Plastic errrrr polymer trigger guards

[Onewarmguy]

Hey all, has anyone experienced any problems with plastic errrrr polymer trigger guards and receiver assemblies in cold weather? I've heard rumours that they get kinda brittle once it gets below freezing.
Any comments?

 

[jackrabbit000]

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm pretty sure the Glocks and M&P's and every other polymer frame/trigger guard was factory tested at extreme temps below freezing before the gun went into production.

 

[hoytcanon]

You will never encounter the temperatures required to make them sufficiently brittle to malfunction... the new polymers are very tough stuff... I'll be honest, I am pretty old school and prefer metal and metal alloys... but the demonstrations I have seen of polymer parts taking abuse have convinced my of their superiority for certain parts... I just prefer not to use them...

 

[Lodi]

S&W had problems with their first generation Sigma, but it occurred due to shrinkage and not brittleness. In addition, the thermometer hovered around -10* when the problem presented itself.

I do remember field reports from the boys up north of synthetics, not necessarily plastics, having brittleness issues in extreme cold temperatures. I don't recall what the temp range was when the problems arose. This was in the early to mid '80's.

I don't think I'd worry too much about plastics today. Enough time has elapsed that I think they have evolved enough to eliminate any issues and the engineers have learned about the cold weather characteristics.

 

[cam1936]

Depends on the quality of the plastic. The stuff they use to make the frame of a handgun is top notch stuff and is not going to break at any temperature that it reaches here. However, not all plastics used in gun parts are equal. The plastic trigger guard that comes on a 700 ADL broke with ~15 inch/lbs of tourqe on the rear action screw on my dad's ADL. ####ty cheap ass Remington.