Icantdrive75 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 A buddy has a block of titanium laying around and he wants to turn it into a couple slides. Even without cuts, just going to titanium brings us down to 7 ounces. With the added strength of titanium there's no reason we couldn't bring that down to ridiculous levels of lightness, but I'm worried 7oz might already be pushing it. I always hear the less reciprocating mass the better, but there's gotta be a line, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 (edited) I saw the idea come up recently on Doodie. IIRC SVI has done a titanium carry piece. Per density specs Ti would come in far lighter than steel (almost half the weight). If you made it it probably would be a soft shooter but I don't think it would be reliable. Once you get into seriously light slides it can be a challenge to get the mags to keep up with the pistol cycling. That, and at some point you will likely encounter difficulty stripping the round from the mag due to the pressure of the round against the feed lips. A nice heavy slide mounted optic, a slide racker, and maybe a tungsten reverse plug might make it usable. If you have the Ti and the means to machine it why not give it a try? Edited August 12, 2014 by MikeRush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 http://www.sviguns.com/1202.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 A company has the ability to experiment with different parts and settings, I suspect they went through some prototypes... something that is much harder for a private builder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Hello: Titanium is stronger by weight. It is also very hard to machine and may gall without a coating of some kind. The other thing to remember it expands when heated. I don't see the benefit unless you just want the cool effect. I know titanium valves for a car engine expand alot and you must have more clearance to allow for that. As far as weight you can make a 5" steel slide pretty light if you want. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverBolt Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Aircooled hit it. Does he know what grade the titanium is? It can be very brittle and subject to cracking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBuzzard Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) I like to see if a titanium slide can easily go 100,000 major 9mm rounds with out cracking......cuz most of the steel ones cant do that. BB Edited August 13, 2014 by BlackBuzzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunracer1 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 sandy has made more than a few of them at infinity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now