How many rounds do hand guns last?

[Blind Eye]

I am just curiose as to how many rounds will wear out a six-shooter. I got back into shooting about three years ago. I am using my fathers guns which date back to the late 60`s. I shoot about 3 times a month shooting no less than 200 rounds each time. I have shot nothing but cast untill I learned to swage boolits from here. :swagemine: So I know we have some folks on here that have done it.

I would be interested in a ball park figure or even some story`s that you did it. Thanks in advance from a long time reader first time caller. :-D:bigsmyl2:

[targetshootr]

Really depends on what kind of gun and what kinds of loads.

[Tom W.]

How does "years" sound?

[waksupi]

Decades? Centuries?

[Blind Eye]

I like what I am hearing so far. I try to get as many folks at work to try it. Its fun and relaxing. i just dont want to wear them out real soon.

I shoot an old model SBH in 44 and 357 plus a Smith and wesson 686 in 357. The group I shoot with is mostly females so there light rounds anyway. i just really enjoy the way people are so freindly at most of the ranges I go to. Thanks so far with the responses.

[EDK]

I put 40,000+ of 250 grainers through a 5.5 inch SUPER BLACKHAWK when it started side-spitting some. Jim Stroh (ALPHA PRECISION) re-set barrel cylinder gap, head space and end thrust...among other things. After another 20,000+, it has some issues with mis-fires....I think the hammer is worn enough to hit the frame...Mr. Stroh installs a bushing in the hammer to correct this for about $20 IIRC. A new hammer and trigger and a trigger job aren't that expensive.

I got interested in VAQUEROS a couple years back and had the resources to get several, so I'm spreading the wear out a bit more than on the old SUPER. I try to do 24 rounds left handed and 24 right with a pair of VAQUEROS on a daily basis...weather permitting...ain't much fun in 20 degree weather!

A SMITH & WESSON will last quite awhile with moderate loads. A RUGER single action is even more durable. A tuned and tightened up revolver will do even better. Don't get crazy with magnums and a little maintenance will leave your guns in good shape for YOUR son.

:Fire::cbpour::redneck:

[9.3X62AL]

Both of the examples you list in your text are VERY durable revolvers. You made a wise decision initially by purchasing quality platforms, and mild or mid-range loads will allow such revos to last a VERY LONG TIME.

I have a 686 x 4" that likely has 10K or more 357 rounds through it, most of which ran in the 30-35K PSI pressure envelope and most of which were fired double-action. I cannot discern any side-shake or end-shake in this handgun. FWIW, the 586/686/L-frame revolver series were designed around the full-time use of 158 grain ammo that ran 1400-1450 FPS/42K PSI. The K-frame Model 13 or 19 service guns had durability issues with the full-tilt 1935-level 357 Magnum ammo. Bullet weights were dropped to lessen pressures, and the 125 JHPs didn't beat up the K-frames like the classic ammo did. The 125 grain JHPs ran at 1400-1450 FPS, expanded readily, and did the job on assailants quite well. And still do.

Of course, USA LEOs dropped the wheelguns like a bad habit through the 1980s, so the 357's cachet as a felon-stopper is largely dead. The 357 Magnum remains my favorite handgun caliber, period. The 686 remains my back-country companion, and I still qualify with it for my CWP.

[40sandwfan]

Decades? Centuries?

I agree with this statement. It's likely that your handgun will take more ammunition than you can feasibly imagine putting through it. As long as you don't shoot loads that are too hot for your handgun or anything it'll likely last long enough for you to pass it down to your posterior!!

[warf73]

The guns you have will last a long time as the guys have said. I did wear out a Rossi/Tauras 686 357mag look alike back in the early 90's. It had less than 7500 round threw it and was total junk.
I think you get what ya pay for to a degree in handguns.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive got rugers with round counts near 50k and 1911s with well over that that have no signs of wear.. Ive also shot loose a vaquero in less then a 1000 rounds using loads i shouldnt have been using. Same goes for smiths. Loaded properly they will last 2 lifetimes but fool around with loads that arent designed for it and you can screw one up in a hurry. Forcing cones do wear and some guns tend to wear in the forcing cone faster then others. Cheap imported guns can wear fast. Rugers security six and speed sixes were notorious for forcing cone wear. Best thing to do to prevent it is to stay away from ball powders and light bullet for caliber loads. Also when shooting try not to get your gun to hot by shooting a ton of ammo as fast as you can. Also keep your guns well oiled. On a single action keep the ratchet on the end of the cylinder and the recoil shoulder on the front oiled. It goes along way toward beating your gun into endshake problems. On 1911s or any semi auto replace the springs often. I like to replace mine about every 1000 rounds. A weak spring will allow the gun to get beat up. Also make sure your spings are heavy enough for the load your using.

