If I understand correctly, the Sniper Green Dagger frame is molded in FDE colored plastic, then dyed to it’s final color.
I’m considering doing a bit of modification to the right side of the trigger gaurd, in order to alleviate the Glock Knuckle issue I have, due to having very large hands.
My question is about how it will look if I remove some of the plastic. Does anyone know how deep the dye goes? I’m wondering if the FDE color will be revealed, and how deep I can go before it shows itself.
Also, if you have some proven tips on best practices for material removal and refinishing the altered surface, that would be appreciated.
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@vintagemotorcyclerep
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Okay. That brought up a ton of threads, including this one.
What’s your point?
You can probably find the answer to your question within there.
I started this thread, with my own situation and specific questions, so that I can receive responses here.
If you have answers to my questions, please give them.
If you don’t, that’s fine.
I do not believe the “standard” colors are Dyed - Black, FDE, Sniper Green. The “Rainbow” colors are all Cerakote.
Dying a frame requires a minimum of three more steps after it comes out of the molding machine, IN ADDITION to any Secondary Operations - far more efficient to use pre-preg resin, or at worst colourant additive at the plasticiser, when it’s being melted to inject.
I would say more likely a pre-preg plastic - far easier and more cost-effective to let your resin supplier worry about colour-match than your Machine Operators or Techs.
Another reason I say pre-preg is; with the Demand for custom colors, selling a frame with no Dye in it would be ridiculously simple - just make a run without colourant, say 50-100, see if there’s possible sales there. That PSA HASN’T speaks for itself.
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I believe it is green polymer throughout. I cannot say for sure.
Magpul did a study and white polymer is actually the weakest.
It will either be pre-preg or colourant added in with the resin inside the materials-mixer at the injection machine - either way, the colour is certainly through-and-through.
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Aside from sounding generally racist, the statement is pretty misleading and inaccurate.
The term polymer generally refers to plastics as a whole not one specific material. For instance Lexan which is usually molded clear (although it can be colorized) is incredibly strong and damage resistant. It is a polycarbonate but also is in the family of polymers.
As @TheAirHawk said, pre colored materials are generally easier and more cost effective to work with. But if the part being processed requires a custom color a color additive (liquid or pelletized) might be used.
Color matching for a specific shade or tint of a particular color across a broad range of parts used to assemble a large, complete unit (think a modern car interior) can be a nightmare. Color matching high end auto interior parts have driven many process technicians, engineers, and quality control people to drink.
Perhaps the Magpul “study” was influenced by the fact that darker colors more easily hide slight variations in color.
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i dont understand how that has anything to do with race to begin with. It is not in any way shape or form racist. It is a fact from magpul that their study proved the white polymer is the weakest of all the polymers. hence why they produced sand colored magazines and not white. The study also proved that the black polymers to be the strongest, hence why most of their products are made from black polymers. i’m not sure where Lexan comes in to the discussion considering we’re a firearm forum and we’re discussing the polymers specifically from magpul’s study, thus highlighting what magpul found out about different colors of their polymers regarding their products.
that said, Yes color matching products can be a nightmare, but magpul did try to give us the option to dye some of their magazines and various other items that were made in the Sand color. now if you have sand things now, they’re as rare as hens teeth cause magpul actually had some issues with producing them too, and they have stopped producing them too!! take it for what it is. but this statement of GG"s has absolutely nothing to do with racism… and as such shouldn’t even be accused as such.
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It was small attempt at humor, sorry if it offended you. The statement from Magpul as posted did not specify a particular material only the family of polymers so I used an example of an uncolored material, also a polymer, to make my point. Sorry again if that confused you.
Do you know what specific material Magpul used in their study?
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no worries. now that you’ve stated what you were aiming at i apologize for taking it the wrong way. thats the only thing about text is you cant guess tone…
i believe the material magpul used is their own proprietary polymer as that would be the most important for them. i could be wrong though. sorry again for mis-interpreting it. glad we’re sorted out though!
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The color is molded in, all the way through. I have not filed the trigger guard, but I did file down the sharp edge on lip at front of mag well, partly because I don’t like the way it looks. I did this on a green frame. After reading your question, I just now filed off some additional material. When I originally starting filing off these edges on my Daggers, I never thought about possibility that color didn’t go all the way through. I really do need to think about that possibility in the future when changing the contours on plastic firearm parts.
Here is a photo of the front bottom of grip. You can compare this to your Dagger and guesstimate how much material I removed. The photo also shows the tools I used: a small, single-cut, rather fine file, some 220 grit sandpaper, and 400 grit wet/dry paper. I buffed the surface a bit with a cotton rag. I also had removed the slide and magazine, then stuffed a rag in the magazine well to keep out plastic debris.
I used hand tools because they were in front of me on the workbench, and I think you have more control over where the plastic chips and dust go. I try to keep “stuff that doesn’t belong” out of the pistol’s mechanism whenever possible.
Also shown in the photo just for fyi is a file card for cleaning files. I’m not sure how many people nowadays even know that you can and should clean your files, or that you can get a special tool for the task. Of course there’s a special tool, which is awesome because I have an excuse to buy more tools. One can never have too many tools.
Hope this helps.
And fwiw, that remark about white plastic and racism went over my head too, which is rather surprising since I usually catch sarcastic and other witty remarks. I think for this one, sticking a smiley face at the end might have helped readers know not to take it too seriously.
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Ask for a file card at Lowe’s. They’ll look at you like you have horn coming out of your forehead.
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