Ever wear out a shotgun?

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I sort of did. It was a Ithica 37 Featherlite my dad sold to me for $100. He bought it used and shot it for years. By the time I got it, it had lots of wear but was still functional.

I shot the tar out of that gun. I bought shells by the case and got really good with a pump because of that gun. It started to have all kinds of problems. They could have been fixed but it was like everything was worn and tired. I didn't want to have to rebuild the gun from the ground up including internals so I sold it. I think I got $90.00 for it. Not bad.

That is the only decent shotgun I have worn out and I didn't do all the wearing. The other one was an old Savage pump that just gave up the ghost after it kept breaking and breaking.

My Rem 870s have served me well and I don't think I will wear any of them out.

 

[Z71]

Some of the older shotguns such as Remington 10's and Noble pumps, ancient double barrels, stuff like that can be found worn out.

I've never personaly worn one out, but have seen some that were pretty much spent!

I guess in the late 1800's and early 1900's market hunting was populer. Go to the town market and buy the family a dead wild duck that a hunter had killed.

Hunters exterminated the passenger pigeons and decimated the duck populations along the east coast. I always figured thats why most of the old double barreled shotguns are found in terrible shape!

Cheaper pump shotguns are prone to wear and parts breakage.

I have a Remington 1100 that has seen thousands and thousands of shells. A beatup range "rentagun" gun that came from a trap range. I bought it from the range when they bought some new Remington "Express" pumps and auto's to use as rent guns. Works perfectly still!

Anything mechanical can wear out with enough use an abuse.

 

[CajunBass]

My grandfather bought an A.H. Fox double about 1910. About 1970 or so, it started to jump open when he fired it, so he sent it back to the factory (Stevens owned Fox by then) and got it fixed. (No charge IIRC.) No way of knowing how many shells that gun fired, but it was a BUNCH!

It belongs to my Uncle now. As far as I know he doesn't shoot it too often.

 

[LeonCarr]

I have shot a Remington 870P that had over 140,000 documented rounds put through it, and it is still going strong.

Maybe it will wear out someday, but I am not putting money on it .


Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[skeeter1]

I've got a pair of SKB 12-gauge doubles, on with probably 10,000 rounds through it, and the other with at least 25,000. They still lock up as tight as the day I got them. The only problem I ever has was one of the ejector springs broke on the high-milage one, and my "fix" was to remove the extractor spring on the other barrel. Made it much easier to just use them as extractors for saving shells for reloading. Oh, I did get a replacement for the broken spring, but I doubt I'll ever install it unless I go to sell, which is unlikely.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Nope, not yet but still trying....

 

[ArchAngelCD]

All the fun is in trying to wear out a shotgun. I'm having a lot of fun trying but no success in actually wearing one out. I am shooting a Mossberg 500 and my son is shooting a Remington 870. I truly feel both will wear us out before the reverse happens!! LOL

 

[Stretchman]

I guess in the late 1800's and early 1900's market hunting was populer. Go to the town market and buy the family a dead wild duck that a hunter had killed.

The lack of refrigeration may have had something to do with that. One thing those people could probably say is that their diet was probably a lot better than ours as a result. Fresh meat when it's available, in season, etc.

 

[Tom Held]

A friend of mine, Dave Butz, completely wore out a Browning O/U in about 7years. He estimates he had put about 450,000 rounds through before it just locked up completely. He sent to Browning repair in Arnold, Missouri and put another 250,000 through it before giving it up.

Yeah, he shoots a lot. Tom

 

[Capstick1]

That's alot of shooting!

I'm guessing my standard Rem 11-87 wouldn't last anywhere near that long. When it comes to gun design semi's have more moving parts and therefore go through more wear and tear. Machineguns like the M60 and M240 are much worse. If you own one of these expensive toys (Machineguns) and plan on doing lots of shooting you're going to need a spare barrel, springs, bolts and op rods, etc. I don't know of any torture testing that's been done on the 11-87 but I'm guessing the the reciever would be worn out and unserviceable after 150000 rds or so. I'm just guessing and I could be wrong. If theres any hardcore skeet and trap shooters who've actually had dedicated use of the 11-87 for trap and skeet and can answer this question more accurately I'd love to hear from you.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

I can't afford enough shells to wear out my browning pump...at least not for another 10-20 years

 

[MCgunner]

Got a buddy with a T Barker side by side. Now these things were built from around the 1870s through around 1915 or there abouts. If you want the definition of a loose shotgun, check his out. ROFL! He thought he was getting some sort of collectible for 100 bucks. Well, turns out in GOOD condition it's worth maybe 150. A smith could tighten it up and it could be used, but it's a sidelock hammer gun and would be better put to use over a hearth IMHO. LOL

 

[MisterFubar]

My 1947 Ithaca Model 37 broke the firing pin this weekend. I've had it for about 15 years now and I don't really keep track, but I've probably put about 2000 rounds through it. I inherited the gun from my grandfather and it was his primary turkey gun for about 30 years, I won't even take a guess at how many he put through it.

 

[Richard47]

I've shot an steel receiver Rem 1100 for about 40 years, mostly without lube because it jams in cold weather with lube, or if dirt gets stuck in the lube. The magazine release mrchanism is worn and I guess it can't be fixed. Maybe 8 boxes a year-800 shells, heavy ammo mostly.

It shoots, but not reliable anymore.

 

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The thing about "wearing out" that is interesting, is that it is all about how much time, money and effort you want to put into it. My Ithaca could have been revived with some parts to replace the worn ones and some time and effort to fix all the loose and worn parts that didn't to be replaced.

My point is, wearing out a shotgun is more a matter of giving up on it since most will still shoot even if they are beat up and worn out. They are smooth bores so wearing one out is not the same as a rifle or a pistol. Even with a rifle, you can always have the barrel replaced but at some point, you just don't.

I was kind of proud of myself for wearing out that old Ithaca but now I see that if I had started with a better shotgun like a 870 in good shape, I wouldn't have had a chance to wear one out.

 

[evbutler462]

The average person can't afford enough ammo to wear out the guns made today. Competition shooters can and do but they shoot more in one month than I shoot in a lifetime. My 11-87 is a well built gun that will outlast me and my grandchildren for hunting and casual shooting, with a sprinkling of clays thrown in.

I have guns that are over 50 years old that are as tight as the day they were born. My sons and grandchildren give them a pretty good working out during hunting season. Keep them maintained and the average shooter probably will seldom wear out a gun that is cleaned, oiled, and properly cared for.

 

[El Tejon]

Yes, a Rossi 20 gauge SxS. One of the few long guns that I destroyed as it could not be saved (headspacing issues).

I had an Ithaca fall apart in my hands but it was rebuilt. My oldest 870 has been rebuilt twice (once by Remington, second time by Scattergun Technologies).

Destroyed more pistols than long guns.