Bill DeShivs
New member
Zamak must be painted or plated.
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ZAMAC gun slides
- Thread starter simonrichter
- Start date
I own two Walther PPK/s 22. One is Nickel plated and one is painted black. These are awesome 22 pistols and work fine. Steel firing pin block, barrel and parts. Just slide and frame are zamac of some type of a blend of metals which are pretty strong. The law you described is nonsense and hasn't done anything to ward off crime. Plastic frames on Glock's, Smith's, Sig's, XD's all melt below 800 degree's. Worthless piece of legislation, so they can say they did something but in reality accomplish nothing!
Aguila Blanca
Staff
For use as a classroom prop, I picked up a blank-firing replica of a Beretta 92 (painted orange, no less). When I opened the box for the first time, I was astonished at just how heavy that sucker is. I'm accustomed to full-size, all-steel 1911s, but this blank-firing replica feels much heavier than any 1911. I'm sure it's not steel, so it must be either Zamac, or its lower-grade relative: "pot metal."
cocojo, I don't think this state regulation has anything to do with dealing with criminals. I believe the state thinks this is some form of consumer safety. In their minds any zinc alloy that melts at 800 degrees is unsafe for pistol components. But, you would need to ask them to be sure.I own two Walther PPK/s 22. One is Nickel plated and one is painted black. These are awesome 22 pistols and work fine. Steel firing pin block, barrel and parts. Just slide and frame are zamac of some type of a blend of metals which are pretty strong. The law you described is nonsense and hasn't done anything to ward off crime. Plastic frames on Glock's, Smith's, Sig's, XD's all melt below 800 degree's. Worthless piece of legislation, so they can say they did something but in reality accomplish nothing!
I almost bought a Walther PPk/s 22lr at a gun show recently. They look and feel great. I also noticed that they were on IL state's list of pistols that they prohibit. Ugh! I am so glad that I am planning to move to southern Indiana in the next few years. IL is almost as bad as California regarding their gun regulations. I believe with the incoming Democratic Governor that it is about to get worse.
its all about how well they are designed. Ravens have zamak slides and hold up well...very well. Meanwhile something like a walther p22 zamak slide crack commonly.
Thin areas.....bad. Thick....good.
Lower calibers 22,25,32 typically good.....380s.....sometimes ok. Anything 9mm and above needs to be a high point because you need weight and overall mass for strength.
I have lots of zamak guns. I know most of these designs strengths and weaknesses. People would be surprised how good some of these little guns can be.
Thin areas.....bad. Thick....good.
Lower calibers 22,25,32 typically good.....380s.....sometimes ok. Anything 9mm and above needs to be a high point because you need weight and overall mass for strength.
I have lots of zamak guns. I know most of these designs strengths and weaknesses. People would be surprised how good some of these little guns can be.
phoenix 22s are pretty complicated as far as the zamak guns go. Change recoil springs every 500 rounds and keep an eye on the frame cracks in the magazine well area at the top of the frame. Cool little plinkers just not as durable as some other. The company is excellent for parts and they are not one of the types that will deny you should you need an extractor...fireing pin etc. etc.
Cheapshooter
New member
I think that problem was most often with the "target" model. Instead of using a seperate, longer slide, or just having the longer barrel sticking out of the slise they used a steel faux muzzle brake clamped on with set secrews. If it was fitted just slightly too far back the ZAMAK slide would slam against the solid steel block clamped to the barrel.Meanwhile something like a walther p22 zamak slide crack commonly.
My P22 !has well over 2K rounds through it with no sign of cracks.
yeah I am sure people have figured out the issues with the P22 whatever they are. A little tip for all the zamak lovers though is that US made zamak guns are typically far more durable than Euro zamak pistols. The US made guns in general have less thin areas and overall have beefier major components. Where as the euro pistols designs can have thin areas that make them fragile even in the smaller calibers.
The US designs are typically far more simple and use less parts. Most of the designs are based off the Raven. Even the hi-points are basically a supersized raven. Some small differences have been made over the years but the fundamental design aspects are still there. Which is a good thing as the raven design is pretty brilliant and one of the most copied designs in the world for small pistols. The only ring of fire pistol I can think of thats quite a bit different is the pheonix hp22.
