Ever Have A Gun With Such A High Round Count You No Longer Consider It Reliable?

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HGM22

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Just wondering if anyone has a gun with such a high round count that you proactively remove it from any self defense or concealed carry role? Or would most people wait until a string of problems arise to "retire" the gun from said role.

For example, say one had a home defense shotgun that had seen 20,000+ rounds without any real issues thus far. Would you continue to use said gun or retire it?
 
Choot'm!

It will tell you when it wants to rest!!

Those old grey rats are slicker then owl snot, and if it still works, it still works!!

rc
 
I haven't had one high enough to worry and I have a few in the 15K range. If you poke around 100K to 1 million rounds seems to exist for some firearms. Sig told me that had one customer piano around a million rounds. Scott Retiz has only had one 870 that was a rental that actually wore out to the point it couldn't be fixed by Robar or Remington. I've seen several articles on Glocks in the 200K round count. One approach is to have one purely for self defense that after you break it in you just keep it for self defense. Then, get an identical one for training that you run lots of rounds through and you run rough to see what it can withstand. For example, I know my Sigs easily can go 1000 rounds between lube and cleaning. I've gone 2000 rounds on a Mossberg 500 with no cleaning and very little,lube added.
 
That would probably be my Browning Hi-Power. I take it with me every time I go to the range mainly because it's such a comfortable gun to shoot and that it's surprisingly accurate for a box stock gun with no modifications (other than different grips), to it. It also serves as my trainer for shooters who are ready to move up to a centerfire semi-auto from .22s. Still going strong after all these years and a whole lot of rounds through it.
 
My best friend has a Colt Series 70 in .45acp that had 500,000+ rounds through it when he retired from competition with nothing replaced except springs and either an extractor or firing pin. Don't remember which. He still carries the pistol every day. I don't believe he is concerned with reliability in the least.:)
 
Every gun I can think of has been returned to safe operating condition usually with no more than replacing the springs. I do have a S&W Model 10 private security company trade in (around 40 years old) that had been shot so many times the cylinder would bind up after 6 or 12 rounds. A trip back to the factory and $100.00 and I have a new gun with worn blue finish.
 
I've got a Remington Model 11 20 ga shotgun that my grandfather wore out over 50 years of use. All the finish is gone and some of the action parts are worn to the point where I wouldn't trust it to work reliably in an SD situation.

So I use something else.
 
A shotgun that only fires in spec rounds and which has springs or ejectors replaced as necessary should last until your bones are dust. If you ever let it rust or don't replace pins hammers springs etc etc maybe not so much.
 
OF COURSE NOT ! I have guns with 65M through it, 55M through a NM45 and numerous[ MANY !!] guns with 20M rounds through 'em. ALL of 'em are still going strong. I might even start cleaning one of 'em now'n'again...

And so it goes...
 
Replace springs, maybe occasionally the extractor or other small parts, keep on shooting.

I've shot 30k+ through an M&P, and 30k+ through a Tanfoglio Stock 2, and the only real wear I can see on any of the major components (other than the finish) is that the locking surfaces on the barrels are peening slightly. You need to run your fingernail over it to tell. I don't believe that is impacting reliability in the least.

In every semi-auto pistol platform I'm shot in competition (Glocks too) the trigger return spring always seems to be the weakest link in the system in terms of actual breakage. So just change them every 10k and keep on rolling.
 
Just about anything is good after a fresh set of springs.

I've only had 2 springs actually wear out on me: a set of M&P mag springs in 5 mags that were getting weak after I'd had around 13-14k rounds through the gun. I also had a Browning Hi Power with a worn out extractor spring but I have no idea how many rounds were through that gun before I got it (it was a surplus Israeli gun).

Except for springs they mostly get better with use :).
 
In most cases, I am comfortable using (quality) guns with very high round counts for home defense, and I think many modern firearms are capable of providing reliability to a round count higher than what virtually anyone achieves. Partly this is because of the amount of money required to purchase say 100,000 rounds of ammo (and all the time it takes to shoot it!) For guns with extremely high round counts, specific parts that are considered wear items (e.g., springs) may need replacement but IMO the entire firearm will not.

I would estimate the round count on my '99 USP40c to be around 25k and it has original parts (so with the original and more delicate firing pin design). The gun functions flawlessly and is still used for home defense. While this model was advertised as having a service life of a 'minimum of 20k rounds', as far as USPs go, 25k is a pretty low round count. Based on what I have read I feel this firearm (with proper care) has a lifespan of at least 100,00 rounds, and in many cases over 200k. So I am comfortable using it for home defense up to at least 100k.
 
I had no idea as to how long my Colt Series 70 was supposed to last until I read some of these posts. Early on I put a SS Barstow barrel in it and a new spring for competition. I've put at least 60,000 through it and had to recently replace the slide stop. I use it for carry now as I am most confident with it. I can't remember a malfunction.
 
I retired an ar15 because nearly everything on it was worn out. Replacing the barrel and all the springs bolt disconnector etc would have cost more in time and money than just buying a new one.

Most guns have wear parts. When I get close to the clip levels on routine maintenance I'd use something else until I had time to replace the wear parts
 
One of the guns I inherited has stamped on the side of the barrel "Colt .38 D.A.".

The top strap is grooved for use as the rear sight and I have shot some .38 Specials through it but, at 10 yards, the hits were all over the target. :mad:

This was the gun my grandfather kept under the cash register in his store when I was a kid and the research I have done puts the estimated age at 95-105 years old. :eek:

The gun had to be permanently retired to the wall because of the accuracy problem. The fault was that the cylinder was no longer in proper alignment with the forcing cone and had a little "wobble" even when cocked. The gun was no longer safe to be fired.

Better to retire it than have it blow up in my hand. :D
 
That's why maintenance was invented. It's possible to wear out a firearm in extreme cases, especially when cost of repair exceeds cost of replacement. However, normal maintenance usually (but obviously not always) exposes problems before they become critical.

Directed to the question of the OP, not JTHunter.
 
I’ve never paid any attention to round count. In other words, 1. I don’t keep track of how many rounds I’ve put through a particular gun, and 2. Most of my guns were purchased used so I have no idea how much use they may have had before I got them. Wether a gun is reliable depends on condition, not age or round count.
 
Just for clarification, I was kind of assuming proper maintenance/lubrication was in play (we're a bunch of gun guys/gals after all). I was thinking more along the lines of microfissures turning into cracks in some of the less replaceable parts like the chamber, receiver, etc. I know many in the AR15 circle replace things like bolts early on before they crack, so I was wondering if people would do the same for higher round counts and more permanent parts.
 
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