[NickSS]

I have a Ruger security six I bought in 1975 that has over 50000 rounds through it mostly 38 specials and it is as tight and shoots as well as it ever did. I have read of one of these that has over a million rounds through it that except for normal cleaning and maintenace is still working fine but that is only hear say. Near as I can tell a good revolver should last a lifetime of shooting.

[oldhickory]

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1596/coltnayah014.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/i/coltnayah014.jpg/)

Here's grand-dad's Colt New Service revolver, I have no idea how many rounds of .45 Colt have been through it since 1904, but it still locks up tight and shoots as straight as it did when new.

[Kraschenbirn]

My S&W 586 (no "dash #) was a private security trade-in and I've put over 40K rounds...99% .38 Spls...through it and it's still tight and more accurate than I can hold. I also have an OM Ruger BH .357 purchased new in 1964 that's shot a whole bunch of moderate-to-hot jacketed stuff and, while showing some "carry" wear, is still as tight (or tighter) than some of the new guns I've handled in the last few years. Then there's the box-stock, parkerized Remington 1911A1 that followed me home from SE Asia and has never seen anything but ball (or equivalent cast) ammo...

Bill

[sargenv]

I have a Ruger GP100 that I don't use all that much anymore that has at least 50,000 rounds through, about half of those are magnums loaded with either Blue dot or H110.

I have a S&W 610-2 with a 6.5" full underlug barrel that has seen over 100,000 rounds.. about 20,000 being full power 10 mm, and the rest lighter target loads that I use for shooting ICORE and USPSA.

I have a Para P16-40 that the only original parts are the barrel, slide, frame, and grips with about 50,000 rounds through it.

I have a TC Contender that I've likely put about 10,000 rounds of 30-30 through... it is still about as tight as it was when I bought it..

I know people who have put over 100,000 rounds through their various Glocks, STI's, Kimbers, Springfields, other S&W revos, CZ's, and Tangfolios... If you do not overly abuse them, a quality handgun will last a very long time for most people.. competitors really use and wear them out.. I don't look forward to the day when my 610 wears out.. it has such a sweet, smooth double action.. it will take years to make the 610-3 replacement I have to get to the the same smoothness.

[45nut]

just like asking how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop.. one or two if you are really aggressive,, hundreds if you savor each and every lick.

[fecmech]

I have a S&W Model 14 (K38) that I shot PPC with back "in the day". I put approx 45-50K of wadcutters through it along with about 5K jacketed military ball ammo. I sent the gun back to S&W to have a gas ring installed on the cyl(it was sent out that way new) and they installed that, turned the barrel in 1 turn and recut the forcing cone. That was back in the 90's and since then I've put 20-30K of a standard service load (158@900fps) through it plinking and shooting Hunters Pistol silhouette. It is the most accurate pistol I own. You do not have enough time in your life to wear out a good quality revolver unless maybe you're an exhibition shooter or something like that.

[wiljen]

1 round if it is a 45 Colt case loaded with 30gr of Bullseye behind a 350gr bullet.


Yes, saw a fool blow an SAA with something like this load one day at the range.

[sargenv]

You do not have enough time in your life to wear out a good quality revolver unless maybe you're an exhibition shooter or something like that.

I know a gent who wore out his 625... a GM Revo shooter who did a LOT of dry fire.. it wore out internal parts... it wasn't JM though.

[Wayne Smith]

I have a Colt Army, Old Model, that needs a hand and rachet, in 32-20, that hails from 1909. I have another from the 20's, this one a New Model, could use the same repair. Looking for parts at a reasonable price! Other than that typical wear they are as good to go as ever. Both are very well used.

[bbailey7821]

I'll have to go check the notebook, but my SS Superblackhawk is getting close to 28k. Still shoots good enough to kill hogs at 50 yds reliably. I've got about 10k through a 30 carbine BH with no issues. Only about 2k through my FA model 83, stay tuned on this one.

