Testing An EDC

Pretty much yes.

Modern polymer-frame autos are so reliable now, I really think that the "200 error-free rounds to carry" standard is redundant and unnecessary. However, for 1911s, I still test extensively first.

I think we all have different benchmarks. No less that 500 rounds for me and I am much more comfortable with a 1000 rounds. This for a SD pistol. We all have had different experiences with reliability.

For a new gun I like to clean it, then shoot 50-100 rounds. If it runs a couple of magazines without issue I pretty much figure I'm good to go though.

I bought a NIB Sig P224 in .40 with two new 10 round magazines. Both mags thoroughly jammed up the gun (double feed, requiring the mags to be ripped out with all the force my fingertips could apply) the first time I used each one, but never again after that. Good thing I wasn't relying on it for SD without testing it.

I like to put a couple hundred rounds through a new gun before I trust it for SD use. I have not had one fail yet, but it seems that if a defective part is going to fail/ cause falure it most likely will fail very early on.

I go to the range at least once each week and when I get a new gun I like to shoot it. So it is very easy for me to put a lot of rounds quickly through one. I also like to shoot a variety of ammo and different weights. So 500 rds is a low number and 1,000 rds is usually the number at which I start to carry. I have other carry guns I use until then.I take my time, there is no rush to carry right away.
Not sure I agree with the OP on the 10,000 rd mark. That is if you have changed out the recoil springs on a regular basis. I just put 10,000 rd through one Micro 9mm, broke it completely down and every thing good to go. But I changed out the recoil springs every 2,000 rds.When I purchase a new gun, I also start accumulating spare parts like other springs etc. and then at 10,000 rounds replace them. Not a big deal.

Good Ol' Boy said:

I'll try and make this short. This is my opinion based on shooting lots of guns over the years.

Some of you may know that I was having problems with my Gen 3 G26 in regards to slide bite. Today I traded in for a brand new Gen 4.

I got in my car, swapped the medium backstrap beavertail and loaded the 12 + 1 I had that I unloaded from my Gen 3 without a second thought.

Got home and ran 100 problem free rounds through the new gun just to get a feel with the aforementioned BT.

Point is, any new modern name brand gun in this day and age is 99.9% going to work out of the box. Chances are actually more likely that a brand new unfired gun is more likely to work than one you've put 10k rounds through.


All that to say be realistic. I had no problem holstering up a unfired out of the box gun, and when I got home it proved me right.

Any gun can MF at any time. Practice and plan accordingly.

Click to expand...

Okay but did you cure the slide bite

Both of my self defense guns have been thoroughly vetted and I'm not in the market for a new one.

Having said that, if things changed and I went and bought a new gun for self-defense tomorrow since I know that my current self defense guns have been tested I would carry them until I had a chance to put some rounds through the new gun.

Isn't that just common sense?

I've had 2 carry guns fail, one straight out of the box, the other much later. It gave me pause as it developed the problem after something like 250 rounds. It's a Taurus TCP, the trigger bar was having a problem, not exactly sure what...but the hammer was not coming all the way back so it didn't have enough energy to detonate the primer. So it went from working just fine to nothing. During its 3 month hiatus to Miami, I bought an LCP, which proved to be even less reliable and was set aside. When the TCP returned, I shot it, and shot it, and then shot it some more. It's been 5 years now, well over 1000 rounds of everything from high quality sd rounds, cheap range fodder and an assortment of hand loads of varying power. Has not so much as hiccuped. Now every time I go to the range, I at least empty the magazine, and even with pocket lint and whatever grit that has accumulated in the action, it still goes bang. This is my 3rd TCP, the other 2 worked just fine, I just kept thinking I needed something else, but this fits me the best, so even though I have a 911 in the safe, the TCP is still my EDC The 911 needs to be shot more, being new, it can choke when it gets dirty, fail to return to battery. I do like it, but I'm finding that as much as I like SA hammer fired actions, they may not be ideal (for me) as a carry platform. The beaver tail pokes me in the love handle when IWB and the action is rather exposed to lint and grit even with a holster in my pocket. The 911 is much nicer to shoot than the TCP, but not as nice to carry, and let's be honest, if I ever had to use my carry gun, i dont think I'm going to be critiquing the shooting experience of the firearm, I'm just going to want it to function.

bersaguy said:

When the TCP returned, I shot it, and shot it, and then shot it some more. It's been 5 years now, well over 1000 rounds of everything from high quality sd rounds, cheap range fodder and an assortment of hand loads of varying power. Has not so much as hiccuped.

Click to expand...

I mean, you're talking about four boxes of ammo per year. That's not even a round a day

I'm not sure that's "shot it and shot it and shot it some more."

