Why Plastic Main Spring Housing ?

[Cagunazrod]

Might be a stupid question . . . but is there a 'reason' other than 'cost' why some manufacturers choose to use plastic for their main spring housings?
My Kimber Ultra Carry ii has one, and I think my Sig Sauer P238 HD has one as well.

There are plenty of 'aftermarket' MSH's available for both . . . I was just wondering if there was some sort of mechanical, practical reason, or ????

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[eaglemike]

Plastic are cheap to make, and work "okay." They can be self lubricating to some degree. That's my take.

A common upgrade, getting a checkered or serrated part, changing the fiinsh, etc.

[Ruber]

[SkyHawk]

Your P238 also has a plastic trigger

They’re light and won’t rust.

Same for aluminum and titanium. Plastic will get brittle eventually, and those wont.

There is no way to sugarcoat this - it was done by a cheap arse bean counter - period.

[ZombieLivesMatter]

Same for aluminum and titanium. Plastic will get brittle eventually, and those wont.

There is no way to sugarcoat this - it was done by a cheap arse bean counter - period.

This.

[heidad01]

Your P238 also has a plastic trigger



Same for aluminum and titanium. Plastic will get brittle eventually, and those wont.

There is no way to sugarcoat this - it was done by a cheap arse bean counter - period.

This. ^^^ 100%

It is no longer a goal/pride to make the best and the finest example of what ever it is that a big company makes. I worked in a medical device manufacturing company for over a decade and a half. The more MBAs they hired for management, the less reliable and refined the product became.

If they can use a cheaper part, they will.

[TomReloaded]

Has anyone honestly broken *any* mainspring housing? Even just hamfisting one?

I think plastic is used here because it works without creating a deficiency. It's a pretty shrug worthy part.

[JTROKS]

Cheap.

[Pofoo]

So, a plastic main spring housing is a cheap pos, but a Glock frame is a miracle piece of modern technology.
To extend this thought, a m16 is a cheap plastic toy.
Any of you guys ever carry a m14?

[Ruber]

[Cowboy T]

A little perspective. Bear in mind that Glocks probably have an expected service life of about 40 years, under regular use and proper maintenance. That ain't bad for a regularly used piece of machinery; cars usually don't last that long.

We also know that, with proper maintenance, all-metal guns can last over 150 years...and counting. There are Colt SAA's out there from the 1870's that are still used in Cowboy Action Shooting today.

Provided that parts continue to be made available, I don't see a problem with plastic in guns, where appropriate. As 3-D printing continues to improve, I could see a lot of those parts made in home shops.

[003]

Light weight, every ounce counts. I do not believe it has anything to do with cheap.

[003]

[QUOTE=Cowboy T;25693356]A little perspective. Bear in mind that Glocks probably have an expected service life of about 40 years, under regular use and proper maintenance. That ain't bad for a regularly used piece of machinery; cars usually don't last that long.

Love to see the study and information this is based on.

[ojisan]

When I built my double-stack Para, I had a couple metal MSHs to work with.
These were both heavy and rough inside and the operation of the spring and plunger was very notchy.
Even after clean up they were still rough.
The plastic MSH I tried for fun was very smooth in operation and took some weight off the butt which gave better balance for me, I wanted weight at the muzzle not the grip.
The plastic MSH is cheaper, added to the smooth operation I can see why manufacturers would use the plastic type.
I'm a function first guy so I'm happy with the gun as is.
Someday I might change it to aluminum but I'm in no hurry.

[Dooder]

Your P238 also has a plastic trigger



Same for aluminum and titanium. Plastic will get brittle eventually, and those wont.

There is no way to sugarcoat this - it was done by a cheap arse bean counter - period.

My STI's have plastic grips, plastic msh, and plastic triggers. The old SVI's, a completely custom pistol had plastic grip, plastic msh, and plastic trigger.

There's many ways to view the reasoning. Some companies do it for saving money sure. But in race guns its a performance issue. I used the plastic STI triggers to set up my single stack guns. Truth is it's less mass which makes a lighter, crisper break, faster reset, with no bounce.

The Staccatos still use plastic msh and trigger while their guns cost more beans than most. John Wick and the folks that paid 10k for his Combat Master bought plastic msh and plastic triggers haaha.

Sure this is one aspect, and I do agree that some companies do it to cheap out. I'm just saying its not always a bad thing. Same with MIM parts. People hate them on a 1911, but yet it's acceptable on other guns...I dunno man.