Have you ever worn out a part on a gun?

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Wildbillz

Wildbillz

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Hi All
I have read many post about spare parts and replacing springs and the like. Then I read about some one putting 50k rounds out of one gun with no parts loss or failers. This has got me wondering. So has anyone ever worn out a part? If so what and on what?

As for me? Not worn out, but broken some.

Firing pin on an Old JC Higgins pump shotgun. My fault I think, I slam firing it like a Ithica 37, hold the trigger back and pump the pump till you run out of ammo.

Magazine floor plate off a 1911 shooting star mag years ago. Left it loaded six or more years and floor plate poped off when I loaded it in the gun.

Extractor tip on a Colt goverment model broke off on me. Don't know what caused it but I had shot the thing for 20 or 30 years on a regular basis. bought a new replace ment ad was off and running.

Next trip to the range the nub on the slide lock broke. I could manulay lock it open but it wouldn't lock back on the last shot any more.

Thats about all I can think of?

WB
 
I had the floorplate on an old GI magazine fall off once, but that's as close as I've ever come to having a gun break.

Now, I'll admit that there are a lot of people who shoot a lot more than I do, but I suspect I'm pretty close to average.
 
Years ago a buddy and I took our AR's to the local outdoor range. We were shooting next to each other and I thought I heard a 'burst'. Then it happened again. We looked at each other and decided to pack up and leave. Something had worn out on his AR to make it auto. Let me also add that while in basic training I was being trained on the LAW. While training [on a 'used' LAW] I pulled the two halves completly appart. That's about the only time I saw the D.I. crack a grin.
 
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You've shot enough to break parts but you haven't...worn any out? Please forgive my question if it seems rude, but don't you think you pretty much wore those parts out before they completely failed? I've fatigued recoil springs in autoloading pistols until they no longer functioned. I've hot-loaded ammo into varmint rifles until the barrel was shot-out & no longer accurate. I've clay-birded several shotguns completely to death. Like cars, some guns are more maintenance sensitive than others. GLOCK & AK 47 = Toyota, it's tough to wear 'em down. I won't mention the guns I think = Ferrari 'cause it'll hurt someone feelings. But yes, I've worn parts out. And again, like cars, it's better to replace worn shocks than to wait until a tie-rod end snaps at speed.
 
I can think of a few parts I've managed to wear out, mostly "o" rings. I've also worn a few parts pretty well back in my "Cowboy action shooting" days. CAS is hard on firearms.
 
Oh, also wore out a barrel on a 300 Win Mag. (That takes dedication too!)

Wore out a recoil spring on a Ruger P95DC.

Wore out some o-rings on my H&K USP 45 Tactical.

Wore out a main link pin on a Lyman turret press. (not a gun, but closely related...)

Wore out various magazines. One of my Glock 9mm mags was used until it split straight down the back from use. Wore out the feed lips on a couple of Glock 45 ACP mags (kind of funny, extra rounds would occasionally spit out the top of the gun during ejection - those were quickly replaced).

Left six AK47 30 round magazines fully loaded to 30 rounds for about 6 years, found them in a closet. Five worked perfect, one required a period of "stretching" the spring and it was returned to working order.

Had a bunch of breakages, but those are the usage-related ones. Broke a firing pin on a pump action 22, had to make a new one. Broke scope mounts. Broke a Carbon 15 223 pistol bolt in half, with a load it didn't like.
 
Ghost Tracker
You've shot enough to break parts but you haven't...worn any out? Please forgive my question if it seems rude, but don't you think you pretty much wore those parts out before they completely failed?
Click to expand...

I guess I never thought of it like that?

WB
 
SKS went auto on me before failing completely. Of course I've worn out my share of recoil springs on my old 1911. I miss her.
 
Colt goverment model ... the nub on the slide lock broke.
Click to expand...

that's not an uncommon failure.... there's actually quite a bit of machining on that little part and the original design has (imo) a stress concentration point.

an EB hardcore slide lock, or a Wilson will drop right in and take care of you for the rest of your lifetime.
 
I've replaced various springs and some other small consumable parts at recommended intervals, and also broken some springs that aren't normally supposed to break.

Anyone who claims 50k through just about anything, with no parts replacement at all... basically I'll just smile and nod.
 
Never worn anything out. Everything I've ever had to replace on a gun was either lost (the most common cause - springs can send things flying never to be seen again :)), or damaged by user error during disassembly.
 
No, I have NEVER worn any part of a gun to the point where it needed replacing.

With that being said, I have purchased new parts to replace original parts but that was more for preventive-maintenance than it was for actually replacing a worn-out part.
 
I've cracked a G17 and a G17L (9mmx19) slide each with high round count. Glock in Smyrna replaced at no charge under extended (unpublished) warranty.

Wayne Novak describes the slides in the Glocks as glass-hard.

It's only competition shooters and spec-ops types that will reach such round counts. I doubt that Glock will change the surface hardening process they use because of that. They would be sacrificing too many other advantages to change it now.
 
No, and I have had some guns for over 50 years. If my grandpa could not wear out his Rem model 11 that he gave me, and I could not wear it out nor my nephews who grew up with it, it ain't ever going to wear out......chris3
 
Lots of 1911 recoil springs and extractors, broken 1 ejector.

I've had 2 M249 break on me, thankfully both at the range. Crossbolt safety broke and fell out of the gun, both guns were fresh from refit. Strange, we sent all 12 guns back to be checked out.

Also wore out a M2 barrel according to the book, but the gun still went bang and the bullets hit near where I was aiming so that doesn't really count.

Oh and I had a worn out op rod on a CMP Garand when I received it. Noticed the tab that attaches the op rod to the receiver was severely worn when I received it, like a dummy I went out and shot it anyway, it broke completely on the 2nd clip. Folks at the CMP were kind enough to ship me a new (well new old stock) op rod 2nd day shipping for free.
 
I've broken some springs that disabled the gun - trigger bar springs on two Sigs (P-series) and a slide lock retention spring on a Glock. (This one was especially interesting - the slide, with barrel and recoil spring still attached, launched off the front of the frame and into the dirt!) No major components like barrels, frames or slides.

In a different category, I would place parts that broke due to being of faulty design or material. These were extractors on a SIG 1911 (~300 rounds) and a Taurus PT945 (three rounds. :rolleyes:)
 
Remington model 12 extractor. To be fair, it probably had a few hundred thousand rounds through it before it was given to me.

Oh, Numrich's replacement was garbage. I found one from a donor rifle.
 
I didn't wear it out by myself but ... I wore out a rifle barrel.
In the mid-80's I bought a M96 Swedish Mauser, manufactured in 1908, with what appeared to be the original barrel. The bore had some salt-and-pepper in the grooves, but it was a very accurate rifle. Sub-MOA with most of my loads, mild recoil, just a joy to shoot. I shot it a lot.
I shot it for about 10 years in NRA High Power Rifle matches. 50-100 rounds per match, one and sometimes two matches a month, plus practice and testing. Then, at a 100 yard match in Oklahoma, my groups started to open up. Badly. Testing and a close look at the throat and bore confirmed that the barrel had finally worn out.
 
Lots of recoil springs - consumable part
Broken slide lock on a Glock 36 (odd)
A barrel on a 7mm Mag. Not hard to get significant throat erosion if you shoot one enough.
Bolt release on a Weatherby V.
 
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