[theperfessor]

I wore the hand down far enough on an original model Charter Bulldog to keep it from indexing properly when using it in SA mode. Took about 1200 rounds. Used it mostly for fast DA shooting. Sold it to a guy (with full disclosure of problem) who repaired it and used it as a backup carry gun. It was still usable but I had to turn cylinder into place to lock it. That gun didn't have much metal on contact surfaces and probably wasn't designed for that kind of use. It was otherwise OK to use.

[pmeisel]

You very seldom hear about anyone actually wearing out a good handgun. They usually succumb to abuse or neglect first.

[6bg6ga]

It could be 100,000+ rounds or it could be one. If the loads are +p it can take a toll on the gun. If you are careless enough to overload it it could take its toll in one careless round. Life is too short to worry about the number of rounds in the life time of the gun. Enjoy it[smilie=w:

[sixshot]

Perhaps 30 yrs ago there was an article in Shooting Times comparing the wear on a revolver between jacketed bullets & cast bullets, I don't remember the amount fired,(seems like 2,500) but it was the same through both guns. It was very noticeable that the gun used with jacketed had much more forcing cone & muzzle wear than the identical gun using cast bullets.
My 6 1/2" 610 revolver has somewhere over 200,000 rounds through it, 86,000 in just 2 years time! Its still winning matches & is smooth as silk....its never had a single jacketed bullet down the barrel.
As mentioned, oiling the front & rear of the cylinder goes a long way to extending the life of your gun. I always clean my cylinder, I've only cleaned the barrel 5-6 times in those 200,000+ rounds.

Dick

[btroj]

Go buy a gun and find out? Mike take a few years and a bunch of money though.
I doubt I will ever wear out and handgun I own. Besides, worn out is subjective. I wore out a couple of AR barrels shooting higpower. No longer good for 600 yards ut they still shot tight groups at 200. What is worn to one may be great to another.

Brad

[Artful]

Ok, well I'll give my experiences, lets climb in the "way back machine" - here we'll stop in the 70's - for champion class shooting it was estimated you had to shoot about 60,000 rounds a year to be a national bullseye shooter - some of the older shooters weren't into using those new fangled auto loaders so had K32 and K38 revolvers that had been shot probably quarter million rounds total with a little TLC every year before season started. I know in 22 LR the ruger auto loader was tough to kill as one shooting club in South Africa couldn't get new guns and was shooting original mark 1 design ruger autoloaders some had over 1 million rounds thru them with out rebarreling. I took up Sillywet (shooting metal targets) in the 80's and we pounded out 40 rounds each course of fire and in practice match's did 10 courses a day (400 rounds) in personally used up 1000 lbs of lead in my S&W 29 of cast bullets at Med high loadings and actually causes some of the metal targets to crack or break off during that period of time. I had to have it repaired once and tuned up twice during that phase of my shooting. I have seen a brand new factory model 66 S&W .357 spring a side plate with HOT HOT HOT factory federal ammo in one box (50 rounds). I have seen guys melt a 30 carbine barrel on full auto fire in 120 rounds of really really rapid full auto fire (spring change to make it an estimated 1500+ rpm gun). The higher the pressure the shorter if life generally the more you punish the gun the quicker it will need to be retired - fanning the hammer on a revolver punish's the gun - Not replacing the springs regularly in competition auto will wear out the gun sooner. Well you get the idea - barring abuse (rust dirt overloads etc) you should be able to get several lifetimes use out of a quality firearm - my 1911 is from WW2 and I expect it to still be shooting fine in 2050.

[Blind Eye]

Thanks everyone for comments. I dont know how many rounds they have been shot. I do know rifles can wear a barrel out and I had never heard anything on hand guns. I just thought I would come to the experts on this.

Thank you. :drinks:

[Artful]

You know most rifle barrels use high pressure ammo and I have seen a number of barrels just set back a thread or two and recut the chamber getting rid of the eroded throat and they kept on trucking - you will find rifles with lots of powder compared to boolit size wear out much quicker - the 220 swift, 22-250, 243 vs 45-70, 444 marlin, 44 magnum's

[MtGun44]

VERY much design dependent. Given the nature of the Colt dbl action revolver designs,
they tend to wear more quickly than S&Ws. Both take a skilled workman to reset. The Colt
is not "worn out" but the timing will get late sooner than the S&W due to the design of the
parts. I like my Colts but as I have learned more about the internals in both designs, it is
clear that from an engineering standpoint, the S&W will be more durable in the hand and
cyl bolt areas. As far as barrels and cylinders wearing out -with moderate loads and lead
boolits, almost forever would be a good estimate. But timing WILL go out on revolvers. S&W
early SS guns had soft cyl pivot tubes on the cranes and need to be stretched or shimmed
periodically if shot with hot loads. Early 686s are bad about this. 586s are not bad due to
harder carbon steel. Later 686s have harder ss in the cranes, so the problem is gone.

