usp9
Member
I voted HK because they've never failed me and I shoot them well, but I've learned to love my Caniks almost as much. I call them my "Turkish HKs".
However, I love all my children.
However, I love all my children.
What is your favorite polymer frame center fire pistol?
- Thread starter whatnickname
- Start date
Charlie98
Member
What...? No love for Kahr?
StrykerByte.45
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I like Glocks because they are made with the strongest polymer available, Polymer2, and thats a huge advantage especially for making lightweight pistols in powerful calibers or upgrading to more powerful calibers like 40 super 45 super 460 Roland 960 Rowland 400 Corban and even 357 sig and 45 Gap in small frame pistols. That wouldn't be possible without Polymer2.
Apart from that, I also really like their trigger safety system , the modularity of trigger parts, the availability of aftermarket parts, and the fact that the slides are made just as strong as HK guns, if not stronger.
Apart from that, I also really like their trigger safety system , the modularity of trigger parts, the availability of aftermarket parts, and the fact that the slides are made just as strong as HK guns, if not stronger.
PistoleroWadcutterGANG
Member
Very tough choice. I love my VP nine. I love my VP 40. I love my Glock 19. I love my Glock 17. We are blessed with very many good strikers.
bannockburn
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Old Dog
SIG P365
HK VP9
S&W M&P Shield Plus
In addition I would also include the Glock G43X, G48, and the CZ P07 to the line-up of favorites.
That's pretty much what I would go with too...
SIG P365
HK VP9
S&W M&P Shield Plus
In addition I would also include the Glock G43X, G48, and the CZ P07 to the line-up of favorites.
a2x4bbl
Member
Steyr all the way . I have 3 Glocks , not even close .
Dragonfly
Member
I’ve fired more rounds through Glocks than any other pistol model—by a long shot—and although I’ve bought and sold a bunch I’ve not been Glock-less since I bought my first one in 1991. I must admit they felt a little odd to me at first but now they feel as comfortable and familiar in the hand as a favourite baseball glove. Not the most accurate polymer pistol I own—my USP Elite takes that—but for familiarity, rock-solid reliability and “good enough for almost any purpose” accuracy the Glock wins. Between my current two it’d be a tough choice—as much fun as my G31C is to shoot I think I’d pick my G37.
StrykerByte.45
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I'm not really particular to Glocks, although, I do admire Gaston's genius. He is like my hero. Another hero of mine, Dale Earnhardt. The 30S just happens to be my favorite handgun along with my favorite caliber, the caliber 45 automatic.
I made a few changes to the 30S. There is nothing wrong with it as is, it's just a good platform for me to bring what I want from a .45auto.
Modifications include:
•finger groove delete, undercut, rounded trigger guard, backstrap texture removed, gas pedal
•Sandpaperpistolgrips.com Rubber Grips
•Truglo Fiber Optic Sights
•DPM Systems TRS Uncaptured RSA
•KKM Suppressor Threaded Barrel 4.5"
•KTCrafts Carry Comp
•Polished Internals and Slide Release
•Ghost Spring Kit includes:
6lbs/4lbs Striker Spring
6lbs Trigger Spring
Reduced Power Safety Plunger Spring
•Ghost Unit 3.0
•Ghost Turbo Maritime Spring Cups (Blue)
•Stainless Steel Chamfered Channel Liner
•ZEV Sleeve (Red)
•King Glock Titanium Lightweight Safety Plunger (17gr)
Trigger Pull: Bodacious
4.0lbs with 6lbs FPS
2.0lbs with 4lbs FPS
Only use Ballistol
I made a few changes to the 30S. There is nothing wrong with it as is, it's just a good platform for me to bring what I want from a .45auto.
