How many hate polymer(PLASTIC!)?

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Greg Bell

New member
Guys,

I know all the benefits. I've felt comfortable with them at my side. However, I just hate polymer guns! I have owned a Glock and two USPs. They were ok guns--but I just couldn't get over the cheap feel! Polymer guns look and feel like junk. After shooting a Glock or USP I just love the feel of My Sig 229 or HKP7M8--solid, trustworthy, REAL! Plastic guns feel and sound like cap pistols. I can't stand the pansy sound that Glocks and USPS make when they are dry fired. I wish I could go back in time and stop whatever engineer over at HK thought this crap up and slap him.

By the way, they are great mega-functional tools--they just don't feel right to my heart.

GHB
 
W

WESHOOT2

New member
As much as I respect a good tool, I, too, am unable to like plastic guns.
I've handled many, shot some, owned one (M20), but was -GASP!- forced to sell it. Just didn't like it.

I understand other folks liking plastic, but I don't.

-----------------------------------

"all my guns are metal guns"
 
W

Will Beararms

New member
Greg:

You need to work on coming out of your inner shell and let us know how you really feel. The beauty of being American is that it's okay to be wrong. We still love you anyway.

I too hated plastic but logic brought me back and now I am comfortable with my Glockhood and my Ruger P97hood.

In time Grasshopper, you too will be enlightened. :eek:
 
M

MrPink

New member
Call me a traditionalist, but I like steel guns. I guess thats why I favor the 1911, P7 and BHP. I also like my SIGs, albeit with alum. frames.

I also own a few polymers - I like the USP the best (its a trigger and grip angle thing for me with a Glock). I think the USP polymer is better executed than early Glocks. They are great guns to fire lotsa rounds thru - no cracked frames to worry about and for IDPA, practice shoots and classes the USP has the same manual of arms as the 1911.

But I don't covet my polymer guns. When I am gun handling or dry firing, I invariably reach for steel.

To borrow an analogy: Polymers make for a great wife, but steel makes for a great girlfriend :)
 
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Martowski

New member
I wouldn't go so far as to say that I hate plastic, but I really don't prefer it. I like having the solid, heavy feel of steel in my hands. My state does not allow concealed carry, so concealed carry weight is not an issue with me.
 
C

Country Boy

New member
I can't say that I hate polymer, I just have a big preference for steel. I am a big believer in function over form; if something does its job, it shouldn't matter what it looks like or what it's made from. If I could get a banana to fire my Hydra-Shoks, I would use my "Tactical Chiquita" instead of my current carry piece. But all things being equal in the performance department, I prefer the feel, the permenance, the plain ol' solidness of steel.
 
R

Redleg

New member
I haven't owned a polymer frame gun yet although I'd like to get a Ruger P95/97. A buddy owns one of each and they feel right at home in my hand. Due to my love of everything .45 I'll probably go with the P97. I've fired a Glock 17 and there was something that just didn't feel right about it. I think it was more of an ergonomics thing than a polymer one. While the polymer frame isn't a distraction for me personally I can understand why it might be to some.
 
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bk40

New member
Like most of the others, I prefer steel or aluminum to polymer frames. Having said that I have owned a bunch of Glocks (none now) and 3 custom STI's (none now). But I did pick up 2 polymer pistols this week, a HK Tactical and a Wilson KZ45 :)

Polymer defintely has earned a place with most handgunners, be they LEO, CCW, HD or competitors. And rightfully so consider the advantages over steel. Weight, rust-free and the ability to mold the frames in ways (tactical light rails...) that would be cost prohibitive with steel guarantee them a permanent place in the firearms world.

I gotta admit though, that the pride of ownership that I have with a finely machined steel pistol with wooden grips never will be matched with any polymer gun I'll ever own!
 
F

Forrest Summers

New member
When you strip an HK or Glock down to just the frame, its hard to believe that you paid $500-$700 for that piece of plastic in front of you.

-forrest
 
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Bob C

New member
I tried a .45 acp H&K USP, which was dependable, accurate, and din't feel right. My next experiment wityh plastic was a Glock with a 22 and a 24C upper, and with a .357Sig Barsto barrel for the Model 22 upper. After 2200 rounds, ti was also reliable, reasonably accurate, and didn't feel right.

