Yes, but I what I think the poster is trying to say, and what you have overlooked, is that without some sort of care, such as the oiling and wiping down of your guns, ANY metal will start to oxidize when exposed to air and moisture. It is the natural order of ALL things in our known universe to exist in a state where the least amount of energy is expended, and oxidized metal uses far less energy at a molecular level to "exist" than it does in its pure state.
If you don't believe me, just don't wipe your gun down and leave it out on your back porch from now on. I don't know where you live, but, if it is Florida, your steel gun will be covered in rust at the end of the week. At the end of a year, it will probably be unuseable.
ALL things deteriorate and degenerate, they just do it at different rates and are most definitely influenced by environmental factors.
I dare say that your Glock would start to show definite signs of deterioration in short order if it were left laying on top of the dash in your car on a daily basis. (Hypothetical situation, of course.)
I have no empirical evidence to that effect other than other polymer objects that have hardened and deteriorated over the years when exposed to the heat and dry climate of Arizona in the course of 20 years or so. (And not even exposed to direct sunlight at all.) A couple of things come to mind: Some polymer cartridge boxes that got hard and brittle after I brought them from Florida to Arizona, and a polymer clay bird thrower, ditto.
The other point that is being overlooked is that Glocks, et. al. were designed and marketed primarily as weapons that would have a limited service life until either worn out or replaced with newer, more modern weapons. Increased costs of labor, materials, etc., dictate that any armed body must stay within a budget when supplying matériel for itself. The German Army, for example, could not afford the $5,000.00-6,000.00 per gun it would take today to arm itself with Luger pistols which necessitate the abilities of many skilled craftsmen who don't work for minimum wages.
Bottom line, is, yes, Glocks will deteriorate, as all polymer objects do, but at different rates, depending on environmental factors. The other bottom line: Glock really doesn't care if your pistol is still around in 50 years.
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