RAIL MATERIAL

[1911cwp]

Is there any significant difference between aluminum and steel as rail material?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Weight

 

[1911cwp]

Your comments were the only ones I could think of also. I was just wondering why such a price difference mostly. Seems quality costs. Should it cost as much as it does?

 

[Toolbreaker]

There are several things that skew the price between the two. In regards to pic rails for example:

-Material costs. 6061 Al is ~1/2 the cost of 1018 cold-rolled steel (currently).
-Material shipping. Loosely based on weight.
-Machining time. Milling/turning steel is much slower than Al, so labor costs increase with regards to steel on same parts.
-Cutting tool costs. Steel parts wear end mills and drills at a faster rate than Al, necessitating their replacement more often.
-Coating costs. Steel parts are typically oxide coated, while Al is anodized. I'm sure there is a cost difference between the two, but honestly don't have any idea what it would be.

All these factors add up to an increased cost per part. Whether they add ~300% to the final retail price between the two, I couldn't say. Just really rough figuring in my head though, it sounds about right.

 

[1911cwp]

Thank you. Just trying to understand all that I can.