Life Is About Trade-Offs: Metal vs Polymer

Metal vs Polymer?

Pictured: (Left) Beretta 92X Performance with LOK Grips G10 Wraparound Grips, (Center) Walther PDP Full Size with LOK Grips Brass Backstrap, (Right) Walther PDP Steel Frame Full Size with LOK Grips G10 Grips

At this point in time, I’m fortunate to have match experience (good and bad) with all types of guns with either type of frame including Walthers, Caniks, Berettas, Glocks, CZs and Staccato 2011s to name a few. Lately I’ve been focusing my efforts on shooting both of my full-size Walther PDPs, the 5” standard polymer frame gun along with the5” PDP Match Steel Frame. Admittedly, I generally lean towards heavier metal guns as they are more forgiving to shoot. However, I’ve seen shooters at matches execute amazing stage runs with lighter polymer framed pistols. Therefore, stating that one style of pistol frame is better than the other wouldn’t hold intellectual scrutiny.

A shooter at my action pistol club, for example, made grandmaster (GM) in USPSA Carry-Optics shooting a stock fifth-generation Glock 26. The Glock 26 is the smallest double-stack subcompact 9mm pistol that Glock currently offers and dates back to 1995, when it was first marketed solely as a gun meant for personal protection. In the case of our grandmaster, his gun was unmodified other than the optics cut for a red-dot sight and the full-size magazines needed to stay competitive in Carry Optics. I’ve even shot his gun and there is nothing remarkable about it. Making GM with a Glock 26 is only one example, but I’ve seen talented shooters hustle across a stage with standard polymer-framed S&W M&Ps, Glock 19s, CZ P10s and the like at our club too. It’s quite clear that a lighter and “snappier” frame wasn’t holding them back from shooting well and netting top scores in matches.

The Thing About Steel Frame Guns

Walther PDP Steel Frame Full Size with LOK Grips Thin Bogies G10 Grips

At the aggregate level, metal frame guns are well-regarded because their extra heft helps to “absorb” recoil. This is a simple matter of inertia, because the heavier a gun is, the more it can resist other forces from moving it around. In a practical sense they “stand still” and allow the shooter to recover from the recoil sooner between splits. The heavier weight also comes with an oblique advantage: since it takes more to move these guns around, they can hide the shooter’s flaws in their grip control. While that sounds harsh, I speak from experience.There’s also no doubt that this confers an advantage in a match setting. Consider my last two matches that were held two weeks apart. Both events independently had the same classifier stage (CM 22-04). I shot this classifier with my Walther PDP Match SF and got an A-Class run with a hit-factor of 8.22 the first time. Two weeks later, I shot it again without changing anything other than the gun, my polymer-framed PDP in this instance. Although my time was slightly faster, my hits weren’t as good and I walked away with more C-zone impacts and a nasty Mike that resulted in a hit-factor of 5.99. The lesson was loud and clear: you cannot BS your way through shooting with a lighter gun, no matter how accurate or nice its trigger is (both true of the polymer-frame PDP). I knew my lack of support-hand tension was partially to blame, as the polymer frame gun requires more input from the shooter. I’ll mention that after being used to the heavy steel Walther, drawing the polymer one felt like drawing “air.”

On the one hand, heavier metal-framed guns are more forgiving of poor technique and allow the shooter to “get away” with less than perfect technique. But on the other hand, these guns’ heft and weight in resistance to recoil and inertia also result in them being harder to move with in the hand and swing for transitions. Finally, they tend to be more expensive, generally speaking. To be clear, I’m not implying heavier guns are crutches altogether, because plenty of match winners employ them as well. (Eric Grauffel shooting Shadow 2s anyone?)

Action Pistol: A Race to the Last Target

Walther PDP Full Size with LOK Grips Brass Backstrap

Action pistol sports like USPSA or IPSC are all about movement. Hit factor, one of the core concepts in scoring these games is basically a ratio of how many points a competitor is scoring per second. The faster he or she moves around the stage, the more points they can gather in a shorter amount of time which ultimately increases their ratio. Match winners are determined by the contestant that not only collected all of the available points, but also the one that collected these points in the least amount of time. In other words, winning matches is about striking a balance between speed and accuracy (without going over the edge).

With stage movement and speed of action in mind, there’s something to be said for a lighter handgun that’s easier to draw and bring up to speed, move with and maneuver around a stage. I’ve seen our Glock 26 grandmaster in action before, and with such a small gun, he was basically able to sprint around the stage as if his hands were unburdened. The gun’s smaller dimensions also made it easier to negotiate ports and tight corners and weird angles without wasting needless time. While our grandmaster is very diligent in his practice, movements and shooting techniques, there's no doubt he was able to turn that small pistol’s disadvantages into advantages built around speed and prevail.

Making the Trade-Off

In today’s hotly contested USPSA divisions, like Carry Optics, Limited Optics or Open Division (for those brave enough to shoot a lightweight Open/minor gun) guns will be heavy and easy shooting, or lighter and more easy to move and maneuver with. There’s no wrong answer, just different ways to approach the problem of racking up the most points in the shortest amount of time. Each path has its trade-off. These days both types are reliable, and in sport-shooting at least, both can be considered equally competitive. The distinction lies in the individual shooter’s approach to match shooting and how they move around stages.