Auto frames

[Nevada Ed]

I was looking at a Beretta 92 forum and it said the frame was aluminum.
I thought the 9mm auto's even S&W had STEEL frames?

In the service as a Gunnie, the 1911 45's all had steel frames.

Are the new pistols coming out with soft frames, now ?

[dannybot]

M&P's are very soft: plastic

[Rastoff]

Yes, the 92FS/M9 has an aluminum frame. Many guns have aluminum frames. What does this have to do with the M&P?

[moxie]

And there are a lot of 1911s with aluminum alloy frames as well. In fact Colt has been producing the Commanders with alloy frames since 1951. Nothing wrong with them. Just lighter. Might not last through quite as many thousands of rounds. Maybe 1% fewer. Don't worry, though. As far as I know the USMC hasn't got any.

[Saudade]

My M9A1 is alum alloy. I wouldn't say "soft".

[jeffnles1]

While not a M&P or a Smith for that matter, I have 2 45acp's with aluminum alloy frames. One is a Kimber Tactical Pro KII and the other is a Ruger P90. The Kimber has about 1500 rounds through it with no issues and the Ruger is an old workhorse with upwards of 8,000 rounds and it's still going strong.

Jeff

[shawn mccarver]

I don't know if they are "soft," but most are not steel like the 1911. Even Colt's Commander model had an aluminum frame. The majority of the "Wondernines" that came along in anticipation of the Military trials of the early 1980s had aluminum frames. That would include S&W, Beretta and SIG Sauer.

Glock changed the game in 1980 with it adoption by the Austrian military. Although its trigger system is a variation on the 1907 Roth Steyr, and its polymer frame was on the earlier HKVP70 and the HKP9S, polymer did not really become mainstream until Glock took the world by storm starting in 1985 here in the US, when it opened its first US offices. And the striker fired DAO mechanism really was not used in service pistols to any extent until the Glock was invented.

Now, everyone makes a polymer frame of some kind. They are just as durable, MUCH cheaper to make and they contribute to light weight and thus, easy carry. Polymer is also rust proof and to some extent, self-lubricating.

[SW1122]

Another consideration: metal dents and bends if dropped; polymer doesn't get hurt by impacts unless really excessive. I assume this makes polymer guns less vulnerable to becoming inoperative during use if they were dropped on a hard surface.

I still love a steel gun more than other materials - something about the feel, balance and beauty of well-finished steel that appeals to me. Although I have several polymer guns, I keep coming back to how much I like the feel of my steel 1911. This type of thing is of course just a personal preference, especially since it is mostly based on aesthetics, and not on functionality, durability or reliability. Others may of course have very different opinions about some or all of these issues.