Anyone completely worn out a handgun?

375supermag said:

No...
I have tried very hard to wear some out but after thousands and thousands of rounds they just keep on working.
Mostly S&W and Ruger revolvers...worst thing that has ever happened is that a Ruger .45Colt BlackHawk tends to have the cylinder pin creep forward when shooting heavy loads. Doesn't happen with my standard load of 8grs of Unique and a 250 gr LSWC.

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I'm having the same problem with my Ruger Blackhawk, was shooting some Ruger only 45 Colt reloads and suddenly it froze, the pin was out about 3/4" and the back had dropped enough to lock it up, played with it until I got the pin dropped back down and continued shooting, but now inspect the pin every reload.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I have seen two guns that just died...though i wouldn't call them worn out. One was a single shot 12 gauge that was my grandfather's. After he passed, we took it out to shoot it. After the 3rd round, I opened the action, the barrel fell off the receiver, and the forearm fell apart. Looked like the wood in the forearm had dry rotted and couldn't hold on to the hardware anymore. The other was a Walther PP (copy I believe, had incorrect nazi stamps on it) of dubious origin, that had belonged to my step grandfather. It had a nasty habit of firing 2-3 round bursts. That one went away...

The crucifix spring on my g19 wore thru the plastic after about 20-25k rounds. I sent it to Glock on a Saturday. They replaced all the internal parts, cleaned it and had it back to me by Friday.

Sebastian the Ibis said:

The crucifix spring on my g19 wore thru the plastic after about 20-25k rounds. I sent it to Glock on a Saturday. They replaced all the internal parts, cleaned it and had it back to me by Friday.

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It would seem that most glocks seem to need a tune up around the 20k round range? Every armorer I've talked to said just keep replacing the recoil springs every 5k and nothing else until 20k.

I own too many guns to really wear one out. But when I was shooting a lot of ATA Trap, the Remington rep at the state shoots replaced a lot of stamped action parts in my 1100.

But I know People.
The Long Range shooter expects a rifle barrel to last little more than 2500 rounds.
The PPC shooter has shot out a couple of barrels with .38 wadcutters, 150,000 of them, and left one action too loose for best shooting.

I wore out a hi-point c9. I got it used in a pawnshop deal that went sour. I had purchased a 10 22 from them that ended up being stolen and they needed it back to fulfill a request from the local sheriff. Seems the original seller that pawned it at their shop had stolen it from their elderly father and it wasn't noticed until a year after I bought it from them. I returned it and they refunded me the original price and threw in a beat up c9 with 6 mags. When I got the pistol I replaced all the springs and firing pin. I used it as. Range toy for 10 years and it had a steady diet of +p 9mm for all that time. Same load I load and run in all my 9mm carbines and Mac's.

Its had a bazillion rounds sent through it over the years. The firing pin channel finally had a large piece break out of it and locked it up. It still ran after I removed the broken piece but it had done damage to the frame. A $10 replacement slide was put on off a cf380 model I bought on ebay. It ran fine as well but the frame damage made me Leary of running it. I sent it in to hp with the bad slide and of course they just replaced the entire pistol. I'm sure I'll break this one as well. It always gets taken to the range and beat on.

blue32 said:

Glock 30SF, 3rd Gen. The frame developed a crack above the left take down pin adjacent to the locking block (above the part number on the frame, right side). I was at 20,400 rounds at this point and the past ~15,000 rounds had been a 230 gr. LRN over 4.5 gr WST. The only evidence I had of the problem was that it wouldn't lock back on brand new magazines. Glock replaced the frame and everything in it for free. The only things they didn't replace in the slide was the barrel. I'm currently at 24,610 and hope to see many more rounds.
View attachment 824002

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That's why you're not supposed to shoot lead bullets in your Glock.

Jim Watson said:

The PPC shooter has shot out a couple of barrels with .38 wadcutters, 150,000 of them, and left one action too loose for best shooting.

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That's really a big factor in this discussion: What counts as "worn out." Lots of guns wear to the point where they have reliability issues, but only because replaceable parts break. Then, after several of those cycles/events, some degradation in accuracy may show up as a result of certain fits becoming sloppier. There are methods to remove this sloppiness in many circumstances (e.g., frame rails can be peened or welded, cylinder and hand can be replaced, etc.), but in many cases the cost of so doing exceeds the value of what the restored gun would be... and might even cost more than purchasing a new replacement. This is similar to how frequently cars are "totalled" for economic reasons, even though their repair to good function is readily possible from a technical perspective.

Said PPC shooter had one gun rebarrelled and tuned up. The other was a more extensive modification by a gunsmith since deceased, not economically repairable.

Another local wore out a Blackhawk with a steady diet of "Ruger Only .45 Colt" loads. Ruger charged him for the new barrel, cylinder, and lockwork, but not much.

Just one, years ago. My S&W model 66, purchased unfired since factory in '74. Many Magnum rounds later had S&W overhaul it. Only original parts remaining are the frame, side plate and rear sight......

