Is it cast or steel?

[bluealtered]

I have read about the early colt mustangs being made of machined cast metal, what i haven't found was what years were they cast? I picked up an early model , (1990) a while back and really like it to the point of thinking about getting a pocket lite just to keep it company.

It is one of the best point and shoot pistols i have had in a while, so when did they stop being cast? Thanks

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I have had quite a few and never had a bad one

 

[mauser284]

Your title make no sense "Is it cast or steel?" Cast what? Cast Iron, Cast Steel, Cast Aluminium, Cast Spam??? Any metal that can be melted can be cast. In terms of machining cast objects and forged objects can both be machined. In terms of strength depending on how a part is cast it can be equal to or better than a forging depending on what characteristics we are after.

The modern remake has a SS slide not a cast (iron) slide. Assuming this article link bellow is accurate it took less than 60 seconds to google find and skim.

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/new-colt-mustang-offers-stainless-steel-slide/

As long as the material and the method of manufacture produces a part up to the task at hand the material and manufacturing method should not matter as much as the design. It only matters when things are not up to scratch. The rings in your engine are made from casting process from ductile iron and are hollow. Still being made the way Hastings Pioneered all those years ago.

The reason most people think cheap when thinking about cast parts is because when we often see it in the firearms world it is usually the worst possible example of casting because the company was after the cheapest manufacturing method they could use and tend to not only use the cheapest materials as well but they skip any expensive machining and finishing usually as well! A lot of aviation parts like the rotor hub on helicopters and the blades inside of turbine engines are made using lost wax casting method.