A different type of material for receivers

[Echo40]

Thumping? You can’t just discard over 70 years of development and real world testing because you’re bored. Really hard to imagine anything lighter or better than 7075, but let me know when you figure it out.

He's just messing around, the whole thread is basically a parody of sentiments expressed by Lysander and to a lesser extent myself in other threads.

Specifically, it was I who coined the term "TDP-thumping" to express my annoyance towards those treat the TDP as gospel and dismiss the use of any materials which aren't TDP Spec as inferior or otherwise worthless, regardless of the intended purpose that the end user might have for the rifle.

[Diamondback]

Depleted uranium receivers, forged by Jesus himself in the flames of Hell and quenched in Chuck Norris's tears.

I mean, if we're really going for the absurd...

[tangolima]

Upper receiver maintains the orientation, and the consistency, of the barrel. It is in the direct path of the recoil force. The lower receiver has a small part in the recoil path. That's the "crook" that the buffer tube is attached, and that's where early version of polymer lower would crack with use. Later designs have since buffed up that portion.

I have seen ARs with skeletonized metal receivers1. It lightens at the expense of durability and reliability. Advanced CAD tools can optimize the metal skeleton to improve durability. The metal parts can then be embedded in polymer to keep debris from entering the action so as make the gun reliable.

Doing all that probably won't make the gun cheaper to make though.

-TL

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[Slater]

Stamped steel receivers like the G3 or AR-18?

[Echo40]

Depleted uranium receivers, forged by Jesus himself in the tongues of fire and quenched in Chuck Norris's tears.

I mean, if we're really going for the absurd...

FTFY

Jesus would just use God's own tongues of fire to forge it, they're much hotter and more efficient for forging.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

There's plenty of titanium carriers for sale. Light weight is popular for gaming. Otherwise, for a fighting rifle or home defense.... overthink is not your friend.

[lysander]

Titanium is lighter than steel, and stronger than aluminum. But there are steel alloys that are stronger than titanium and no titanium alloy that is lighter than aluminum.

As noted the strength requirements of the upper and lower aren't that high, so titanium makes no sense.

Forged magnesium.

There were magnesium uppers and lowers available at one time, with mixed acceptance, however, these were cast magnesium. Cast magnesium, like cast aluminum, and unlike cast steel, behaves quite differently from wrought magnesium. Forged magnesium would be as good as a 6061 receiver, strength-wise, if you use the standard forging dies. If you beefed up some of the weaker areas, it could be made just as strong.

You could save 1/3 in weight.

[Diamondback]

Titanium is lighter than steel, and stronger than aluminum. But there are steel alloys that are stronger than titanium and no titanium alloy that is lighter than aluminum.

As noted the strength requirements of the upper and lower aren't that high, so titanium makes no sense.

Forged magnesium.

There were magnesium uppers and lowers available at one time, with mixed acceptance, however, these were cast magnesium. Cast magnesium, like cast aluminum, and unlike cast steel, behaves quite differently from wrought magnesium. Forged magnesium would be as good as a 6061 receiver, strength-wise, if you use the standard forging dies. If you beefed up some of the weaker areas, it could be made just as strong.

You could save 1/3 in weight.

The rub would be the price tag - magnesium was expensive shit when we were making B-36s out of it, and very flammable. So expensive and valuable that when they chopped those behemoths they melted them into metal ingots on-site at the Boneyard.

[tangolima]

Magnesium alloy can burn quite easily.

-TL

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[Diamondback]

Magnesium alloy can burn quite easily.

-TL

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There's a reason mot of the B-36 fleet were very prominently marked "NO SMOKING WITHIN 100 FEET" and the Fire checklist went straight to "Put On Chute And JUMP"--didn't take much to make them go up like the Hindenburg, especially with a full train-load of high-octane avgas filling the tanks.