My S&W Mod 28-2. After 25000+ rounds, 20% magnum, she has no forcing come, has end shake, and needs to be retimed.
I count bricks of primers to establish round count. I bought the gun in '74 and have never bought a commercial round. She will get refurbed once I get the funds.

My bud since grade school wore out a 7mm rifle that he has had forever.
I have worn out a Ruger standard and a H&R 999. I can’t complain though, both where bought used, and combined have probably close to 300,000 rounds through each. I’m currently working on a used ‘62 S&W mod 10 3”, but I bet it will outlive me. She was rebuilt at around 20,000 after I acquired her. No telling how much she was used before I got her.

Obturation, 50,000 rounds or more??? I gave no thought to rounds fired, but surely not anything like 50,000 rounds. From '74 to 1980 when I had S&W overhaul it, it was my favorite revolver. Shot it in training and qualification, and recreationally. I reloaded for 357 back in those days, but still don't think I shot it anywhere near 50,000 before having it overhauled.

If you consider a Rohm RGxx .22 LR revolver a handgun,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Yes, by my Dad

Obturation said:

I dont think 50,000 is really that high of a round count, but i guess it depends on the owner. 200 rounds per month is 2,400 rounds per year, in 20 years or so bingo 50,000. I had a ruger mk 3 22/45 i shot 25,000 in one year - 1,000 every other weekend. Then i had kids. Granted thats 22lr . Ive got a gp100 thats my range mule , ive had it 6 years and probably have in the 30,000 range - i would have to check but i have kept track. I dont think i shoot as much as i would like but i do shoot a fair amount of 357.

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You also bought a Ruger which has a thicker top strap so cutting gasses take longer to really damage your frame

Obturation said:

Not the point, point was # of rounds fired not how the gun holds up to it. Flame cutting is a self limiting process in my experience, leave the carbon on there and it really never gets much worse. Lighter bullets tend to cause flame cutting more too, but rock185 didnt mention flame cutting as a cause for his smith becoming worn.

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I’m not sure how else you could wear one out. Barrels can be recrowned, timing realigned, parts replaced, but you only get so much frame to work with.

You only get so much frame life to work with, but the top-strap being cut fully through is hardly ever, ever, ever the limiting factor.

sota said:

Not yet, but it's sort of a personal goal of mine. That would mean I'm shooting/practicing a whole lot!

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I think I'm going to join you in the effort!

Completely worn out a handgun? No. Is that even possible to completely wear it out?
I suppose if you bury one and let it rust for a decade or two.
Or...







I guess that ones wore out.

Other than that just replace the wore parts and keep going.

tipoc

I'd sure love to try to wear out a gun, but I don't really have the budget or time right now.

WestKentucky said:

My personal worst is a Phoenix hp22. I have worn out 2 of them.

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A buddy of mine wore his out, and I don't think he even shot it as much as you did.

bersaguy said:

Now that I'm thinking about it, I have seen two guns that just died...though i wouldn't call them worn out. One was a single shot 12 gauge that was my grandfather's. After he passed, we took it out to shoot it. After the 3rd round, I opened the action, the barrel fell off the receiver, and the forearm fell apart. Looked like the wood in the forearm had dry rotted and couldn't hold on to the hardware anymore.

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Harrington Richardson? I had the same problem with my grandfather's.

kozak6 said:

Harrington Richardson? I had the same problem with my grandfather's.

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I believe that's correct

tipoc said:

Completely worn out a handgun? No. Is that even possible to completely wear it out?

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I mean, you can "grandfather's axe/Theseus's ship"* any mechanical device into infinite lifespans. But, for most purposes, most handguns are worn out when the frame is worn out. When is a frame worn out? When it can no longer hold the other parts in proper relationship to one another, and when the cost of repairing that inability exceeds the cost of a new frame and/or new gun. All the little holes and slots and whatnot in/on frames are things that can get worn out of round, out of alignment, etc. Or the frame can have some structural failure (whether catastrophic, as your pictures show, or fatigue-cracking) that, again, impairs the frame's ability to hold parts in the proper relation to one another. Of course, much of this occurs along a continuum. A semi-auto frame may still hold the slide and barrel in good enough relative position to allow the gun to function, but it may not shoot as accurately as it did earlier. A high-powered revolver may have frame stretch that increases the B/C gap enough to miss some velocity and perhaps impact accuracy, but not enough to render the gun unsafe or inoperable. Almost any kind of gun could theoretically see ignition-package locating holes/slots get out of spec enough to introduce creep or slop into what was once a clean, crisp trigger. Depending on the user's expectations/needs, what degree of these are acceptable may vary.

So, yes, handguns absolutely can be worn out. But it generally takes a tremendous volume of shooting. I suspect a lot more handguns experience the end of their life by being dropped into deep water, blown up, run over by a truck, corroded by being stored next to pool chemicals, etc., than by truly being worn out.

* https://yandoo.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/theseuss-paradox/