Use of plastic in top competition pistols

[Bjacobs571]

I don't think that plastic is acceptable in a pistol costing £1400+ although my Hammerli AP40 does have a plastic grips, but it is a very good grip and not part of the pistol you expect to be made of metal. if they want to save money it means they are not trying to produce the best pistol possible.

[bullbarrel]

Similar letter in a recent Guns and Ammo magazine but in fullbore pistols and rifles. Saying the plastic is strong enough and wears too easily.

[1066]

I don't think that plastic is acceptable in a pistol costing £1400+ although my Hammerli AP40 does have a plastic grips, but it is a very good grip and not part of the pistol you expect to be made of metal. if they want to save money it means they are not trying to produce the best pistol possible.

I don't think they are trying to produce the best pistol possible.
They are trying to produce a pistol that that gives maximum profit for the company - That is their "raison d'etre ". They produce a pistol that keeps up with the competition in that price bracket for the minimum price.

If they were trying to make the best pistol possible the bits that are plastic would probably be made of Titanium etc. the pistol would then cost £5,000 and no one would buy it.

The Chinese could probably produce a fake that would be almost impossible to tell from the real one and sell for about £150.

[zooma]

I don't think they are trying to produce the best pistol possible.
They are trying to produce a pistol that that gives maximum profit for the company - That is their "raison d'etre ". They produce a pistol that keeps up with the competition in that price bracket for the minimum price.

If they were trying to make the best pistol possible the bits that are plastic would probably be made of Titanium etc. the pistol would then cost £5,000 and no one would buy it.

The Chinese could probably produce a fake that would be almost impossible to tell from the real one and sell for about £150.

Who do we ask in China?......sounds like a good idea

[1066]

Who do we ask in China?......sounds like a good idea

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/target-sh...l#.WP5lxYWcHcs

Just need to add a Walther barrel for about £50 and adjust the internals and away you go.

[harvey_s]

Don't know where you got your info from - but the Morini 162 trigger guard is metal...no plastic anywhere.

[PAXIL]

This is the reason I love old match guns over newer ones. Sure newer one can out perform. I just appreciate the materials and craftsmanship in the older models. I don't believe anything that costs that much should use a cheaper process without passing that manufacturing cost savings on to the consumer.

[zooma]

This is the reason I love old match guns over newer ones. Sure newer one can out perform. I just appreciate the materials and craftsmanship in the older models. I don't believe anything that costs that much should use a cheaper process without passing that manufacturing cost savings on to the consumer.

Many of the "older" match pistols (and rifles) also made good use of plastic mouldings with all of the top quality manufacturers using moulded plastic in one way or another and have been doing so since the second world war when target shooting with .177 airguns started to become a more popular pastime.

I have a mint condition Original Model 6 date stamped October 1978 that has the large brown moulded plastic grip - one of the later ones (of its type) I believe. This pistol has had all the internals updated by Dave Mercer (the early plastic seals tended to rot over age - even faster if they did not have regular use) and we have now invented a "one pistol competition" at RMTC as an excuse to get a lot of pellets through it to get it "run-in" nicely.

The pistol is an example of the type that probably made the most extensive use of moulded plastic and it is beginning to perform well as its small oil clouds become less frequent, and is a pistol of the type that I shot in various national NARPA, EALY and NSRA competition in the early 1970's with some success.

Not only is the main grip moulded in a fairly large lump of brown plastic ( earlier ones were moulded in a light grey coloured plastic) but the trigger and trigger guard as well as the complete front and adjustable rear sight assembly are also moulded in plastic - although some of the very early types had a small stamped metal reinforcement strip along the top of the rear sight before confidence in plastic improved and the design was modified to the later type that was used on the majority of all Model 6 pistols produced..

Look inside many "classic" match pistols and rifles to see plastic pistons and seals being made extensive use of.

As an aside, I have been collecting match airguns of all types since I started in the 1960's and have noticed the use of plastic in many "top quality" and highly desirable early match rifles - Walther especially made very good use of plastics - so this is not a new idea and is most certainly not restricted to "modern" or "current" match pistols and rifles.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Thanks for pointing that out.

Read it on here, Post No 6.

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=35445 Post No 6.

[harvey_s]

I stand corrected ...having just checked my own I can confirm the trigger guard is indeed some kind of polymer.
Could have sworn it was metal, so it's obviously fit for purpose.

[Modski66]

The Boeing Dreamliner and the Airbus XWB have a lot of 'plastic' in them to save weight...