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

Personally, no. Not even indirectly...the worn out guns I have handled generally didn't wear out from high round counts.

There is the mythos of old woodsmen who would fire .32 or .35 ammo from what was originally a .30 caliber rifle because the bore was worn out from constant use. I put that right next to stories of those same woodsmen using low power loads that wouldn't completely penetrate so they could recover the bullets, to reload them.

Every single 1911 a1 in the arms room in my company Berlin Brigade were, in my opinion DX quality when I got there in 1968. Since West German civilians controlled the supply channels I stepped outside and ordered new TO&E for every one of them. I kept the frames,serial numbered, and the grips while completely rebuilding them. My company was the only one in the battalion where any one met pistol qualification that year. All of the 1911 I saw appeared to be in the same condition.

In addition the 90 mm anti tank rifles were not repairable, dangerous to load, carry and fire. Tubes were scored and pitted, bipods would not stay in mounts and like the 1911 could not hit the side of a barn from the inside. Let me add that with basic equipment in this condition there were two new complete Starlight scopes along with all accessories on the shelf with orders taped to them that they were not to be used.

blindhari

The first rifle I purchased when I turned 18 was a 10/22. I must have put 40K + rounds through that rifle. I wore all the internals out and since I didnt have the money to have it all repaired, I sold the stripped receiver and parted it out.

Jackal said:

The first rifle I purchased when I turned 18 was a 10/22. I must have put 40K + rounds through that rifle. I wore all the internals out and since I didnt have the money to have it all repaired, I sold the stripped receiver and parted it out.

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I bet you would like that one back.

Not really, not so's I'd know.


Now, I have had a couple-three with a round count of exactly one round too many... Hindsight and all that!

Todd.

I had an old drilling that I didn't trust to stay together, but I have no idea what the round count was.

I don't have a gun I'd use for self defense that has such a high round count that I'd consider it unreliable. However…

I'm doing a little experiment with my Ruger 22/45 MKIII, which is strictly a range gun. I'm up over 5k rounds now since I last cleaned it in any way. Shot ~350 rounds at the weekly rimfire steel challenge shoot today and didn't have a single jam. However I have had a handful of malfunctions, I think mostly related to a very dirty extractor/chamber etc. I'm pretty impressed with how this thing is doing, and I don't intend to clean it until it's jamming more than once every 50 rounds or so. As it is right now I'd trust my life to it if I had to.

After forty years with my 870 TB, I had to replace the receiver as it developed a 2" long crack behind the ejection port. Estimate 250K rounds. For years that gun was my only shotgun and with it I shot my first deer, first duck, and a lot of other game. It was not fed only trap loads but it was used at trap weekly.

So PapaG, what are you going to do with the receiver? I'd be inclined to honor it and place it in a shadow box with some pictures you have using it and hang it on the wall to honor its memory.

Phoenix HP22a.

It breaks a firing pin every couple boxes of ammo.

They always send me another one but its a pain in the behind.

Its has a few thousand rounds through it.

Fun to shoot when it works, but it is otherwise JUNK!

My bullseye guns see over 10k per year, each(except the 22). Still going strong.

taliv said:

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

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That's an economic decision, not really a reliability decision....

I just love a firearm that has been heavily put to work like it was intended to be. I have had firearms that I have babied and firearms that have became my go to tools in my working stable. I have a Remington 870 Wingmaster that I have put over 43,000 rounds through and it hasn't had a part fail yet.

Both my father and great uncle had shotguns whose actions had been worked so much that the pump fell like it was on glass ball bearings when the slide stop was depressed.

Even after 43,000++ rounds in my Wingmaster, it still isn't as slick as my dad's Ithaca 37 or great uncle's Winchester model 12.

I say take care of the gun and it will take care of you.

I have a Sig P220 with about 150k through it, a Springfield MC Operator 1911 with about 100k through it, and some others with more than 25k through them.

Just keep them clean, change springs at regular intervals, and just keep your eyes open for signs of wear.

Just my two cents.

EBShooting said:

I say take care of the gun and it will take care of you.

I have a Sig P220 with about 150k through it, a Springfield MC Operator 1911 with about 100k through it, and some others with more than 25k through them.

Just keep them clean, change springs at regular intervals, and just keep your eyes open for signs of wear.

Just my two cents.

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What is your maintenance schedule on your Sig? My 220 has about 12,000 rounds through it. I sent it to Sig at 5K and 10K for spring changes and an examination to make sure all was well. I'd feel better if I had something to follow like I do for my car.

Not a quality gun...but I'm on my 3rd phoenix hp22 and it's pretty well junk now. The cheap materials and poor fit between the slide and frame causes a lot of wear and eventually they start binding up around 12-15000 rounds. They can be made to go another 5 or 6 thousand twice from my experience before there's nothing left to fix.

Sheepdog1968 said:

What is your maintenance schedule on your Sig? My 220 has about 12,000 rounds through it. I sent it to Sig at 5K and 10K for spring changes and an examination to make sure all was well. I'd feel better if I had something to follow like I do for my car.

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I used to be a sig armorer. I replace recoil springs between 3500 and 5000 rounds. I completely strip the gun every 10000-15000 rounds and replace all the other springs. When I have it stripped I put all the parts in a sonic cleaner, so I know everything gets cleaned. Then I check the parts for wear and tear and replace as needed. The last time I had it apart I put in an SRT kit.