Why Polymer Pistols Are the Future of Handguns

[Rick Mason]

Why Polymer Pistols Are the Future of Handguns by Tamara Keel

The real reason for polymer frames, though, and why they’re here to stay, is that they are simply much, much less expensive to manufacture. Even in the age of computerized machining, it will always be quicker and cheaper to squirt goop into a mold than to machine a frame out of metal. And if the end result of the cheaper process also happens to have plenty of beneficial side effects, then what’s not to like about it?

Is this like the flintlock people boasting over the matchlock die-hards?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I don’t mean to come off snarky but isn’t this all a foregone conclusion? I’ve got both and I like both kinds. This truly the golden age of firearms when it comes to choices.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

One can be built without the other, and the other needs both to be built to last more than one shot.

 

[88E30M50]

I tend to agree regarding service pistols but I think that there will always be metal framed guns around and available. Also, right now, manufacturing favors the simplicity of molded chassis but if additive technology moves forward, we could be hearing the same arguments against a poly gun. Down the road, it may be argued that a poly gun requires expensive molding equipment and expensive molds where as a 3D printed gun does not.

There will always be room for craftsmen though.

 

[Karl-just-Karl]

There will always be room for craftsmen though.

What scares me most is that there might not be any more craftsmen.

Okay, I know there will always be a few, but they are already difficult enough to find.

 

[88E30M50]

What scares me most is that there might not be any more craftsmen.

Okay, I know there will always be a few, but they are already difficult enough to find.

Yup. Today’s mindset of ‘make it fast, cheap and disposable’ produces fewer that are interested in becoming a true craftsman. Maybe that will change or maybe there will always be those that just love doing quality work.

 

[Dean C.]

Yup. Today’s mindset of ‘make it fast, cheap and disposable’ produces fewer that are interested in becoming a true craftsman. Maybe that will change or maybe there will always be those that just love doing quality work.

Most people just are sadly not willing to pay for it. Take 1911's for example you have to spend Dan Wesson money to get some hand fitting , most of the general gun buying public is not willing to spend DW money on a handgun.

 

[Leadeye]

I think metal guns will continue to be around, they have been here a long time and are still working.

 

[WebSnyper]

I agree with folks, there will continue to be metal framed guns, etc. That said, I know Tam (author) is an INGO'er, etc, but this article seems a bit fluffy to me. One of the comments on the article said this was like saying the Jet engine was going to be the future of flight. Polymer frames have been out for several decades now and are widely accepted, etc with several major OEMs having several generations of guns with polymer frames.

Now that said, seems like the way some OEMs are doing it, with the polymer not being the serial numbered part is a good trend. Allows alot of different aftermarket, easy to obtain, relatively reasonably priced modifications into the market. That was a good point to raise in the article:

One advantage not touted by manufacturers, but definitely there, is that polymer frames are easier for the shadetree home gunsmith to re-contour or texture to suit their personal tastes. The latest round of pistols like SIG Sauer’s P320, where the polymer frame is actually separate from the serialized “chassis,” make this an almost risk-free process, since if you botch it, you haven’t hurt the firearm itself and can go back to status quo ante for the relatively low cost of a replacement grip module.

 

[Hohn]

I’m waiting for a premium quality AR lower in polymer. Something 35% glass filled or more with a modern resin like polyimide-imide.

Design it with an inserted FCG housing that can be separately serialized ala p320. Win.

 

[Karl-just-Karl]

I agree with folks, there will continue to be metal framed guns, etc. That said, I know Tam (author) is an INGO'er, etc, but this article seems a bit fluffy to me. One of the comments on the article said this was like saying the Jet engine was going to be the future of flight. Polymer frames have been out for several decades now and are widely accepted, etc with several major OEMs having several generations of guns with polymer frames.

Now that said, seems like the way some OEMs are doing it, with the polymer not being the serial numbered part is a good trend. Allows alot of different aftermarket, easy to obtain, relatively reasonably priced modifications into the market. That was a good point to raise in the article:

Fluffy? Most certainly a filler piece and most certainly for general, easy-read consumption, possibly for the uninitiated. It is easy to believe no matter how you look at it though. Polymers are here to stay. Polymer frames, polymer coated projectiles, polymer cases...someday.

I’m waiting for a premium quality AR lower in polymer. Something 35% glass filled or more with a modern resin like polyimide-imide.

Design it with an inserted FCG housing that can be separately serialized ala p320. Win.

We won't be seeing polyimide lowers any time soon. A few years ago, for work, we bought some for a special project. A surprising small block that might be suitable for machining a lower out of ran in the neighborhood of $22,000.

