Titanium Slide

[SnakeEye]

Why isnt there more use of titanium in slide production?
im sitting here fondling my SW99 and pondering, with such extensive materials research to develop these light,ultra strong polymer frames why on earth are gun manufacturers still incorperating heavy steel slides which in effect offset any real gains?(or losses depending on how you look at it)
is there a certain amount of weight required to cycle/actuate a semiauto pistol or some other limiting factor? its certainly not cost. titanium IS expensive comparatively, but its not that "costly"..especially considering how little of it you would need to mill a slide.
Titanium is as strong as steel, but 43% lighter, and theres different alloys that can take this further.
is there any good reason safety or function wise why i shouldnt mill a titanium slide for my 99?

thx all

 

[Len-2A Training]

$$$

Titanium costs a lot more than steel.

Might be more reasons, but I'm not into metallurgy so I'll leave that to others.

 

[DR]

is there a certain amount of weight required to cycle/actuate a semiauto pistol or some other limiting factor?

The short answer is: yes. There are several things involved but the mass of the slide is an important variable. If you lighten it you need to do something else (such as lengthen the travel or strengthen the spring) to compensate.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Titanium Gun

One problem with titanium is the lack of resistance to abrasive wear. The Tiki titanium by SVI used some steel inserts in the frame to prevent excessive wear (see http://www.sviguns.com/technical/frame_rails.html)

 

[SnakeEye]

i work with alot of titanium at the machine shop where i work, so availability and cost are a minimum factor for me. a block of titanium for a slide wouldnt cost more than 30-40 bucks.
cost more for tooling than anything.

the wear element is an interesting property of the material i hadnt considered... i wonder if titanium can be hardened like other metals to a similar rockwell.
and weight reduction requires spring and operational compensation eh.. so even just hogging out uneeded material out of the current slide would be out of the question without component modification.
hmm. back to the drawing board...