The Lone Haranguer
Member
It is warranted for all normal gun cleaning products and lubricants. I would not expect the frame to last long if left immersed in sulfuric acid or something, but that will eat up the metal parts, too.Bru88 said:
Life of “plastic” guns?
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bigfatdave
Member
danprkr, I can't argue with ergonomics, please don't take that away from my statement.
I stand by previous statements that ergonomics are the most important thing in a carry pistol, everything else can be fixed, but changing the ergonomics will require major modifications or added material most times.
I stand by previous statements that ergonomics are the most important thing in a carry pistol, everything else can be fixed, but changing the ergonomics will require major modifications or added material most times.
I have not seen this done yet with a 1911.......anybody else?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj5Kcs4dzro&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj5Kcs4dzro&feature=player_embedded
I think the answer to the OP's question is - Plenty long enough that you don’t need to worry about it.
I know people like to think of their gun as some sort of heirloom for future generations but that’s not what guns are made for.
It’s a tool to be used by the operator, if the tool isn't up to the job or is worn out the operator gets a new one. Simple.
Having to replace a tool once in even 30 years (which is selling these guns short) still makes it a fine tool which has performed the job it was made for very well.
I think people have strange expectations of guns.
I know people like to think of their gun as some sort of heirloom for future generations but that’s not what guns are made for.
It’s a tool to be used by the operator, if the tool isn't up to the job or is worn out the operator gets a new one. Simple.
Having to replace a tool once in even 30 years (which is selling these guns short) still makes it a fine tool which has performed the job it was made for very well.
I think people have strange expectations of guns.
oldman1946
Member
A different slant
Should the "plastic" fail in a Glock even 200 yrs from now, if Obama lets us keep our guns that long, the civil courts will have a backlog years long.
Failure of anything that results in injury to someone can lead to large amounts of money being paid out. There is not prescription time in product liability suits. If the product fails 100 yrs later due to parts breaking then the maker is going to be found liable for injuries sustained. We are not talking about to the original purchaser but to anyone that is ever injured, even the great-great grandson of the original purchaser.
The polymer frame will last hundreds of years.
As to being invisible to airport x-ray, that has been the contention of the lying gun grabbers like the Brady bunch in Washington. They want to raise the discomfort level of the uninformed and misinformed.
Should the "plastic" fail in a Glock even 200 yrs from now, if Obama lets us keep our guns that long, the civil courts will have a backlog years long.
Failure of anything that results in injury to someone can lead to large amounts of money being paid out. There is not prescription time in product liability suits. If the product fails 100 yrs later due to parts breaking then the maker is going to be found liable for injuries sustained. We are not talking about to the original purchaser but to anyone that is ever injured, even the great-great grandson of the original purchaser.
The polymer frame will last hundreds of years.
As to being invisible to airport x-ray, that has been the contention of the lying gun grabbers like the Brady bunch in Washington. They want to raise the discomfort level of the uninformed and misinformed.
NMGonzo
Member
i will get bored with it before it becomes unusable
I was pondering to sell my glock 35 to afford another 1911
I could not do it.
I love the damned thing, and my gp100, and my redhawk, and my combat commander ... and so on and so forth.
They all work for me.
I was pondering to sell my glock 35 to afford another 1911
I could not do it.
I love the damned thing, and my gp100, and my redhawk, and my combat commander ... and so on and so forth.
They all work for me.
iiibdsiil
Member
How many houses have PVC pipes in them? I'm not saying it lasts forever but they are burying the stuff in walls and it's holding up halfway decently.
If you took a Glock and put it on your roof, in a bucket, how long would it last? How long would the 1911 last? I'm guessing it's the same amount of time until both are inoperable. And I'd guess the plastic holds up longer than the metal in terms of disappearing.
So what have I proved? A neglected gun won't last very long, metal or plastic.
Kept in a decent environment, I'm betting both would last pretty darn long.
If you took a Glock and put it on your roof, in a bucket, how long would it last? How long would the 1911 last? I'm guessing it's the same amount of time until both are inoperable. And I'd guess the plastic holds up longer than the metal in terms of disappearing.
