Has Anyone Ever Shot a Revolver to Death?

[gulogulo1970]

Has anyone worn a gun out to a point wear it was unsafe or no longer functioned for any major reason?

I am not talking about blowing one up with a double charge kind of thing. More of the, "I burned, and thinned the top frame of a S&W K-frame by shooting too many 357's or I stretched the alloy frame of my Colt Cobra by shooting too many +P rounds," kind of thing.

I'm wondering because I hear, "Hey if you shoot 38's in that 357 it will last forever." Now I believe that is true, but how many people have actually worn one out with alot heavy use but no real overt abuse?

 

[schromf]

Never a handgun, but a couple have rifles have meet this fate. Fortunately Uncle Sam Provided the first ( it probably got rebuilt by the company armorer but I never got it back ) and I had a M1 clone that meet a similar fate. Both had a whole lot of rounds to get there, back before I had to buy my own ammo.

One my current ammo budget I don't think it would in twenty years, and I shoot a fair amount. Other issue is now I own more guns which spreads this even thinner.

In the distant past I fired around 5K rounds a week, that over the course of a couple years can take its toll.

Kind of wish I had both the time and the resources to do so again (dream)

 

[jeff-10]

Yah I am wondering that to. You always read on gun boards that certain S&W revolvers won't hold up to long term 357 Mag use but I don't really believe it. I think its more gun board hype than truth.

 

[Maddock]

I’ve never worn one out, but I’ve had to have several tuned up to remove end shake and set the timing.
A guy I worked with in the early days of Handgun Metallic Silhouette beat a pair of 8 3/8†Model 29s into unserviceable using full speed 300-grain loads. A couple hundred rounds a week of 300 at 1300 will do that to an N frame after a while. He switched to Dan Wessons and stopped having the problems. The Smiths were rebuilt by the factory and returned to the land of the living. I don’t recall everything that needed to be done, but it cost about half the price of a new 29 for each of them.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

my first n frame was shot enough with warm load to require retiming twice and eventually the barrel was replaced due to the forcing cone being shot out of it. It was sold to a buddy that takes care of it (lighter loads) like i now do with my smiths and its still going strong after 10 years.

 

[ted murphy]

I've stretched two K frames out but S&W managed to rebuild them by setting the barrel back and replacing many of the insides.

Ted

 

[Tamara]

I killed a Charco Bulldog Pug in a little over 300 rounds of PMC 240gr ammo.

 

[HSMITH]

I've shot a M629 mountain gun, a M27, a M28, a 686, a charter undercover, a security six and a springfield 1911 into complete submission. The 629 was the worst as it was really beat up, the 28 was 'worn out' twice and repaired, and the rest were sold off. I've burnt the throat out of a couple rifles too.

My current most favored beater is a S&W M19. It has around 40K through it, probably 8K of them magnums and 1000 of the magnums border on nuclear propulsion. It is getting loose, about 3 thou of endshake and rotational play is almost to the point that it will start spitting with dead soft lead bullets. The forcing cone is beat, will likely need two turns setback to be recut completely. This revolver has only seen a hundred rounds at most single action, the rest have been DA and the vast majority of them have been hard and fast DA. Between this gun and several other K frames I have it is readily apparent that the K-frames hold up FAR better to extended shooting than the big frame guns with the shooting I do.

I have a Browning Buckmark well past 80K rounds, it still runs perfectly.

Shotguns seem to last forever. I have an O/U with over 80K rounds through it and it is still very tight.

I shoot the snot out of my guns. When they get loose I fix them or sell them off cheap to someone that wants a dresser drawer gun or something along those lines.

 

[Walt Rauch]

Yes. S&W Model 19 over two years as I had access and the time to shoot unlimited amounts of .38 Wadcuttter and 160 gr. SWC reloads( 13.5 gr 2400 powder).

I shot almost all of it DA and fast. Gun simply was beat. S&W Rebuilt it.

 

[walking arsenal]

how can you tell if youve worn out a revolver?

i got a taurus m 85 with about 2000 round through it. still ticks

 

[Jim Watson]

PPC shooting friend of mine eroded out about an inch and a half of K38 rifling with .38 wadcutters. But it took 150,000 of them. The action was pretty loose, too; but a new barrel and an action overhaul and he was back in business.

 

[HSMITH]

PPC shooting friend of mine eroded out about an inch and a half of K38 rifling with .38 wadcutters. But it took 150,000 of them.

Holy cow!!!!!! THAT is something I aspire to do myself!!! Hosing out the rifling with lead bullets, quite an accomplishment to say the least. I would have saved the barrel as a trophy.

 

[JohnKSa]

Friend of mine shot his 686 out of time twice in the space of a couple of years. S&W fixed it for free both times on warranty but he finally sold it. Not a high round count issue--he didn't shoot that much--it just didn't hold up well for some reason.

 

[denfoote]

Not shot to death. I have caused one to field strip itself due to a screw coming out, however!!!