Fishbed77 said:
Aren't the polymer striker shafts on most pistols that have them self-lubricating? Seems that it would be a bad idea to replace with a metal shaft, since you shouldn't be applying lubricant to that area.
I think some folks here don't understand the term being discussed:
Self-lubricating is a technical term, when used with polymers, to indicate mateals that don't adhere to themselves or to other materials easily (i.e, aren't easily affected by friction), handle heavy loads, don't deform under stress, or are resistant to high temperatures.
They don't lubricate themselves -- but behave as if they do: by their nature the materials don't require lubrication. They're used in all sorts of applications, from gears in car windows, to fans in computers, to electrical motors powering all kinds of devices (small AND large), and are even used in some heavy industrial applications where they work as well as metals, but require little or no maintenance.
Here's a pamphlet that describes some of these materials -- and the things added to increase their effectiveness.
http://www.lati.com/pdf/technical_data/latilub-en.pdf
I remember, some years back, when SIG switched to polymer guide rods from steel. There was grand uproar from SIG users, and SIG switched back. I think they went back to polymer some years ago -- and the guns still run like clockwork. CZ owners switch out their polymer guide rods for metals ones, too. Their money, their guns -- but I've seen nothing to indicate that the switch has any effect on performance. (I've seen some claim that metal guide rods made their guns more accurate -- and I think the chances of that are about 0%.)
Metal in the some applications might work as well or better -- but in some cases will require greater upkeep.
