plastic pistols

Horse feathers! I don't want a flexible gun. Let's face it, a gun is supposed to deliver a bullet to a target with accuracy and if the gun is flexing it can't do that.
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I have not noticed polymer framed pistols to lack in accuracy. The key factor in accurate handgun shooter is the shooter. Secondly is the barrel to slide lockup. The frame material would be far down the list for me. There are plenty of competition shooters making incredibly shots with polymer framed pistols, and plenty doing the same with steel framed pistols.

If you are so weak that you can't carry a steel handgun then you have more problems than I do with a broken back and ten years of recovery from two back surgeries at 66 years of age.
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Lol, I love this ad hominem that always gets brought up. If you don't carry a steel pistol you're not a real man! Okay amigo :D. All else being equal I'm going to carry the lighter weapon. And I haven't seen any deficiencies in the polymer pistols I own to carry that extra weight for no benefit to me. YMMV. I'd point out the first gun I carried was a 4" S&W Model 19.

I would love to go 50 years in the future to see how these plastic gun hold up.
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The HK VP70 is a polymer framed pistol made in, you guessed it, 1970. That's 47 years ago. I've seen a number of them that are still doing just fine.

There's nothing wrong with personal preference. There is something wrong when you start living in your own alternate reality.
 
Let's face it, a gun is supposed to deliver a bullet to a target with accuracy and if the gun is flexing it can't do that.
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The idea that a polymer framed pistol cannot deliver bullets accurately is indeed "horse feathers!"

If you are so weak that you can't carry a steel handgun then you have more problems than I do
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A classic straw man fallacy. That I choose to carry a polymer gun most of the time has nothing to do with my physical condition. It is a choice based on the job at hand.

For the record, I don't really care if my guns are still serviceable centuries from now, although with proper care I wouldn't be surprised if they all are, polymer ones included. The technology and materials of the day will make them relics of the past.
 
Burying a gun will rust the barrel and action, unless its a Ruger or other stainless gun and the material of the frame will make little difference in the functionality of the gun. I am talking about a gun that is in use and maintained well. The plastic guns are never going to last as long as a steel gun.
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Ridiculous! Are you planning on living a thousand years?
 
I am planning on living a thousand years - whether I make it or not is another matter.
Lets talk about plastic and steel though. Back in 1970 I was an auto trans mechanic. Ford and Chevrolet came out with some plastic sealing rings to replace the cast iron sealing rings on the different shafts that directed oil to different clutch packs in the transmissions. They were touted as the best thing since sliced bread. Within a year those rings all went back to metal rings because the plastic would pick up dirt and act like a hone on the steel cylinders they ran in. We replaced a few stator supports and governor sleeves and went back to using the old stock rings.

The same thing is going to happen when the steel slide wears against grit in the plastic frame rails of these wonderful plastic guns. The dirt and grit becomes embedded in the plastic and wears the steel parts out.

Later in my career I worked on heavy equipment and we had the same problem with thermoplastic bushings on lifting stations and manlifts. The plastic parts replaced the bronze bearing parts and we started wearing out the booms instead of the bearings. There was a change in the lubricants and they tried different types of plastics and in the end we went back to the metal bushings.

I think plastics are wonderful when used in proper applications but when plastic and metal comes together the metal loses. Dirt gets embedded in the plastic and the metal is worn away.

My education through my working life is just my experience but I firmly believe that if you fail to learn from history you are bound to repeat it.
 
There was a change in the lubricants and they tried different types of plastics and in the end we went back to the metal bushings.
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We replaced a few stator supports and governor sleeves and went back to using the old stock rings.
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Just because plastic didn't work in certain cases, doesn't mean it won't work here. Polymer pistols have been in use for decades at this point and many of them are going strong without any more parts breakages than steel equivalent framed pistols. Simply put we can look at decades worth of data about the actual designs in question without looking at other situations from some time ago that may or may not be directly relatable.

The same thing is going to happen when the steel slide wears against grit in the plastic frame rails of these wonderful plastic guns. The dirt and grit becomes embedded in the plastic and wears the steel parts out.
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The slide rails in the plastic pistols are in almost all cases still metal. People have put in excess of 100,000 rds through Glocks without the slide rails failing. The surfaces that need to be metal are, whether they're molded into the frame or they are pinned in place as inserts.

I think plastics are wonderful when used in proper applications but when plastic and metal comes together the metal loses. Dirt gets embedded in the plastic and the metal is worn away.
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That's not happening in this case. In fact you can watch the following video and see a metal framed P226 failing a sand test because the sand is stuck between the metal slide rails and the slide. When sand gets stuck between the slide rails and the slide the pistol is going to seize up, regardless of frame material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvuosRHdbis&t=1s

Your two options in firearm design are to either make a design so sealed that no dirt can ever get in, pretty darn hard for semiautomatic pistol with a moving slide, or make it open enough so that dirt or other grit have spaces to be pushed out through the action of the slide itself. That's one advantage of the short metal slide rails in Glocks and other pistols using similar designs.

