Well....we have all heard this remark in one version or another and I often utter it myself. "AirLites and Airweights should be often carried but little fired".

I would never use any of mine as range-guns anyway and I only use the 317 as a pocket-pistol out here on the farm. It maybe sees 100-150 rounds a year. I am only fooling with this worn-out cylinder just as something to do, but it actually shoots pretty darn well for the shape it's apparently in. I can't do much about the increase in BTCG after I install the washer to fix the end-shake, but there are several folks shooting guns out there every day with a .010-.012 gap. I like to lite-up my surroundings in the dark anyway.

Having said all this....I still think the little aluminum guns are great and as strong as they need to be for the purpose they serve. They just are not built to take the punishment of multiple thousands of rounds and need to me more carefully maintained IMHO.

When I go to a shootin' match.....I take the steel guns.