Obviously, a steel or iron/nickel/cobalt alloy of some kind is needed for the barrel and spring mechanism, but could other metal parts be replaced bu a strong but lightweight aluminum/magnesium alloy?
Hell, the Glock is made of plastic!
Yep, there are aluminum frame hand guns, also the M16/AR15 has lots of aluminum and composite parts with chrome/steel barrel and that is an old design
Only the frame of a Glock is almost completely made of a polymer material. (The frame is the ‘bottom half’ of the pistol, the part you grip). The slide, however, is still made of steel. (As is the barrel, of course.)
The so-called “plastic gun” (a gun made entirely of plastic) does not exist. It is just a media scare.
I own a S&W Model 43 that is supposed to have aluminum parts. Never checked though.
the reciever on certain AK-47s is supposesed to be aluminium.
Now…if I only knew what a “reciever” was…
Receiver, all the parts that hold the other parts (like the bolt, the barrel and all that) The case of the gun.
The Williams Arms Company thought it would be a neat idea to make an aluminum upper receiver for the FAL. (The FAL is a .308 semi-automatic Main Battle Rifle).
Quite a few of these aluminum receivers were sold to FAL builders.
It turned out to be a bad idea.
Smith and wesson made some aluminum frame LadySmith .22 revolvers with an anodized finish. You could get yourself a baby blue or pink gun.
The currently fasionable frame material seems to be titanium.
Ouchie. I hope the testing didn’t involve some schmo standing in a firing range shooting at a target.
RR
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- It is generally agreed upon that while it is possible to make a gun totally out of aluminum, its accuracy wouldn’t last very long because of the fact that aluminum is considerably less harder and melts at a lower temperature than steel. If you didn’t care about long-term accuracy/bore durability, then there wouldn’t be much of a problem.
…
Exhibit A:
the Ruger Mk II pistol, with a receiver and barrel normally made out of blued steel or stainless steel.
- It is generally agreed upon that while it is possible to make a gun totally out of aluminum, its accuracy wouldn’t last very long because of the fact that aluminum is considerably less harder and melts at a lower temperature than steel. If you didn’t care about long-term accuracy/bore durability, then there wouldn’t be much of a problem.
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- A company named Pac-Lite makes one-piece recievers+barrels out of aluminum, but they use a stainless-steel insert to line the bore:
http://www.tacticalsol.com/products/PAC-LITEs.htm
…-and this is even for “only” a 22LR rimfire caliber. A 22Lr is not the lowest-pressure caliber there is, but not nearly the highest either.
~
Yes. Colt, for one, makes a version of their Government Model .45 automatic with an aluminum-alloy frame. They weigh about a third less than the all-steel ones, IIRC. I think the slide is still steel on the alloy-framed ones, because it has to be pretty massive.
Smith & Wesson makes titanium-framed revolvers. They’re even lighter than the aluminum ones.
I bought my wife a Lady Smith 38 SPL hammerless, made of aluminum. It is very lite weight but is rated to shoot the most powerful ammo made and that is + P +.
It is an excellent carry weapon, I carry a Glock 9 MM Model 26 but Like her S&W better.
Be careful! I’ve recently read on another web site (packing.org) that light weight revolvers with hot loads will sometimes have the bullets unseat in he cylinder due to the faster recoil of the lighter firearm. The gun actually moves back fast enough to leave the bullet behind. The unseated bullet can prevent the cylinder from rotating, thus making the gun inoperable.
Here’s the thread http://www.packing.org/talk/thread.jsp/26456/
I know an FFL-holder in Akron who built an FAL on WAC aluminum receiver. He raved about it for weeks on the falfiles message board. (See these threads: A, B, C.)
A competing receiver manufacturer (DSA) posted a warning about the dangers of the aluminum receiver.
Then disaster almost struck.
Weren’t the old Gyrojet guns from the 60s built from aluminum? The rounds were self-contained rockets and didn’t reach maximum velocity until about 5m past the muzzle. The forces were much lower than those from a normal bullet being fired so the gun was pretty much a lightweight launching tube.
Ah, 1960’s style rocket guns.
I read the post. We have test fired using CorBon +P+ loads several times with no problems. But still, it has happen and with CorBon. Not good.
Thanks for the info.
The FAL is a big, heavy mother of a rifle and has tons of recoil. I can see why they are trying to make it lighter.
I’ve been told that repeated firing with a FAL can serioulsy strain your shoulder. M16 feels like a toy-gun in comparison. :eek:
The HK G3 that has the same calible, is much lighter and has significantly less recoil than the FAL.