5 month old Lab pup that belonged to a young officer who worked for me several years ago. It was his personally owned G22. He had it field stripped to clean when his phone rang, which kept him busy 15-20 minutes. The pup saw it and said "Chew Toy!!" and snatched the frame off the bench. It sorta custom textured the bottom third of the grip but didn't hurt anything.

Lab pups are natural-born kleptomaniacs (I also know this first hand) so y'all have been warned

 

[Alan0354]

I always believed that you start to look for cracks in them at around 1500 rds. I had one that made it up to about 2200 rds. Ruger might now have a new upgraded material by now, but I would not know.
The good news is Ruger would keep replacing them. But they did give me a warning that I was coming to a end of getting them. So I keep the last one I received and just do not shoot it any more. The Gen 2 (Not LCP ll) with the nice DAO trigger.
You can push some small 380's to extreme limits. But they will have steel chassis or steel inserts. I am in the process or was pushing one very hard and no sign of wear.

I think 1500rounds on a tiny gun is quite a bit!!! I put a little less on my Beretta 950 (25ACP) and I bought a new one as the reliable one already!! That is actually a quite robust gun in my opinion, just firing bullet is quite a shock to the gun.

Between steel and polymer, of cause steel is more durable, I still trust polymer over aluminum alloy frame.

Which 380 are you torturing? How many rounds you have on it. I am very interested in this!!!

For target guns, I don't mind putting more rounds. On self defense ones, I try to limit to less than a few hundred rounds, just enough to proof the reliability. Like my S&W 659, it's a robust gun, I have less than 1000rounds and that's it. It's not going out unless I change to different ammo.

 

[bill460]

I've never seen or heard of a Polymer frame taking a set. But I did have a plastic guide rod take one on a CZ 97B in .45 ACP so bad I couldn't rack the slide. And this was on a brand new pistol that had never been fired.

I bought it new, and it sat in my safe for the better part of 4 years. When I finally got around to shooting it, this is what I discovered. I simply replaced it with a Stainless Steel model from Cajun Gun Works, and never looked back. Plastic is good for many things in firearms manufacturing. But I'm not a fan of plastic guide rods. Unless they are a 2 piece design, with the spring designed into it. Much like Glock has used successfully for years.... But not this kind of cheap, worthless crap.

https://cajungunworks.com/product/stainless-steel-guide-rod-97bbd-tactical-sport/