Trunk Monkey said:

I mean, you're talking about four boxes of ammo per year. That's not even a round a day

I'm not sure that's "shot it and shot it and shot it some more."

Click to expand...

True, but the first 500 rounds happened in the first month after it came back, and through a little TCP.....that's shooting the living snot out of it. After 50 rounds it gets uncomfortable, after 100 rounds it gets unbearable...after 150 rounds I dont even want to look at it...that's as much as I could do in one session. Once it proved reliable, I only run the 7 that are in it when I head to the range, every once in a while I'll run a box of range ammo or hand loads I'm working on. Not one of my fun guns

I’ve had new guns fail to function as well as used guns break.

I test mine and shoot them regularly if I’m using them for defense, but I don’t believe in some standard number.

I’m a lot more concerned that my gun will shoot my preferred defense load.

Good Ol' Boy said:

Absolutely.

Click to expand...

The only Glocks I have ever owned were 4th generations. There's nothing about him that I really think needs to be improved.

Trunk Monkey said:

The only Glocks I have ever owned were 4th generations. There's nothing about him that I really think needs to be improved.

Click to expand...

On the 26/17/21 I agree.

On the 19 size I really find the no grooves (and no cutout on my MOS) a huge boon to my hand fit. Went from not liking or shooting the 19 (though I've owned 4 of them and a 23 in the past) to liking my Gen 5 quite a bit.

On my 26 I also need the beavertail to avoid the slide bite, don't much love how it accents the hump on the back, but it's very shootable, excellent little gun.

I usually shoot 200-500 through any new gun, even a Glock, before carry. Mostly to get used to the trigger (even Glocks very a little gun by gun) and because that's usually a new gun range trip round count anyway.

I tend to get through a new guns first thousand in about a week or two, then I'll slow down a bit when the excitement wears off a bit.

Good Ol' Boy said:

I'll try and make this short. This is my opinion based on shooting lots of guns over the years.

Some of you may know that I was having problems with my Gen 3 G26 in regards to slide bite. Today I traded in for a brand new Gen 4.

I got in my car, swapped the medium backstrap beavertail and loaded the 12 + 1 I had that I unloaded from my Gen 3 without a second thought.

Got home and ran 100 problem free rounds through the new gun just to get a feel with the aforementioned BT.

Point is, any new modern name brand gun in this day and age is 99.9% going to work out of the box. Chances are actually more likely that a brand new unfired gun is more likely to work than one you've put 10k rounds through.


All that to say be realistic. I had no problem holstering up a unfired out of the box gun, and when I got home it proved me right.

Any gun can MF at any time. Practice and plan accordingly.

Click to expand...

Had some go flawless, and some take a mag or two.

Never even had a problem w/ any of the GLOCK G36's.


But would consider it reckless not to program it w/ at least a box of ammo, of which every carry mag was shot w/ carry ammo.

I also like to dry-fire the pistol 50 times, as well as cycle the slide with the pistol inverted 50 times.

That's where my 99.9% mark is.




GR

Good Ol' Boy said:

Point is, any new modern name brand gun in this day and age is 99.9% going to work out of the box. Chances are actually more likely that a brand new unfired gun is more likely to work than one you've put 10k rounds through.


All that to say be realistic...

Any gun can MF at any time. Practice and plan accordingly.

Click to expand...

It is not that the odds of it failing are so high but that the consequences of losing are so severe.

NASA destroyed two Space Shuttles and killed the crews despite many billions of dollars spent on the program and the talents of many smart people. A modern manufactured gun does not have anything even remotely close to the money spent by NASA and the engineering talent.

You are looking for validation for carrying a gun that had not been cleaned and properly lubed and test fired with the ammunition of your choice is a good practice. I am glad it is working out for you.

Good to hear your new acquisition worked out. With regard to out-of-the-box reliability, I agree that most makers these days are putting out reliable products right out of the box. If I'm looking at a new pistol that's been in the field for a while I like to research its reputation and if people are having issues, what sort of issues and try to determine if the problems are one-off's or a trend.

BSA1 writes:

NASA destroyed two Space Shuttles and killed the crews despite many billions of dollars spent on the program and the talents of many smart people. A modern manufactured gun does not have anything even remotely close to the money spent by NASA and the engineering talent.

Click to expand...

Maybe the modern gun has an advantage in that. We've all seen what over-complicating (and over-funding) something can do. Perhaps those two spacecraft and their crews were lost because there were so many people and entities involved in their operations, rather than in spite of that fact.

It's often said that far more people and committees were involved in the construction of the Titanic than in that of the Ark.

I won quite a few gun, and the overwhelming majority of them work out of the box. There have been a handful that have needed to go in for repair, and once repaired have been good. I've also had a couple of problem guns that needed or still need to be replaced. I'm in the 200 round camp before I trust a gun for CC.