Scandium alloy

[kAnJii]

I was looking at a few SW 1911s on their website. How does this material differ than stainless steel or other materials used in the 1911s?

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Much lighter.

Don't know off hand how they compare strength-wise, but I'm sure some of the metallurgy nerds we have on board will be along shortly to fill in the gaps.

[CHS]

It's an aluminum alloy. Lighter than steel by a huge factor.

[buffybuster]

It is an alloy of Aluminum. Like Duraluminum, the material S&W uses in their "Scandium" allow pistols is almost all Aluminum. However it is alloyed with a number of other metals and Scandium which makes the aluminum alloy significantly stronger than previous alloys, while retaining the light weight of aluminum.

Scandium was not widely available at economic costs until the fall of the USSR. The Soviets used Aluminum/Scandium allows in ballistic missiles and submarines.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

I wonder how many Sc series S&W revolvers you can get out of one de-milled Soviet submarine?

[Buck'emDown78]

Scandium alloy is much lighter which means your tradeoff in comfort is feeling more felt recoil.

Its a pretty huge difference even in .38 Special revolvers, so I'm more than sure in a .45ACP round, its going to be quite a jump. Most people I know with Scandium alloy revolvers in Magnum calibers tend to dislike the recoil generated in such a light firearm since it can't be absorbed as well as steel.

[9mmepiphany]

as said Sc is alloyed with Al for additional strength. Sc is extremely expensive, but it doesn't take much to add strength to the Al.

it doesn't make the frame any lighter, as a matter of fact, it makes it a bit heavier. the super lightweights in the S&W line save most of their weight in the Ti cylinder.

i have a 1911Sc Commander length pistol and it isn't much different, weight wise, than a Colt Commander

[CHS]

it doesn't make the frame any lighter, as a matter of fact, it makes it a bit heavier. the super lightweights in the S&W line save most of their weight in the Ti cylinder.

I don't think anyone was saying that the frames would be lighter than an aluminum frame (since they ARE aluminum frames). The OP asked how it compares to steel.

Since the scandium guns are aluminum alloy frames, they're definitely lighter than any steel frame on the market.

[Black_Talon]

Here's some cool pics of a (massively) KB'd Scandium-framed S&W 1911. I don't recall ever seeing a 1911 blown up this bad:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/reloading/112638-glock-blows-up.html#post1204237

[CHS]

Pics of my friends Scandium .357mag kaboom:

http://www.23.org/~chs/gallery/airlight/

[QuarterBoreGunner]

You guys are freaking me out; I just did a range qual to put a S&W 386 Sc on my CCW.
Guess I'll stick to hot .38s...

[ojisan]

Those are some serious Kabooms.

I think the 1911 did fairly well considering a double charge with a 230 g bullet.

The J frame cracking under the barrel may have occurred when the barrel was installed at the factory.
Apparently the old K frame Airlights Model 12s would sometimes crack like this, but the crack was caused by over tightening of the barrel, not by failure during firing.

QBG..time to break out the magnifying glass and check your frame.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Faaaaaantastic.

[M. Sage]

Scandium alloy is much lighter which means your tradeoff in comfort is feeling more felt recoil.

Its a pretty huge difference even in .38 Special revolvers, so I'm more than sure in a .45ACP round, its going to be quite a jump. Most people I know with Scandium alloy revolvers in Magnum calibers tend to dislike the recoil generated in such a light firearm since it can't be absorbed as well as steel.

Aluminum-framed automatics aren't bad at all. Even plastic-framed pistols in .45 (like Glock) aren't bad to shoot. It's the slide that mellows most of the recoil on an auto, and because of the physics behind how a short-recoil firearm works, there isn't a lot of variation between slide weights.

[kAnJii]

So then, if this was my carry pistol, scandium is good due to its light weight. But for HD and target shooting, go stainless for weight and less felt recoil. Does that sound about right?