So what have I proved? A neglected gun won't last very long, metal or plastic.
Kept in a decent environment, I'm betting both would last pretty darn long.
I have a lot of experience with early plastics and bakelite. They were used as scales for straight razors. Early plastic will rot, giving off a gas that will turn a razor blade to rust. Bakelite gets brittle and will break at the slightest pressure. Micarta is pretty tough and I have never seen it degrade, although if used a lot will get a bit fuzzy. I have even seen Polymer break when used for straight razor scales, although not as bad as the older plastics.
X-Rap
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jhco50 I don't think we are talking about the same stuff. This was originally made by Phillips Petrolium and I have used it in diameters of up to 48" and built it for applications in mines and mill that pump weak acids, caustics, abrasives at high and low temps. It also lays out in the Az. sun and won't degrade from UV. The trade name is Drisco and its pretty tough.
Dwood,
Apology accepted
I agree that big, lightly stressed parts like stocks are good applications for polymers.
How about smaller, more stressed parts, like say the trigger ?
I'll repeat what I asked before:
IS THERE A POLYMER SCIENTIST IN THE HOUSE?
And:
IS THIS THE HIGH ROAD OR DID I MISS SOMETHING ?
Apology accepted
I agree that big, lightly stressed parts like stocks are good applications for polymers.
How about smaller, more stressed parts, like say the trigger ?
I'll repeat what I asked before:
IS THERE A POLYMER SCIENTIST IN THE HOUSE?
And:
IS THIS THE HIGH ROAD OR DID I MISS SOMETHING ?
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Which is better? Which lasts longer? Depends on how it is used and stored.
My personal guns are a Glock 34 and a S&W 357/38 revolver.
My DH perfers his SA 1911 and his S&W MP.
We shoot a lot. He competes several times a month. And our shooting friends are pretty evenly divided between 1911s and Glocks.
Because 1911s have so many 'adjustable' or customized parts, it tends to break down more often. A bad spring. A bad this..or that. For a while it was broken once a month.
My glock didn't. (When I was competing) it was perfect, again and again.
And then one day, as the DD was learning to compete, using my Glock, something on the frame broke. Completely disfunctional. Send it in, get a new one. Rinse & repeat.
We hate that trip to UPS, to send them in. Such a hassle. Especially because all your modifications are gone when you get it back. New trigger job, new sighting it in, new adjust this and that.
Does anything last forever? No.
Not even you.
So enjoy your guns, metal or polymer. May they last as long as you need!
My personal guns are a Glock 34 and a S&W 357/38 revolver.
My DH perfers his SA 1911 and his S&W MP.
We shoot a lot. He competes several times a month. And our shooting friends are pretty evenly divided between 1911s and Glocks.
Because 1911s have so many 'adjustable' or customized parts, it tends to break down more often. A bad spring. A bad this..or that. For a while it was broken once a month.
My glock didn't. (When I was competing) it was perfect, again and again.
And then one day, as the DD was learning to compete, using my Glock, something on the frame broke. Completely disfunctional. Send it in, get a new one. Rinse & repeat.
We hate that trip to UPS, to send them in. Such a hassle. Especially because all your modifications are gone when you get it back. New trigger job, new sighting it in, new adjust this and that.
Does anything last forever? No.
Not even you.
So enjoy your guns, metal or polymer. May they last as long as you need!
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chevyforlife21
Member
what about early m16 stoner rifles? how are the stocks doing on those guns, those guns arrived over 50 years ago from armalite.
Jacky Treehorn
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I know I'll probably get flamed for this and it may seem funny, but maybe I can shed some scientific light on this subject with an unrelated application. I'm a dental professional with biomaterial experience, specifically dealing with the material science of dental restorations. Anyway, we pretty much use the most technologically advanced materials in use today - anything from polymers, resin composites, all kinds of metals and alloys, ceramics, titanium, ect.
