The Bronze 1911 pistol
I have seen guns made from bronze alloys before, but never an autoloader. Back in 1932 Colt and the Springfield Armory teamed up to test the suitability of using a die cast bronze alloy for gun parts.
The Golden Gun
The gun is exhibited at the Springfield Armory Museum.
In 1932 Springfield Armory experimented with die casting pistol frames and slides from a high tensile corrosion resistant bronze alloy called ‘brastil.’ The resulting ‘golden gun’ represents one of the first attempts to die cast handgun components. Despite the success of the test, the project did not move beyond the experimental stage.
There is a discussion about the pistol at the 1911 Forum.
So the question remains … who is going to be the the first to build a bronze AR-15?
Thanks to Sven for the link.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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On the misconception "plastic is plastic", there are now composites out there that can take temperatures over 300C, stronger and lighter than the best steel or aluminum alloys. We make rocket cases from it.
Now, the $500/lb price is still a downer, but don't compare today's high tech polymers with your plastic trash bag or bakelite.
COLT 1911 SEP-9-1913 BRONZE 270989