There are some bad US made zamak guns though so research saves headaches. Some of the smaller 380s and 9mms like the Jimenez ja9 are not strong enough for regular shooting.
The basic design of the american zamak guns are durable and inherently accurate. Problems arise from certain companies choosing form over function and trying to make a zamak blowback gun mimic a steel locked breech pistol. Highpoints being thick and massive is a good thing. Especially when your pumping out cartridges like 40s&w.
Most of the smaller ones in 22,25,32 are solid little pistols that hold up well. Accuracy depends on the quality of the barrel. Some are really accurate! Reliability is often up and down until some simple tweeking is performed. Once you get them running they are typically fine with normal maintenance. FMJ standard loads should be used.
Zamak is a neat material for firearms but should not be looked at like steel. Its not even close. a good solid zamak gun just has to be desihned differents than a normal locked breech pistol. Its more of a crude partical accelerator. But they do work well when done properly. Ravens, hipoints, jennings, ....even some models of lorcin are capable firearms within their limits.
The US designs are typically far more simple and use less parts. Most of the designs are based off the Raven. Even the hi-points are basically a supersized raven. Some small differences have been made over the years but the fundamental design aspects are still there. Which is a good thing as the raven design is pretty brilliant and one of the most copied designs in the world for small pistols. The only ring of fire pistol I can think of thats quite a bit different is the pheonix hp22.
There are some bad US made zamak guns though so research saves headaches. Some of the smaller 380s and 9mms like the Jimenez ja9 are not strong enough for regular shooting.
The basic design of the american zamak guns are durable and inherently accurate. Problems arise from certain companies choosing form over function and trying to make a zamak blowback gun mimic a steel locked breech pistol. Highpoints being thick and massive is a good thing. Especially when your pumping out cartridges like 40s&w.
Most of the smaller ones in 22,25,32 are solid little pistols that hold up well. Accuracy depends on the quality of the barrel. Some are really accurate! Reliability is often up and down until some simple tweeking is performed. Once you get them running they are typically fine with normal maintenance. FMJ standard loads should be used.
Zamak is a neat material for firearms but should not be looked at like steel. Its not even close. a good solid zamak gun just has to be desihned differents than a normal locked breech pistol. Its more of a crude partical accelerator. But they do work well when done properly. Ravens, hipoints, jennings, ....even some models of lorcin are capable firearms within their limits.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
That was actually mentioned in post #16:JohnKSa said:Probably worth pointing out that Zamak is actually a family of alloys. The material properties differ considerably over the various alloys.
Aguila Blanca said:Zamac is an alloy of zinc with varying amounts of aluminum, magnesium, and copper mixed in. (There are actually several "official" types of Zamac, and the amounts of the alloying elements vary from one type to another.)
Zamac is also often used synonymously with the term "pot metal," but that's not correct. The composition of the several types of Zamac is fixed, whereas "pot metal" is sort of like a stew made from the leftovers from last week -- it's an alloy of whatever gets thrown into the pot. Pot metal, like Zamac, is primarily comprised of zinc, but the alloying compounds and percentages aren't constant, and may not even be known, from one batch to the next.
Bill DeShivs
New member
"Pot metal" originally referred to cast iron- metal that pots were made of. It was the polymer of the day. Parts could be cast easily. Most of the turn of the century "Saturday night Specials" and cheap shotguns used cast iron for their receivers.
"Pot metal" became synonymous with cheap guns, hence today's "pot metal" is a zinc alloy. Perhaps it should be plastic....
"Pot metal" became synonymous with cheap guns, hence today's "pot metal" is a zinc alloy. Perhaps it should be plastic....
Aguila Blanca
Staff
In the 1940s and 1950s, "pot metal" (the zinc-based variety) was what was used for most automotive exterior trim pieces -- of which there were a lot in those days. My family drove Hudsons in those days, and a lot of their models had the parking lights in chrome-plated, "pot metal" housings that resided on the tops of the front fenders. Living in salt belt territory, after a few years those parts became pitted unless very meticulously maintained.