Modifications include:
•finger groove delete, undercut, rounded trigger guard, backstrap texture removed, gas pedal
•Sandpaperpistolgrips.com Rubber Grips
•Truglo Fiber Optic Sights
•DPM Systems TRS Uncaptured RSA
•KKM Suppressor Threaded Barrel 4.5"
•KTCrafts Carry Comp
•Polished Internals and Slide Release
•Ghost Spring Kit includes:
6lbs/4lbs Striker Spring
6lbs Trigger Spring
Reduced Power Safety Plunger Spring
•Ghost Unit 3.0
•Ghost Turbo Maritime Spring Cups (Blue)
•Stainless Steel Chamfered Channel Liner
•ZEV Sleeve (Red)
•King Glock Titanium Lightweight Safety Plunger (17gr)
Trigger Pull: Bodacious
4.0lbs with 6lbs FPS
2.0lbs with 4lbs FPS
Only use Ballistol
Last edited:
HarryB
Member
I only have two, --being a metal and hammer fanboy, a P365, and my LTT PX4 Compact Carry
hemiram
Member
I would put my SAR CM9 G2 at the top of the list, with my new Girsan MC9 Target as the second. It got to second solely due to it's non "Doinky" trigger. My Canik TP9 DA is pretty decent too, the others work fine, but have oddities that keep them lower on the list.
meanmotorscooter
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- 109
Who did the optics cuts for your Steyrs?
InTheSwamp
Member
What's Polymer2? Also, what's different from Polymer1?
a2x4bbl
Member
I did . I made the compensator’s as well .
That's funny right there, I tell you what.
(Polymer2 is a development library for web sites, produced by Google and others.)
StrykerByte.45
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That's Polymer 2.0 and there's also Polymer 3.0. Totally different. Glocks patent is spelled precisely Polymer2.
There's no such thing as Polymer 1, there is just regular polymer plastic material. Polymer2 is a patent and the recipe is very well protected. No one really knows how to make it except Glock himself. Although there are some things that are known, not really a whole lot except for its capabilities.
Harder than steel(in some way)
Corrosion resistant
Acid resistant
Long lasting (over 100 years)
UV resistant, but not proof
Among other stuff, I'm sure it's also an easy process to make. Gaston is a mad scientist.
You can google "Glock Polymer2" and find loads of information.
Harder than steel per its weight, but not really harder than steel. The grip of a Glock is like what 8-10 oz or so? If someone made a grip for a Glock that weighed 10 oz out of steel technically the steel would be too thin and the polymer2 would be stronger, but if the Glock grip was made with steel correctly and weighed like 25 oz or more it would definitely be harder than the polymer2. The polymer flexes during recoil as well. And yes, Gaston is a mad scientist and a genius as well. He revolutionized the handgun market many years ago.
StrykerByte.45
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If you take a drill bit or a dremel to the Glock frame they will cut right through. That won't happen to a steel frame. If you take a hammer to the polymer and the steel, both of the same thickness, the steel will deform before the polymer2 does.
When researching about 45 super, I found out that 1911s will get battered or broken rather quickly while Glocks will almost never show signs of wear. That is assuming that both were modified to handle the cartridge. In 1911 will not handle 45 super for very long.
I'm sure there are 1911s that are made much stronger. That being said, I know that they are not bulletproof. Actually, I just saw a video where a guy shot a Glock pistol, he shot it several times. Glocks are bulletproof.
Glocks are not bulletproof. Bullets will go through the frames just like they would go through any plastic. Depending on the bullet it will damage other parts of a Glock just as one would expect other pistols made of the same materials to be damaged by bullets.
The best source I can find indicates that Glocks are a Nylon alloy, probably Nylon 6. It's a good plastic/polymer, but not anything miraculous, and if Glock really does use a proprietary formulation, it's not going to provide material properties that are amazingly better than other similar Nylon alloys.
The polymer that Glocks are made from is not harder than steel--in any way. It is very strong for its weight, but it is no where near as strong or as hard as steel.
It is true that polymers can react better than metals to repeated impact/flexing stress because the stronger polymers can flex more without fatiguing or deforming.
The best source I can find indicates that Glocks are a Nylon alloy, probably Nylon 6. It's a good plastic/polymer, but not anything miraculous, and if Glock really does use a proprietary formulation, it's not going to provide material properties that are amazingly better than other similar Nylon alloys.
The polymer that Glocks are made from is not harder than steel--in any way. It is very strong for its weight, but it is no where near as strong or as hard as steel.
