No, I'm not talking about Conan the Barbarian's take on "the riddle of steel". I have owned many handguns in my time, mostly steel, but some polymer. In the past I've owned and subsequently sold a Glock 23, a Taurus 24/7 OSS, a SA XD9 SC, and just recently a CZ P07 duty. Now, I liked each gun well enough, but always felt something was lacking. Now as I said, I recently sold off my CZ P07, shortly after I purchased a TZ-90 compact from a fellow member. When I was taking to a friend, showing him my new purchase, I remarked that even though this new pistol was older and a cz copy ( 1990 manufacturer ), it had a substance, a feel not possessed by the P07. His response was " it had soul ". I don't know if that's truly the right word, but its close. Of the polymer guns I've owned, there wasn't the connection I've felt with say, my Kimber 1911's, my Colt python revolver, my various AMT, Para, or other 1911's, or especially my Ruger Vaquero.
I liken it to the differences in remembering my '69 Dart GTS, my '69 442 or '65 Leman's vs. any of the cars I bought just for transportation . They were all good and mostly reliable, but those ones that had " soul "...while they may be gone, the connection remains. There is just something about steel, a warmth i guess....deep in that cool metal, that touches something in my soul that plastic can't. Its like that feeling you get when you hold an antique broadsword or rapier ( or even a new one ) for the first time, there's a presence to steel, that calls to something inside us, I guess the primitive within. The riddle of steel, its mystery, the character it possesses after being sculpted and formed by an artisan....it just feels right, that metallic extension of our Chi. When its done right.....its almost magical.