Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The MIM meme continued...

When Og talks about MIM and manufacturing and machining and such, you should listen. He very likely helped make the stuff that made your stuff.
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10 comments:

Tom said...

While I'm confident in my current career path (degree in health information technology) reading Og's stuff makes me lament the mistakes of my youth, and our country's decline in engineering, manufacturing, and related trades. To be sure, we still educate some of the best engineers in the world, but we're no longer the top dog we used to be. Just look at what you folks were saying about Honda Gold Wings. (The good news though, is that the Victory Vision powertrain is every bit as reliable, if not quite so potent, and it's an American company through and through.

One of the first comments mentioned Kimber - which was also the first thing gun-related that jumped to mind regarding MIM. IIRC it was Kimber that started using a lot of MIM parts in their 1911's. How MIM came to be conflated with pot metal at the time I don't know, but apparently that's part of the problem with MIM. The technology may have evolved, but has the perception?

Tom

9:08 PM, August 19, 2014
og said...

Its worse than you think. Kimber is shipping new 1911's with plastic mainspring housings.

10:32 PM, August 19, 2014
Tam said...

Kimber and Colt have been using nylon MSHs for years. The only reason SA doesn't is because their lock is in the MSH.

True Fact: I popped a take-off Kimber nylon MSH on my Springfield Lightweight Loaded for the weight savings. :)

(It's not like the MSH is a terribly high-stressed part, after all.)

10:40 PM, August 19, 2014
og said...

Lol. Excep for the high strength compression spring inside it. It is a perfectly functional part, but they do fail in odd ways. In a project now to make better ones, will send you a sample as soon as they arrive.

10:58 PM, August 19, 2014
Tom said...

Well crud, I'm intent on getting a Springfield Range Officer either before or after the FNX-45. There is no small irony in getting a nylon MSH in order to dispose of that blasted lawyer lock, either. And lest someone utter "but, but....you want a steel 1911 AND a polymer pistol?" I say, YES! At least the FN isn't pretentious about it.

Tom

2:15 AM, August 20, 2014
Phillip said...

I'd be okay with us not being top dog, provided we were still fairly active in manufacturing and other fields. I'm concerned that outsourcing so much leads to a decline in the capability to do such things, because we don't have skilled workers to do the job anymore.

2:23 AM, August 20, 2014
og said...

Calculations show that the steel msh is around .105 of a pound, so changing to a nylon 6 at approx. .015 lb is a significant weight savings. I will be able to provide aluminum ones very soon that weigh in at .036 of a lb, still about a third of steel but significantly stronger than nylon, with the added bonus of being less likely to wallow out the plastic holes while trying to pin it in place, and very good wear characteristics.

4:07 PM, August 21, 2014
Geodkyt said...

Y'know, I didn't even notice the weight shift when I replaced my plastic MSH for a S&A steel MSH/magwell.

If my calculations are correct, I could save more weight by switching to 185gr JHPs vice my current 230gr ones than I could switching MSH (not counting magwell funnels). (7+1+7 rounds @ 45gr savings per round, 675 grains total weight difference, for a weight savings of 0.096429 vice 0.09 pounds. . . )

Meh, to me, "weight" is a non-issue in this instance. There just isn't enough difference in my steel framed Commander to worry about it.

1:48 PM, August 27, 2014
Tam said...

Geodkyt,

It had nothing to do with "weight shift". I was seeing how light I could make a Lightweight Loaded on a lark because it was my gun and fuck y'all. :)

(The titanium mainspring cap shaved a tiny fraction of a gram. Plus reduced locktime by a nanosecond! And I don't know that the carbon fiber grips from Carbon Creations were any lighter than the walnut ones, but they sure looked lighter... Plus, they were awfully snappy looking on the inverted two-tone gun, with its black Armory-Kote frame and stainless slide. It looked like Darth Vader's 1911.)

9:46 AM, August 29, 2014
Tam said...

Incidentally, it was pretty damn light for a full-size 5" 1911. :D

9:48 AM, August 29, 2014

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