I thought MIM was bad?

[zorkieo]

i was on kimbers websight the other day, and they seem to brag about inovating the MIM (metal injecting molding) process. isnt that a bad thing? why would they brag about this?

[cseabass]

sales.... if you had an inferior product, wouldnt you find a way to try and sell it?

also, i havent seen a MIM part break, but i personally dont like the idea of MIM.

[SVTNate]

Because smarter consumers probably ask them all the time why their top-end custom guns, which are full of MIM, cost as much as a Les Baer that has no MIM. They tout the process as something you want to have in your 1911 pistol.

[Kruzr]

MIM is better than casting but less dense than a forging. MIM is a process not a material. Remington was the first company to use MIM in firearms. Kimber was one of the first to use it extensively in 1911's. Now it's common in many guns.

If you want to learn about MIM, don't beleive what you hear on the internet, research it yourself. Here is a good start. Be sure to read the defects part when you understand the process.

http://www.megamet.com/tutf.htm

Nearly all production guns use some parts made via MIM. Most of the high end guns don't have any parts made by MIM. The only one I can think of is the Springfield Pro which has 3 MIM parts.

When MIM breaks, it breaks early in it's life due to the voids. If it's made right, it lasts as long as any other part.

[DrjonesUSA]

i was on kimbers websight the other day, and they seem to brag about inovating the MIM (metal injecting molding) process. isnt that a bad thing? why would they brag about this?

As with anything, it all depends on how well it is made.

Well-made MIM can last a long time, poorly made MIM can break quickly.

It depends.

Frankly, the whole issue is overblown. 99% of MIM parts will outlast their owners/users anyway.

[ianS]

As with anything, it all depends on how well it is made.

Well-made MIM can last a long time, poorly made MIM can break quickly.

It depends.

Frankly, the whole issue is overblown. 99% of MIM parts will outlast their owners/users anyway.

Yeah but people who hate MIM are vocal. When a forged steel so called "bulletproof" part breaks prematurely they shrug their shoulders and say "It happens".

[bwiese]

Hell I like new MIM-based S&W wheelguns better than the older guns.

Far more consistent in trigger pull, and the new guns seem more accurate.

[eckerph]

My milspec has a bunch of MIM parts and i have several thousands of rounds through it without any issues.

[maxicon]

MIM parts are more dimensionally accurate and need less tweaking than cast parts, and are a lot cheaper than machined parts. Generally, this results in a good tradeoff between cost and quality.

MIM parts do break sometimes, just like cast and machined parts, but they have a long history of reliability and quality.

Of course, there are still people who believe plastic guns are no good, or stainless is inferior to blued steel. Everyone's entitled to their opinions.

[saki302]

When I hear people complain about MIM parts, I just think of the insides of my uncle's Colt series 80 pistol I did a trigger job on. We were horrified to see what the sear looked like- it took 15 minutes with stones to make it 'acceptable'. And those were not MIM parts, just garbage.

I think it's all overblown. MIM is fine if done right, and th emajority of it seems to be- there aren't floods of complaints about breaking internals yet.

-Dave

[spgk380]

i was on kimbers websight the other day, and they seem to brag about inovating the MIM (metal injecting molding) process. isnt that a bad thing? why would they brag about this?

MIM has its place just like everything else. You don't need solid titanium parts for the mag release button, for example.

[gunsnrovers]

MIM parts in production:
playdough.jpg

[Mute]

Used correctly, MIM can be do the job quite well. MIM by it's nature is probably more susceptible to problems if not created properly, but when done right it there shouldn't be any problems. It's been in use for a long time by a large number of gun manufacturers. If it was really problematic, we'd hear much more about it.

On the plus side, it allows for less expensive guns and therefore, more toys for us to play with.