ACCIDENTALLY BOUGHT 45 AUTO +P

[mlapaglia]

It's a reliability test, ensuring that the firearm and ammo are suitable for each other. A firearm of good quality (of course I am not speaking of the black powder guns etc - different maintenance paradigm) should not need to be cleaned in that period and ought to go at least twice as far with good lube applied properly. It might need lube, but not cleaning. An AR could easily go a lifetime (40K+, whenever the barrel is shot out) with only lube; I've seen the test results. If S&W says clean/lube before shooting, do that. Some manufacturers do, some don't. Wilson Combat is insistent that their pistols should be fired at least 300, preferably 500 rounds before any form of stripping/cleaning.

The testing paradigm to which I refer is advocated by Dr. Roberts, who forgets daily more than most know about duty ballistics, and I believe also by 10-8 performance (Yam and Lau). See Reliability, Round Counts, and Longevity in 1911s.

This article is in regards to 1911's It would not necessarily apply to an M&P. he states " Five hundred rounds is a reasonable interval at which to perform basic cleaning, lube, and maintenance on your 1911." he also says, I personally consider 1,000 rounds the standard interval that I examine for reliability and function." so thats twice as what you say. Its like applying test procedures of a Sig P200 to an M&P 45 FS. They just dont always apply. No reason you can not follow these recommendations but im not sure it applies to every gun or everyone. Its interesting information but its about a 1911 not how to function test a M&P. Very good reading though.

 

[Doug M.]

I don't have a good link to Doc Robert's stuff. FWIW, although the article is about the 1911, it is pretty generalizable. There were some good discussions on the old 10-8 forums (run by Yam and Lau, but now closed, and sadly the strings are not out there to read) about such testing, and Doc was one of the contributors. Modern Service Weapons, also from the 10-8 consulting crew, likely has some similar information and has Hilton's testing of M&P models somewhere in it. Might find some similar info on the Pistol-forums, too; Gary (Roberts) has his ballistic info there.

The audience for those places are a slightly different demographic than most forums, and from here. Many of them resemble Orwell's "rough men"; cops who have spent a lot of time fighting in rough areas, and training for the fight, and research and write accordingly. I am aware of several who are multiple gunfight winners. I am not one of those tough guys, but they provide so many data points that it is hard to justify ignoring their advice. When someone sees 500-700K rounds out of ARs every year for 20+ years while teaching for cops/mil/civilians, they get to see what does and does not work under the relevant conditions. Since most of what I needed to know about weapons was either about my LE time, or doing legal stuff related to LE functions, it was of great value for me to study these writers and the lessons they have to pass along.

 

[mlapaglia]

I agree. It was a good read and informative.