I have a couple of 1911s that are well on their way to 100,000 each and are just fine. I have
broken a couple of parts, like an Elliason rear sight on a Gold Cup and a slide stop lockback
tip, and one extractor tip. The second gun has had 80K or so of major caliber (HOT) .38 Super
loads thru it and has not broken anything except a front sight screw (on Wilson LE comp). No reason
to expect them to go less than about 150K or so, probably more with a bit of touch up here and
there, and maybe an extractor every 50-100K rounds.

Bill

[9.3X62AL]

Blind Eye, lotta good commentary here since I chimed in. Most important of all--enjoy them critters without abusing them.

Some models are capable of undergoing stiff loadings far better than others. Case in point--my Bisley Blackhawk in 357 Magnum x 7.5". THIS example gets all of my more intrepid load work in this caliber--like #358156 @ 1500 FPS, or 180 FNGC @ 1375. The 686 goes no harder than 1935 levels, and not real frequently at that. The Model 19 x 2.5" and the pre-27 are restricted to current SAAMI pressures, 35K-36K PSI. That N-frame can likely take on 1935 loads without issues, but having the BisHawk on staff allows some leeway in that regard.

The weak end of the equation is ME. I am not fond of having my hands hammered by big-bore revolver recoil. I have a Redhawk in 44 Magnum, and it can eat some DOGMATIC handloads without strain--but 25-30 of those is all I care to endure at one time. Velocity is great--love it like a brother--but at some point the Law Of Diminishing Returns takes hold, and it's time to find a rifle. That's just my viewpoint, and I don't mean to disparage the handcannon folks in any way. Those Casulls and 500s are wonderful developments--just not to my preferences, that's all.

[Crash_Corrigan]

At last count I had 12 handguns, 8 rifles and two shotguns for a grand total of 22.

I got into casting lead boolits in the early 90's because I could not afford to shoot my .38's as much as I liked if I bought factory rounds.

A pair of Lee 6 bangers got me started and I have never looked back. My two favorite revolvers are a Smith 586 with a 6" tube and a Ruger Flatop BH in 357.

When I go to the range and shoot these guns I usually fire more than 500 rounds.
Other than finish wear I can find nothing wearing on these guns. Again I keep them well oiled particularly on the ends of the cylinder and where the cylinder rod go thru the metal.

They have smoothed out over the years and can shoot a lot better than I can. I expect that if taken care of these revolvers will last many lifetimes without major repairs.

Of course using cast boolits and moderate loadings greatly extend the life of these guns. I do not enjoy the punishment of heavy recoiling revolvers. Even my .44 Spcl and .41 Magnum get fed moderate to wuss loadings.

[45r]

If you got a F/A model 83 in 41 mag it would probly last forever and be accurate forever also.Some shoot under 2 inch groups at 100 yards.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Do you remember to old Guns & Ammo torture test on guns 50,000 & 100,000 rounds of factory j ammo. Maybe written in the 1990's.
Don't worry about wearing out a modern gun, as long as it is a good quality gun,
& you don't do crazy:Fire::Fire: hot reloads.

[BD]

I did manage to wear out one handgun. I carry a J-frame on a regular basis and I practice with it regularly as well. My model 37 airweight became unreliable after about 10,000 rounds. The hand and the firing pin bushing are worn to the point that the firing pin can hit pretty much anywhere on the primer. I've replaced it with a new 442 and I fully intend to wear that one out as well, although with the new style firing pin it seems like it might hold up better.
BD

[blackpowder man]

BD, thats a great answer to a question i've been asking. How long should an aluminum alloy airframe last? Nobody seems to no because they just carry them and don't shoot them. I ordered one and it should be here tomorrow or tuesday and I think I can live with 10000 rounds before replacement. I will be practicing with standard loads anyway.