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how many rounds is a pistol good for?

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Just curious how many rounds the average handgun is good for before parts have to be replaced. Wondering what your experience is with certain models. most of my handguns are around the 500 round mark. I do have a .45acp XDm with approx 2000 rds through it. still works flawlessly.

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Recoil springs - low end is about 3k, high end is about 15k.

 

Barrel - low end is 10k, high end is 100k. Caliber, load, quality, maintenance, user needs all affect where that falls. For factory combat Tupperware, 40-50k is not usually a big deal.

 

Magazine springs are also relatively high wear. So are trigger return springs, etc.

 

Expecting a gun to last 80-100k with spring replacements and a barrel replacement is not unreasonable.

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Every manufacturer will have a preventative maintenance schedule for the replacement of parts. If you want to minimize the chances of having any issues with the weapon, that schedule should be followed. If you can't find a manufacturer's recommendation contact a local armorer and see what they suggest.

 

Yes, many guns will run with parts well past what their replacement schedule predicts, but remember, the idea is to change the parts out before - hence preventative maintenance - there is an issue, not after. This will increase your chances that the gun will continue to run flawlessly allowing you to avoid a frustrating day at the range, a dismal finish in a comp, or an unfortunate end to a HD/SD incident.

 

This applies to long guns as well as handguns.

 

ETA: When you do replace a part, and the old part still works, chuck the old part in the trash anyway, don't keep it. That way you don't accidentally install the old part at a later date thinking it is a new one and then run into a bunch of issues that takes way too much time and money to replace, because you figure "Well it can't be XXXX because that is a new part, so it must be Y, Z, or W". That's frustrating. ;)

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Or buy a quality revolver* and you'll need a new wrist before it needs a new part.

 

*Meaning Ruger/Smith.
Cor-Bon used to test their 38/357 ammo through a 4" GP100 which they retired after 200,000 rounds, at which time it was still shooting 2" groups at 25yds. They then switched to a S&W 686.
I've also read competition shooters who said they'd put 300,000+ rounds through their Rugers with no issues.

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How do yall keep track of your round counts? Do you guys keep a range book?

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

Yes. Or for modern times/multi guns: a spreadsheet. Good for logging round counts, maintenance/cleaning logs and modifications.

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really??? without having to replace a part? recoil spring? etc???.

C'mon man! you know you have to replace springs - they are like oil in your car...

 

You guns may outlast you, just don't overclean them. (eg like go like a madman srubbing the bore with a hard brush evertime you shoot a box of amo).

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Some tidbits on keeping your bore/barrel in good health - He owns a barrel company - and has over 80,000 rounds on his pistol barrel he NEVER used a brush on (as he states):

 

Wil Schuemann’ s approach to cleaning/not cleaning the bore is sound and still holds up today. We typically see a higher percentage of barrels ruined by over or improper cleaning than from typical wear.

Barrels normally burn out, not wear out with the 416rr material we use in all of our barrels. Many of the cleaning lore was based on the older materials used in barrel manufacturing that are no longer used today by most high end barrel makers.

If you use any chemicals on your barrel, it is very important that you rinse and reapply oil to ensure that the chemicals are neutralized since if they remain in the bore they can etch the barrel and attack the sulfur in the 416RR.

Using a metal or brass bush can also damage the bore by scratching the surface which will give any chemicals used aftewards a pore to hid in and be more difficult to remove properly. Pushing any brush through the bore (metal or nylon) can cause damage if you insert it at an angle. The middle of the brush is metal and can dig into the surface.

As the current owner of Schuemann Barrels I don’t tell shooters not to clean their barrels but to be careful and do it only as needed. I personally push oiled paper towels wads with oil on them through the bore with a plastic rod until they appear clean and leave the oil inside. As for the chamber I do the same process with a wad of oiled paper towels from the chamber and rotate it around until clean. I always wipe the outside of the barrel with a paper towel with oil until clean also.

If you have to use a brush I recommend using an Otis system or bore snake. On the bore snake I normally cut some of the brushes down with a pair of sharp cutters. My long range guns only see the Otis system or bore snake as needed which is not very often. Pulling the brush or wad from the chamber end with the line or snake will keep you from applying a directional force that will cause scarring of the barrel.

My AET barrel in my single stack has over 80,000 rounds and still cover leafs at 35 yards, it has never seen a brush.

Error on the side on limited cleaning unless you see a reduction in accuracy and of course that will depend on your loads, bullet selection and powder used.

Be smart and consider any advice that you receive prior to cleaning. Common sense applies.

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How do yall keep track of your round counts? Do you guys keep a range book? Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

I keep a log with my long guns. The pistols I shoot the most just get new internal springs every other year and new mag springs the years in-between.

 

I also pay more attention to the PM cycles with my work/duty guns then I do with my range guns.

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I have heard of a Ruger Security Six used as a rental at a range that fired an amazing 1,400,000 rounds.... Not sure if or what maintenance was performed, but never the less, 1.4 million rounds is an incredible number for a pistol to shoot and continue working.  http://www.chuckhawks.com/ruger_security_six.htm

+1 on H&K USPs, I own 2, but I am no where near a high count on either...my Ruger Security Six has a relatively low count even though I have owned it for 32 years.

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Most guns will work long after they way they work is unpleasing. For example I have a CZ75 that works fine but after 65k rounds the slide to frame fit is sloppy enough to affect accuracy. I still shoot it now and then but it is effectively retired. It has used 5 recoil springs, 2 hammer springs, and 3 slide stops (which on a CZ are a wear part turns out, they say 5k, in practice about 10-20k depending on the loads you shoot and the springs you use)

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I'm keeping my info in a spreadasheet but have recently come across Rangelog.com and I'm debating whether I should switch.

I've demo'd the rangelog.com app and found that i didn't care for it. I appreciate the wide variety of features the developer has baked into it, however, while this is its biggest advantage, its also its biggest disadvantage. Last i used it, there was no simpler way to interface with it for easy inputting of basic round count and other information. All the inputting was done via dialogs and all actions and attributes were kept separate so round count, maintenance, upgrades, cleaning, comments, photo documentation, etc were all separate steps and became quite cumbersome and tedious to log everything. If you want the utmost in detailed logging for your equipment, this is it, but i find that a simple spreadsheet is fine for basic round count tallys and cleaning/maintenance logs. But if you don't have the knowledge to create a spreadsheet, this could certainly suffice. Then there is the tinfoil hat aspect of having your entire inventory stored online somewhere with questionable security...

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