Thermoforming materials play a crucial role in the firearm industry due to their versatility, enabling the creation of custom grips, gun holsters, magazine carriers, and other accessories. Thermoplastics like Boltaron® and Kydex® are popular for their durability and moldability into precise holster or sheath shapes, while thermoset materials like phenolic are used in the creation of knife handles and firearm grips.
Thermoplastics are invaluable for prototyping in the firearms industry and allow for swift and cost-effective iterations on design for firearm components. ABS and PVC offer a balance of durability and moldability, enabling the rapid and cost-effective creation of detailed and functional prototypes that allows manufacturers to test and refine designs before committing to more expensive production materials.
Thermoplastics are an integral part of shooting range design, equipment, and shooting targets. Materials like High Impact Polystyrene and fluted polypropylene have superior impact resistance to paper or cardboard targets and are a recyclable and cost-effective option for shooting range operators. Interstate Advanced Materials offers routing services for target shapes - send us a drawing or photo or give us a call for a speedy, professional quote.
Thermoplastics like Ultem® and acetal are favored in optics mounts for firearms due to their high strength, light weight, and versatility, offering manufacturers the ability to achieve durability and precise designs for effective and reliable optic installations.
In the creation of animal call devices, thermoplastics like acrylic and acetal are popular choices.
For a full list of available acrylic colors, please see our acrylic colors brochure.
Thermoplastics are commonly used in the construction of firearm cabinets due to their versatility, durability, and ease of fabrication. Materials like acrylic see use in cabinet window panes, while polypropylene (PP) and HDPE, including its woodgrain variants, are chosen for use in cabinet construction over wood for their durability, chemical resistance, and longevity.
When it comes to bag stiffeners, different thermoplastics like nylon, polypropylene, HDPE, and LDPE provide varying levels of support, flexibility, and rigidity and are best chosen depending on the application the bag will be used for.
Thermoplastics form an essential part of hunting gear and equipment. Their durability, light weight, and overall resistance to weather and chemicals make them a natural fit over metal for increased longevity and better portability over longer distances. Thermoplastics like ABS, HDPE, and LDPE are moldable and formable, allowing for custom parts and flexible designs for decoys, stands, containers, and other gear or accessories. Thermoplastics are often more cost-effective than metals or composites.
In the realm of hunting applications, both acrylic and polycarbonate serve as valuable materials for lighting solutions. Acrylic excels in optical clarity and even light diffusion, while polycarbonate prioritizes durability.
Thermoplastics like ABS, HDPE, and woodgrain HDPE have risen in popularity for treestands. Their moldability, light weight, and balance of strength, impact resistance, and weatherability allows for the creation of reliable and efficient treestand mainframes and accessories.