Priced by the inch link for rod at McmasterCarr:

https://www.mcmaster.com/polyimide/high-strength-vespel-polyimide/

And this isn't even the good stuff. $447 for one inch of 2" dia. rod!

G-10 might make an appearance first if it wasn't so danged abrasive.

 

[ghuns]

...We won't be seeing polyimide lowers any time soon. A few years ago, for work, we bought some for a special project. A surprising small block that might be suitable for machining a lower out of ran in the neighborhood of $22,000...

There are injection moldable grades out there. DuPont even has several carbon fiber filled version. But I imagine it's cost prohibitive for large, high volume molded parts.

It's also evil, wicked, nasty s**t. Requiring mold temps of 400 degrees and barrel temps close to 800 degrees.

We used to mold some parts out of Ultem, which is almost as bad, but not quite.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

There are injection moldable grades out there. DuPont even has several carbon fiber filled version. But I imagine it's cost prohibitive for large, high volume molded parts.

It's also evil, wicked, nasty s**t. Requiring mold temps of 400 degrees and barrel temps close to 800 degrees.

We used to mold some parts out of Ultem, which is almost as bad, but not quite.

I bet chisling/air jetting that out of a mold heater box thats full of plastic is a fun job.

 

[WebSnyper]

Fluffy? Most certainly a filler piece and most certainly for general, easy-read consumption, possibly for the uninitiated. It is easy to believe no matter how you look at it though. Polymers are here to stay. Polymer frames, polymer coated projectiles, polymer cases...someday.

Yep, fluffy, and just as you took it... a filler piece. Polymer has been here to stay for decades as it relates to handgun frames. Just seemed like an article that seemed obvious to probably all but the most uninitiated. I don't disagree with it, just not news.

 

[Hohn]

There are injection moldable grades out there. DuPont even has several carbon fiber filled version. But I imagine it's cost prohibitive for large, high volume molded parts.

It's also evil, wicked, nasty s**t. Requiring mold temps of 400 degrees and barrel temps close to 800 degrees.

We used to mold some parts out of Ultem, which is almost as bad, but not quite.

Even a PA6/66 at 40% gf or so would be excellent. Several grades of zytel or ultramid would be perfect. My point isn’t so much that we need Torlon or PEEK, it’s that the same resins used to effect in handguns are absent in AR lowers. An AR lower built as nice as a P320 would be ideal.

 

[Leadeye]

I wonder how well the skins of those materials hold up wearing against each other?

 

[88E30M50]

The recent sea change in firearms is not polymers, but the serialized chassis. That will be the design point that dominates going forward IMHO. What that concept does that a molded frame does not do is to allow the manufacture of 10s of thousand serialized chassis and then later configure them to meet market needs. It’s essentially bringing the AR concept to handguns but with easy manufacturing capabilities using lower grade components.

Imagine a manufacturer being able to optimize a production line for the serialized chassis and crank them out quickly and cheaply. If the market suddenly shifts to large framed guns, they can pivot much faster than they could if they had to retool machines or alter production lines. This is the type of innovation that changes industries.

 

[Tombs]

What scares me most is that there might not be any more craftsmen.

Okay, I know there will always be a few, but they are already difficult enough to find.

The craftsmen make the molds.

And the molds are insanely expensive and require some of the most intricate engineering of anything around today.
They also don't last for ever, especially with glass filled polymers. They get chewed up by the material.

I personally prefer polymer. I've never had a steel frame gun, stainless or otherwise, last very long without developing significant rust if I actually use it. And that's with daily coatings of rust inhibitors.
I've even had alloy frame guns begin to corrode on me.

 

[Clay Pigeon]

The craftsmen make the molds.

And the molds are insanely expensive and require some of the most intricate engineering of anything around today.
They also don't last for ever, especially with glass filled polymers. They get chewed up by the material.

I personally prefer polymer. I've never had a steel frame gun, stainless or otherwise, last very long without developing significant rust if I actually use it. And that's with daily coatings of rust inhibitors.
I've even had alloy frame guns begin to corrode on me.

I asked once when tiging on a mold I was doing a few injector pin repairs on for GTI on what that mold cost. And without hesitation the Japanese engineer replied about 250 thousand.

 

[ghuns]

I asked once when tiging on a mold I was doing a few injector pin repairs on for GTI on what that mold cost. And without hesitation the Japanese engineer replied about 250 thousand.

The simplest ones we build start at around 100K. The biggest, most complex ones often have engineering changes that cost that much.