It is true that polymers can react better than metals to repeated impact/flexing stress because the stronger polymers can flex more without fatiguing or deforming.
TTv2
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Glock 10mm. Great power, great shooter. Had I known years ago that they could shoot .40 without issue I likely wouldn't have gotten the Glock 35, but at least with that I have the 9mm barrel.
I do tend to like the full size Glocks more than the compacts and subcompacts, I do feel there are better pistols out there in that size, but for full size polymer striker pistols it is very hard to beat a Glock.
Don't have a Beretta Px4, but have always wanted to get one because I think they have a lot going for them and it's nice to have a decent polymer in .45, let alone one that is DA/SA.
Third may very well be Taurus, I appreciate that they can make a 9mm as good as they do for under $250.
I do tend to like the full size Glocks more than the compacts and subcompacts, I do feel there are better pistols out there in that size, but for full size polymer striker pistols it is very hard to beat a Glock.
Don't have a Beretta Px4, but have always wanted to get one because I think they have a lot going for them and it's nice to have a decent polymer in .45, let alone one that is DA/SA.
Third may very well be Taurus, I appreciate that they can make a 9mm as good as they do for under $250.
StrykerByte.45
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You just made all that up.
There are theories to how Polymer2 is made, but no one can replicate it. It not just about what materials are used, but what process they forego to become Polymer2. If you really think you know something you should make a public announcement because its like discovering gold.
No its not 100% bullet proof but it is pretty resilient when shot.
You must have missed my post were i said that a drill or dremel can cut the polymer and not steel.
The information is out there for anyone to find just google and read through several well sourced pages. Things like this require reading, not YouTube videos.
You will find that Polymer2 is one of the best guarded corporate secrets in the world.
I'm not asking anybody to take my word for it. If you are interested in the matter, it's very easy to find a lot of information on it.
Of course I didn't. At the very least, you can poke around a little and see that I've posted similar information going back decades. So even if I made it up (which I didn't), I didn't JUST make it up, I've been saying it for a very long time.
I didn't miss it at all, but I did try to disregard it in the interest of being polite. Since you won't let me disregard it, I'll respond. That's pure nonsense. Of course you can cut steel with a dremel. It is true that plastic can be cut a lot easier, but I've cut a lot of steel with drills and dremels.
Yes, that's correct. I have a number of books on Glocks in my personal library and have also done a lot of reading from online sources. In addition to taking a number of classes directly from Glock.
Sure, just like the Coke formula is closely guarded. Of course, anyone with the proper equipment can tell exactly what's in it if they want. The technology to do so has been around for a hundred years or so.
There's nothing magic about the Glock polymer. Yes, it's a proprietary formula, and I'm sure it's a very good polymer--it's certainly holding up very well in all the several Glocks I own--but the idea that it offers some tremendous benefits over similar Nylon alloys just doesn't hold water.
Here's some information on the topic from one of our own.
Glock Boiling???
Plastic is made from OIL!!! how could water do anything to it???
www.thehighroad.org
"Last FTIR I ran on the Glock polymer was kind of inconclusive (the results didn't differentiate as well as I'd've liked) but the exemplar library matches it as Nylon 6 nonetheless. Overall, my best guess is that the Glock polymer is a glass filled impact grade of Nylon 6, possibly blended with a hybrid."
FTIR is Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, a technique commonly used to identify the ingredients of organic materials.
If you want some additional information, you can google for a source named MarkCO, a forensic engineer named Mark Passamaneck, who, among other things, coauthored a book on Glocks. He has had the opportunity to do some careful analysis of Glocks and has posted information about the composition of Glock frames.
StrykerByte.45
Member
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Of course the composition can be known, not the process. Its the process thats patented as well as the result.Of course I didn't. At the very least, you can poke around a little and see that I've posted similar information going back decades. So even if I made it up (which I didn't), I didn't JUST make it up, I've been saying it for a very long time.
I didn't miss it at all, but I did try to disregard it in the interest of being polite. Since you won't let me disregard it, I'll respond. That's pure nonsense. Of course you can cut steel with a dremel. It is true that plastic can be cut a lot easier, but I've cut a lot of steel with drills and dremels.
