Cast vs Forged

[dennishoddy]

Tensile strength is not the only important quality in steel. Glass, for example, is very hard and very strong (try bending or stretching it!). But they don't make guns from it!

But glass does flow after years of use in a window. In very old houses glass will be thicker at the bottom of the pane than it is at the top.

 

[mightymouse]

Given a choice I'll take forged any day.

I'll limit my response to the Hi Power only, but if offered a choice between the earlier forged frame HPs and the later cast framed guns AND given the desire to shoot large amounts of +P rated ammo, take the later MKII and MKIII cast framed guns every time. FN engineers (whose expertise in firearms design is well known) chose cast frames for the .40 S&W Hi Powers they brought out in the early '90s. Hi Powers in 9mm were subsequently manufactured with cast frames--in fact, the 9mm and the .40 share the same cast frame--and they are capable of shooting as much +P ammo as anyone would care to shoot. FN engineers had their choice, and they chose cast.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'll limit my response to the Hi Power only, but if offered a choice between the earlier forged frame HPs and the later cast framed guns AND given the desire to shoot large amounts of +P rated ammo, take the later MKII and MKIII cast framed guns every time. FN engineers (whose expertise in firearms design is well known) chose cast frames for the .40 S&W Hi Powers they brought out in the early '90s. Hi Powers in 9mm were subsequently manufactured with cast frames--in fact, the 9mm and the .40 share the same cast frame--and they are capable of shooting as much +P ammo as anyone would care to shoot. FN engineers had their choice, and they chose cast.

I followed that, but I wondered if they could have changed the design on the recoil systems in the earlier models? It sounds like they were beating themselves to death with the .40 like guns do when a low pressure recoil spring is installed and somebody shoots +P through it.
The FN engineers certainly know a ton more about it than I do, but that was just my thoughts.

 

[mightymouse]

The recoil spring on the .40 BHP is a monster to install; literally, the stuff of Internet legend. The barrel locking lugs on the .40 were changed from the 2 lug design of the 9mm HPs to a 3 lug design (with corresponding changes made to the inside top of the slide) to better withstand the added energy of the .40. The "hot tip" for building a BHP to shoot large amounts of +P rated 9mm ammo was to take a .40 HP and install a custom barrel chambered in 9mm but retaining the .40's three locking lugs. The combination of the three locking lugs and the cast frame makes for a very durable 9mm pistol.

 

[Dave70968]

But glass does flow after years of use in a window. In very old houses glass will be thicker at the bottom of the pane than it is at the top.

That's a myth.

http://m.cmog.org/article/does-glass-flow

 

[dennishoddy]

That's a myth.

http://m.cmog.org/article/does-glass-flow

Interesting. My Uncle owned a glass business for 40 some years, still in business with his daughter, and he is the one that told me about the glass in much older homes being thicker at the bottom vs the top, and distorted at the bottom.

 

[Dave70968]

Interesting. My Uncle owned a glass business for 40 some years, still in business with his daughter, and he is the one that told me about the glass in much older homes being thicker at the bottom vs the top, and distorted at the bottom.

Glaziers often noted the uneven thickness and put the heavier end at the bottom. Made it easier to install--more stable while soldering them in.

 

[Pokinfun]

I'm not sure how we got to a conversation about glass, but in a 1911 I would rather have a forged frame.

 

[Snake]

Race pistons in a race motor...forged
On a pistol...don't think it matters much

 

[Snake]

I'm not sure how we got to a conversation about glass, but in a 1911 I would rather have a forged frame.

I think Dave was trying to impress us with his knowledge...