[Johnny C. Kitchens]

I had similar experiences to ViggoG. I worked for LTV, and it was real fun cutting titanium. We made all sorts of things in exotic shapes out of the stuff. I used to wear out those expensive band saw blades pretty quickly just cutting titanium to a useful size. I know there were a few things they wanted to make out of it, but it just wouldn't work. The only thing I hated worse, was inconel. The guns you see currently with titanium in their construction, are using the titanium in more of a supporting role. None of the parts are taking a real beating. The Luger is a very well integrated design, with many parts directly involved in handling the peration of the gun, and they get to handle some serious blows. If you look at the slide on a Browning design, it is more of a cover for what is going on inside the gun. It could be made of titanium. As far as stainless in the new Lugers. It is investment cast, and therefore quite strong. I do not know which stainless Orimar is using, but there are many types of stainless. There is one called 17-4 which is extremely strong and used in the landing gear of many aircraft. There is a stressful application!!!