Rocks for Glocks

For my first week of my blog - Westside Homicide, I am going to examine the materials used in one of America's most popular handguns the Glock G19.


http://gunivore.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Glock-19.jpg

In the US 60% of all homicides are at the end of a firearm, and 12.5k deaths a year are caused by handguns alone. Many of these handguns, were Glocks. But how exactly are Glocks made? The primary resources for the weapon's frame, ammunition magazine, and others are nylon, plastic and steel. I will explain the 'recipe' for each of these. 

Plastic
The production of plastic requires crude oil,  a very carbon-heavy resource. Oil is formed by the remains of plants and animals that died in the Jurassic period. Over time, earth and dirt covers these remains with more and layers. Then the great heat and pressure being exerted onto the remnants change them into oil.  Monomers found in crude oil are then put together to create a plastic. I have included a video clip below on this.

Steel
Iron is the raw material needed to make steel. Once the iron is retrieved from mines in the China or Brazil, for example. It is transported  long distances by sea, due to its weight, to a steel factory. Here the iron is heated to a molten state and oxygen is blown through it. This eradicates any impurities. steel is the most refined form of iron.

That is all for this week's post thank you for reading!