The materials we use have to be able to withstand one of the most hostile environments on the planet. The oral cavity is pretty much drenched under water 24/7 with all kinds of enzymes, bacteria, and most of all - teeth endure extremely high forces on a daily basis. A single tooth cusp undergoes repeated stresses of up to 10-40 million pounds per square inch all day long. So to make a long story short, dental materials have to undergo stress analysis and must meet very high standards of mechanical properties. Decayed teeth are restored with these materials that have to withstand the constant stress and abuse of the oral cavity, and they have to last decades. The restorative materials themselves actually outlive the biological material they were meant to replace (due to recurrent infection and decay), and failures are most often not due to the ultimate strength of the material, rather they are due to progressive fracture under repeated loading (thousands and millions of times.)
Two of the most widely used materials I use on my patients are composite polymers reinforced with all types of filler particles. The other material is a metal, or metal alloy. Composite polymers have high fracture toughness, tensile strength, compressive strength, and yield strengths....they are pretty amazing materials. They resist corrosion, but DO wear over time due to the high hardness of opposing tooth enamel. All in all, they exhibit some properties that are actually better (and some worse) than metal at least for dental biocompatability.
I will say this...the metals we use in the dental field are tried and true. If I had to put a restoration in my mouth, it would be a high noble gold restoration. This is probably a stretch to compare to guns, but I figured I would try and make the point that both are excellent materials and will outlast the life of its user in most cases. Depending on the type of metal used and finish, corrosion IS an issue - and left uncared for metals will usually corrode faster than polymers. However, if the finish on the metal is maintained, I would take the metal for its optimal properties over polymer.
Another point to make...no matter how ideal the conditions or material used, no dental restoration is said to be permanent. Given enough time, it will eventually fail (it is simply a mechanical device), and all machines will eventually have failures given enough time and use.
The materials we use have to be able to withstand one of the most hostile environments on the planet. The oral cavity is pretty much drenched under water 24/7 with all kinds of enzymes, bacteria, and most of all - teeth endure extremely high forces on a daily basis. A single tooth cusp undergoes repeated stresses of up to 10-40 million pounds per square inch all day long. So to make a long story short, dental materials have to undergo stress analysis and must meet very high standards of mechanical properties. Decayed teeth are restored with these materials that have to withstand the constant stress and abuse of the oral cavity, and they have to last decades. The restorative materials themselves actually outlive the biological material they were meant to replace (due to recurrent infection and decay), and failures are most often not due to the ultimate strength of the material, rather they are due to progressive fracture under repeated loading (thousands and millions of times.)
Two of the most widely used materials I use on my patients are composite polymers reinforced with all types of filler particles. The other material is a metal, or metal alloy. Composite polymers have high fracture toughness, tensile strength, compressive strength, and yield strengths....they are pretty amazing materials. They resist corrosion, but DO wear over time due to the high hardness of opposing tooth enamel. All in all, they exhibit some properties that are actually better (and some worse) than metal at least for dental biocompatability.
I will say this...the metals we use in the dental field are tried and true. If I had to put a restoration in my mouth, it would be a high noble gold restoration. This is probably a stretch to compare to guns, but I figured I would try and make the point that both are excellent materials and will outlast the life of its user in most cases. Depending on the type of metal used and finish, corrosion IS an issue - and left uncared for metals will usually corrode faster than polymers. However, if the finish on the metal is maintained, I would take the metal for its optimal properties over polymer.
Another point to make...no matter how ideal the conditions or material used, no dental restoration is said to be permanent. Given enough time, it will eventually fail (it is simply a mechanical device), and all machines will eventually have failures given enough time and use.
X-Rap
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Like they said it depends on how its stored and maintained. Take a Glock and a Colt and keep them both in a bucket of water and eventually you will only have the polymer frame and parts from the glock.
Put them in the right type of solvent and you will have all the steel in time but no polymer.
Why is that so hard to take?
Put them in the right type of solvent and you will have all the steel in time but no polymer.
Why is that so hard to take?
John Wayne
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I can see it now:
Instead of the "tragic boating accident," your polymer guns turned to dust because you left them in the sun too long
Instead of the "tragic boating accident," your polymer guns turned to dust because you left them in the sun too long
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