# Of what plastic are Glocks made? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085 "2020-03-08T06:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggus\_Richard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@Biggus\_Richard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggus_Richard)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/1 "2020-03-08T06:26:54Z")
Besides that, how long before the plastic gasses out and becomes brittle? A long time I suppose, since I still see early generation Glock 17s (1990s) in use. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/2 "2020-03-08T06:46:40Z")
Polyamide or nylon 6 ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/3 "2020-03-08T12:28:08Z")
Technically, it’s “Polymer 2”, a proprietary nylon 6 or nylon 6/6 blend known only to the manufacturer. It’s like the Coke formula. They’re not sharing. Other polymer firearms are made of Zytel, another nylon 6/6 based thermoplastic owned by DuPont. It should be easier to find information on the DuPont formula than Glock’s. As for how long they will last? There’s a lot of debate about that. The answer is _at least 40 years_, since there are still polymer-framed pistols from 40 years ago floating around. Personally, I think the answer will be measured in lifetimes. It’s not going to degrade faster than _you_ are, that’s for sure. I am a Glock armorer, but I am certainly not a chemist or polymer engineer. I also used to be a master LE distributor for Glock. So I really only know what they tell me, and what I’ve experienced. ---
**Author:** ![icbm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@icbm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icbm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/4 "2020-03-08T19:54:55Z")
Do they add glass beads or fibre to the plastic? That’s typical for nylon that has to be stiff and resist wear from abrasion. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/5 "2020-03-09T09:22:14Z")
> [@icbm](#): > > Do they add glass beads or fibre to the plastic? That’s typical for nylon that has to be stiff and resist wear from abrasion. I’ve not heard any reference to glass beads, but they specifically state there is no glass fiber. The exclusion of glass fiber is intended to increase cold weather performance. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/6 "2020-03-09T20:35:07Z")
For the non-gun people, keep in mind that entire Glock pistols are not plastic. The barrel, chamber, and most moving parts are metal. On this diagram, part #17 (the frame/grip) and #33 (the magazine case) are the main plastic parts I believe: [https://www.eaglegunrangetx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/glocksplode-1.gif](https://www.eaglegunrangetx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/glocksplode-1.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/of-what-plastic-are-glocks-made/849085/7 "2020-03-09T21:26:20Z")
I’m just about positive AvE did an episode about a Glock. If he did, he almost certainly would have done his best to figure out what it was made of. ETA, here’s the [episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rduVAVrQCM), I just skipped around looking for the spot where he would mention the material. He said PA66 (Nylon), but didn’t seem 100% sure of himself and guessed it may be a blend with something else in it. FWIW, he ID it by melting a little with a soldering iron and smelling the fumes that came off it. It’s right around the 20 minute mark.