Yes, that's correct. I have a number of books on Glocks in my personal library and have also done a lot of reading from online sources. In addition to taking a number of classes directly from Glock.
Sure, just like the Coke formula is closely guarded. Of course, anyone with the proper equipment can tell exactly what's in it if they want. The technology to do so has been around for a hundred years or so.
There's nothing magic about the Glock polymer. Yes, it's a proprietary formula, and I'm sure it's a very good polymer--it's certainly holding up very well in all the several Glocks I own--but the idea that it offers some tremendous benefits over similar Nylon alloys just doesn't hold water.
Here's some information on the topic from one of our own.
Glock Boiling???
Plastic is made from OIL!!! how could water do anything to it???www.thehighroad.org
"Last FTIR I ran on the Glock polymer was kind of inconclusive (the results didn't differentiate as well as I'd've liked) but the exemplar library matches it as Nylon 6 nonetheless. Overall, my best guess is that the Glock polymer is a glass filled impact grade of Nylon 6, possibly blended with a hybrid."
FTIR is Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, a technique commonly used to identify the ingredients of organic materials.
If you want some additional information, you can google for a source named MarkCO, a forensic engineer named Mark Passamaneck, who, among other things, coauthored a book on Glocks. He has had the opportunity to do some careful analysis of Glocks and has posted information about the composition of Glock frames
Thanks for catching the mistake in my statement about the drill and dremel. I meant to say that it is much easier than with metal. No its not magic, but when it comes to Glocks, its the gun I expect to be handing to a great grandchild, and they to theirs. Even aftermarket parts will be made available to Glocks that are far beyond what you can even imagine today. Other guns will be fine as well, but they will be ones I would not expect much from
Glock knows plastics, no question, but the idea that they have some kind of ability to make a plastic with properties no one else can begin to duplicate is going to be a tough argument to support with objective facts, as opposed to corporate propaganda. There are companies out there that have been working with plastics a lot longer and have a significant knowledge base. Dupont, the inventor of Nylon, for example, who was already making nylon when Gaston Glock was only 6 years old might just be a contender.
Then there's Ruger who made a line of pistols with frames that were entirely plastic. The frames didn't even have any steel reinforcement or steel rails for the slides to ride on--and yet those pistols are still holding up just fine decades later. Had a friend who ran a range and used P95 pistols as rentals for a lot of years. They were all still working when he retired and closed the range. He sold them off and kept the last one for himself. So were they some special proprietary plastic? Maybe, but that's not what made them good solid guns--that was due to good design work and consistent manufacturing processes. Ruger did make some rather fantastic claims about the polymer P-Series frame material--it was "described by Ruger back in 1996 as being a "magic" injection-molded, custom-compounded, high-strength polymer with long-strand fiberglass filler."
The Venerable Ruger P95 - Shooting Times
I'm taking this opportunity to write about a classic 9mm pistol that some of you may not know was
www.shootingtimes.com
Any decent quality gun that's cared for properly can last a very long time. I have a plain old steel gun that was my great-grandfather's. Nothing really special about it. The hard rubber grips on it are still in perfect condition too--must be that Colt had some magical recipe for hard rubber or they wouldn't have lasted so long, right?
Maybe, maybe not. Glock isn't as dominant as it was. I'm not saying they're going to disappear soon, and you are certainly correct about there being a lot of aftermarket support for them, but the idea that they are still going to be dominant in the market and the aftermarket, decades down the road is speculation. When Mr. Glock passes away, it will be interesting to see what direction the company takes. Ruger certainly made some sweeping changes when Ruger Sr. and Jr. were no longer running the company.
Glocks are good guns. I have a number of them. Bought my first two over 30 years ago. I spent a lot of time learning about them because they were interesting and because they functioned well. Good design, especially when they were initially introduced--good enough that they're still holding onto a big part of the pistol market without much in the way of significant changes decades later. But that's all they are--good, durable, well-designed guns. No magic materials, nothing in them that some other company couldn't duplicate if they really wanted to, at least from a purely functional perspective.