My education through my working life is just my experience but I firmly believe that if you fail to learn from history you are bound to repeat it.
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I'm not trying to discount your experience. What I'm saying is polymer framed pistols aren't really a new thing anymore. They've been around for close to 50 years. They've been working just fine and at this point we're decades into their use. They're not going anywhere anytime soon and it's because they've shown they can hold up. I'm well aware of the old adage about history, but not all past experiences are direct comparisons to the current reality. My grandfather was a mechanic on the B&O and my dad built the engine of his first car with him. Both of them have seen designs they never thought would work become mainstream. Times change and design and materials do improve.
 
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Shootist your anecdotal argument that plastic is inferior in handguns isn't supported by the evidence. There are countless polymer handguns with tens of thousands of rounds in all conditions that are still going strong. Yes, regular maintenance items like springs will need replacement, but that is no different than steel framed handguns.

There are many who dislike polymer handguns. I am good with that. Based on my experience, and the experience of many others, I will continue to use polymer handguns as my go-to concealed carry weapons. I like my soulless plastic guns, and am confident they will be accurate and dependable long after I'm gone.
 
I guess I am of the mind that:
1. I like steel guns
2. I am not convinced that plastic guns are on a par with steel.

I did learn that the slide is metal against metal - I didn't know that.
So, at the very least I have learned something new.

If you are confident in your choice of materials then you should by all means use what you are comfortable with. I know that I will.
 
If you are confident in your choice of materials then you should by all means use what you are comfortable with. I know that I will.
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I have zero issue with people choosing to use what they think works best for them. My comments should in no way be regarded as "steel is bad" or "choosing steel over polymer is bad". My goal was merely to add in information I thought was missing.
 
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I don't mind plastic guns. Nor aluminim, blued steel, stainless steel, or even forbid the evil, gun snob inducing "pot metal" ZAMAK guns I have.
A couple Glocks, two Hi-Points, a Springer, Kahr, two Kel-Tecs, and just added a PMR30 for my third Kel-Tec.
Carry some of them at different times. Enjoy shooting all of them any time.
 
The polymer guns will probably have a longer life span than I will. If my Glock 19 falls apart when my grandkids are shooting plasma rifles at Terminators, I don't care.

I've run Glocks since 1994 and they still are fine. Some springs replaced.
 
For me it comes down to a pistol being a reliable, efficient tool.

I was a carpenter for many years and a machinist for a while. I appreciate tools that work well and get the job done.

I am a shooter not a collector and my guns reflect that. If I had the disposable income to collect nice revolvers and steel or other metal semi-autos I would, but that's not the case.

It took a while, because I was old school steel framed pistols only for years, but once I started using polymer striker fired pistols I found that they are the best tool for the job as far as I'm concerned. YMMV.

Some posting here sound like these plastic pistols are a new phenomenon and we don't know how long they will last before "degrading" to the point of being unusable. That's just not true.

You may not care for the polymer pistols, and that's just fine, but for me they are the right tool for the job.
 
Well, Remington's Nylon 66 has been around for 50 years... and I'll bet "plastic" formulas have come a long way since then. ;)

I've been shooting Glocks since the late 80s, never seen one crumble from age.
 
Just a reminder of the original point of the thread. It's not that plastic is bad, per se. It's that all the plastic pistols on the market are essentially the same pistol, and that interesting options that we used to have have been completely swallowed up.
 
It's that all the plastic pistols on the market are essentially the same pistol,
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According to whom? That's a pretty generalized statement. It's like saying that all revolvers are the same.
My HKP2000SK is very different than my glock 19.
You might as well say that all guns are the same. You pull a trigger and a bullet goes out the other end!;)
 
Please point me in the direction of the diverse selection of high-quality, purpose-designed single-action plastic pistols.

If I want that in steel, at least I can get a 1911, high-power, or (soon) the American version of the P210. There are also a few cases in which SA triggers have been grafted onto what were originally DA designs (Sig-Sauer and CZ).

Plastic pistols are essentially interchangeable, at least in today's market.
 
Well, Remington's Nylon 66 has been around for 50 years... and I'll bet "plastic" formulas have come a long way since then
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That is the reason i bought a Mossberg Blaze 47 the other day. It is all polymer, weighs next to nothing and is very accurate with a 25 round mag. My son-in-law's father has had a Nylon 66 since 1968 and it still looks and shoots like new.
 
Plastic pistols are essentially interchangeable, at least in today's market.
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With a statement like that, I would obviously be wasting my time explaining the differences of various "plastic" pistols!
I guess an LCR and a glock are one and the same.
 
I understand some folks fascination for plastic/polymer/or reinforced nylon materials.
Yes they make a servicable pistol, no denying it.

I'll put my flame suit on and say I have considered a plastic frame cheaper to produce than a metal one, and given the choice between a metal frame and a plastic one for the same price point I would pick the metal frame.

I had a glock 34 for a couple weeks and it would not do anything better than a metal frame gun, so I ended up parting with it.

I picked up a cz p-07, and for the price point, I'm pleased with it.
It is a good balance of a overall use gun.

Does that mean that it shoots as well as a well tuned single action cz 85 combat...
Of course not. But it is a diffrent use.
 
I just like them all. Although I will admit, all my revolvers are steel only and all my semi auto's are polymer. But the next on my list is a steel CZ75.
 
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