Both were traded for variations of 1911's.
 
O

Onslaught

New member
I can't stand the pansy sound that Glocks and USPS make when they are dry fired.

Okay, I'll give you that Glocks sound kinda funny when you dry-fire them.. but HK's?

The trigger group on an HK is not polymer, nor is anything on the slide, hammer, etc... Feels and sounds just like any other gun I'VE ever dry fired... But that's just me and my HK.

I'm pretty much the opposite... I LOVE polymer pistols like HK, Kahr P9, Walther P99. I like the lighter weight, finger grooves... did I mention the lighter weight yet? :)

I do agree with you regarding the plastic trigger feel though, like those on the Taurus Millinium (the worst of all "poing" triggers), Glock, etc.

I've never owned a Sig, but I sure won't rule them out either!
 
B

Badger Arms

New member
On the Glock, the Plastic is used mostly for a grip. surface than a structural part of the weapon. The HK is of the same construction principle. The Ruger P95 and 97 both use Plastic as the bearing surface on the Frame. Most other guns use plastic for the grips.

My question is... What's the problem? Steel is heavier than it has to be for most of the lower parts of a gun. The Glock, HK USP, and Ruger Plastics are all of good construction and have a solid feel to them. I think the main area of concern here is what you're used to.

My first handgun was a Browning HP. It was an excellent gun of unfailing design that I truly loved. Over the years, I've owned guns of numerous different construction materials. I'd have to say that I prefer plastic from all standpoints. It is lighter, stronger in some cases, easier to manufacture, warmer in winter, cooler in summer, corrosion free, provides a thinner grip profile (if not utilized for the magazine), and is cheaper to make and therefore makes a cheaper gun.

I read a story in Small Arms Review about how Marines on Guadalcanal who fought alongside Army Troops were amazed at how much superior the Garand was to their Springfield '03's. The Marine Corps had chosen to stay with the Mauser design because of some imagined superiority. There is also an imagined superiority in Steel construction that eludes me. When firing the Glock 20 alongside my Browning at a range one day, I experienced superiority firsthand and have been sold ever since. I am deeply indebted to that shooter for letting me borrow his baby.

Most of the prejudice against plastic is, IMNTBHO, simply that. It's prejudgement based on surface analysis or stuburn adherance to illogical paradigms. When you break through the surface, Polymer construction offers so many advantages as to fly in the face of convention and demand acceptance. I'll take mine plastic, thank you very much.
 
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johnwill

New member
I have to say, I pretty much like steel or plastic in my guns. Hell, I just like guns, almost any kind of gun. I exclude brands like the Jennings, Raven, etc, but other than that... :)
 
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twoinchgroup52

New member
I can't bring myself to buy a Glock. However, to round out my collection I felt I needed a Ploymer (plastic) framed pistol. Bought a USP Tactical 45 and love this gun but I can't see myself getting another plastic gun.
Sincerely, Twoinchgroup52
 
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vmaam

New member
Good compromise = Kahr P9

Try the Kahr P9. The base is polymer but the slide and other internel gear are stainless. Very well made.
 
O

Oleg Volk

Staff Alumnus
Good points for plastic

Easier to maintain, not cold when carried.

Good points for steel: feels right. Year, I will admit to oogling wood and blued steel yet buying synthetics and stainless :D
 
A

animal

New member
No matter how much I tell myself it would be more practical to wear a nylon jacket with the space age lining that keeps you warm, "breathes", and wicks away sweat ... I still like my Cooper A-2. I've got some plastic deck chairs that are tough, strong and durable ...but when I sit down for a meal, I want a nice wood dining room chair under my butt. I like the metal dashboard of my old Ford truck better than the padded vinyl one in the wife's car even though if I were to have a wreck, I'm sure the dash in the car would hurt less if I bounced off of it.
I guess (to me at least) leather, wood, and steel are more comforting than polymers. Plastic doesn't feel like quality. It feels like plastic.
 
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