THE CARBON CONUNDRUM
Across the thousand years that people have been using guns, there have been innumerable materials used to achieve the goal of launching a projectile at a target. In the grand scheme, carbon fiber is just another material applied to that end and not specifically devoted for it.
Muskets were greasy affairs, and anyone who is a muzzleloader aficionado will be familiar with all manner of mess. These shooters use everything from animal fat and butter to wax and entrails to work on their guns and load them. Greased fabric patches are wrapped around round balls and rammed down, waiting to be fired by flint striking steel.
Mass production in the era after the Industrial Revolution saw machine guns with barrels surrounded by water tanks as a means of keeping them cool. The first composite materials saw widespread use as laminated wood or wood-impregnated resins began to see action. Plastics and aluminum were next, and their adoption in arms was slow and faced great criticism.
Some people still won’t touch a “Tupperware” gun, despite the first popular models showing up over a half century ago. Full steel guns are getting rarer as a result of this, and only fan favorites, like the 1911, are still in common use. Today’s most popular guns make use of steel in strategic places but are otherwise constricted primarily from polymers and
