How long do revolvers last?

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I'm pretty new to guns and revovlers in general and I'm still looking for my fisrt. I'd love to start off with a revolver, something like a 686 and practice with light .38spl loads. But it seems that I hear a lot about ruined top straps and forcing cones, and the guns getting "loose". And it seems like these things are inevitable in all revolvers. Once those things happen, is the gun "dead" or can it be returned to NIB condition? And how long does this take to happen (lets say on an L frame like the 686)? I'm gonna guestimate and say I'll probably shoot ~2000-3000 rounds a year through the revolver. And of those ~2500, around 75% would be light 38spl target loads and the remaining 25% would be medium 357mag loads. So, that would be around 1900 38spl and 600 357mag rounds a year. Is this a lot for a revolver (an L frame)? How long can I expect a 686 to last with a diet like that? Can I expect 20-30 thousand rounds through it with proper maintenance? Thanks,

Dylan
 
Can I expect 20-30 thousand rounds through it with proper maintenance?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, no question. And if you buy it new, S&W will put it back in tip-top shape gratis when you've put your 30,000--or, more probably, 60,000--through it.
 
Decent revolvers will last quite a while.
I regularly shoot a Colt 1909 model, I have put over 30K through it since it came my way in '75. I haven't a clue how many grandpa put through it before that. I'm sure it was a lot. Came with an Ideal loading tool with built in bullet mold.

My Model 10 was made in 1959, used by the Tuscon PD for a while, I acquired it in 1980 and since that time it has consumed a little over 80 rounds.
Most 158 SWC's over 5 gr Unique. It is a long way from worn out.

Sam
 
I shot very regular comps thru my 686 from approx 1982 thru 1996 - target loads I admit (mostly) and to be honest would have to do some serious math to come up with total thruput!! Let me be pessimistic and say 5,000 per year ... so overall perhaps 70,000. It was getting lose noticably but lock up and timing were more than adequate. Had I kept it no doubt it would have been due for some renovation.

I will say - had I beat it up with .357's then it might have only been happy with 20,000 ... who knows!!! :)

What a revo - how I miss it.
 
My little colt Diamondback has over 45,000 rnds down it over the last 25 years. My 1930 heavy duty easily shows more wear then the diamondback, so I expect it has even more.

I would not worry much about a good smith going 40 or 50k rounds.
 
I have a recently-acquired S&W Model 65, 4" barrel, that's been used by a cop for something like 20 years. It's only had duty ammo - full-house .357 Magnum 158gr. loads - through it, and has probably absorbed rather more than 10,000 of them. It's suffering a bit from end-shake, and could probably do with being re-timed, but is still perfectly shootable. That's with potent, high-end loads, too, so if you're shooting a 686 with low-end .38 Specials, you should outdo this by many tens of thousands of rounds before having to worry.
 
More so than ammo it seems the type of shooting has more to do with timing problems. Hard fast DA will loosen one up faster than moderate DA and in slow fire SA they will last basically forever before timing is an issue.

With the diet you suggest a 686 will last probably 30K rounds or more if moderate DA, 20K or more with hard fast DA.
 
The carbon steel and SS S&W's will last... not so sure about Al/Sc/Ti goodies.
I bought a 625-8 (4" .45ACP) for steel plate challenge 9/02. I shot thousands of commercial ball ammo rounds before I started reloading .45 ACP's 12/02. Thousands more went downrange for the next year and a half - until I finally realized how bad I was and stopped. Before that happened, I managed to drop my cylinder & yoke several times, having not checked that yoke retaining sideplate screw before shooting (I don't blue Loctite those screws as I clean very regularly.). The revolver looked new... had to have 8k++ through it... dropped that cylinder several times. The cylinder started binding... b/c gap was 0 to .5 mils - it had closed up and was uneven!

I just assumed I had destroyed my revolver in my competition attempts. I should just write it off as a $525 'entry fee' into my latest craze. I relented... that was too nice a piece of metal, and too much money, to give up on. I called S&W to talk to a tech - on their dime (800#) - to help decide which of Brownell's yoke alignment/reamers and axle shims I should try. When I identified the revolver, the tech suggested he send me a pick-up label - and they'd fix it free! Ten days after that, my revolver was in my hand. It really looked new - but had my great trigger - and a perfect .004" constant b/c gap! Sadly, I didn't like that full lug & satin finish - and I sold it to a range-mate who just 'had to have it'... paid considerably more than I did new! And... he knew it's history! He has put thousands in it in that same competition (and others) - and has done considerably better than I ever did.

Yeah, I keep buying new S&W's... great service!

Stainz
 
The range i used to go to and occasionally work at (filling in for guys sick etc here and there), had a 686 that ate a box or two of .357s or .38s, every day, for over a decade. Sometimes up to 400 a day.


Unless you're doing a massive amount of DA (1,000 a week of .357, say) for a fairly long period (a year straight) i wouldn't even worry about the timing. Your revolver will most likely, with occasional minor fix-ups, outlast you.

I've shot Peacemakers from the 1890s and 1920s, and I've shot .38's from before the Prohibition (Colt Police Positive, circa 1922 I think?) that were still running just fine.
 
I've got a Colt made in 1917 that still shoots just fine.

Keep it clean, keep it oiled, once in a in a great while replace some springs.
 
I just got an Iver Johnson Safety Automatic Double Action (63xxx) that belonged to my grandfather. They were made between 1993 and 1950. My mother put it in the cedar chest in 1974 and just rediscovered it. It's a .32 with a 3-inch barrel and isn't worth a thing unless someone wants the owl's head grips. The cylinder spins, the hammer won't stay cocked and the hinge is so sprung that the end of the barrel wobbles about a quarter of an inch. The latch is loose, too.

It's sort of cute and not much larger than a P-32.

Beware of old, inexpensive, mistreated revolvers. :)

John
 
My Colt New Service, made in 1906, is still shooting like a new gun.

Now, if you take something like a S&W Model 29 and shoot a lot of hot loads through it, it will eventually need factory thorough repair. But with more reasonable loads, it will shoot forever.
 
i have a colt peacemaker A prefix three digits serial number that still is timed perfectly. I have a M&P S&W from 1930's that was a training pistol at West Point, I have no idea how many rounds went through it before i got it and it lasted. The L frame 586 686 models were designed for steady diet of police 357 loads for training after PD's decided that shooting for score once a year was not enough to win in court that officers had been properly trained.

I would figure 50 K is a conservative amount. If you keep it clean and oiled you will make this.
 
IHMSA Pounding
The only beat beyond hope revolvers I've encountered were the old S&W Model 29's used by competitors in IHMSA years ago. Not the gun's fault though, they just were not intended to take that level of abuse on a continuous basis.

Take Care
 
I've owned a Smith 686 for well over 15 years and, conservatively, I've put 10,000 rounds through it. Most of those have been .357 158 grain wadcuters. A minority have been 38 spl.

I don't think you'll have to worry about a 686 lasting a good 40,000 to 50,000 rounds.
 
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