Marshall 357
Member
Just wondering if anyone has shot out a barrel,had to have the insides completely rebuilt or just killed a revolver or pistol due to constant shooting and how long did it take to happen?
Has anyone ever shot a handgun to death?
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Marshal,
I shot-out the barrel on this actual 1911 upper-over-essex frame. It was my gamer gun back when I dallied with IPSIC.
I kept the old barrel for sentimentality. It had begun to tumble bullets, so I replaced it with a Springfield "drop-in".
That 1911 slide steel, as evidenced by mucho internal peening, is pretty soft stuff-the 'smith that built it for me opined it was WWI production.
Mike
I shot-out the barrel on this actual 1911 upper-over-essex frame. It was my gamer gun back when I dallied with IPSIC.
I kept the old barrel for sentimentality. It had begun to tumble bullets, so I replaced it with a Springfield "drop-in".
That 1911 slide steel, as evidenced by mucho internal peening, is pretty soft stuff-the 'smith that built it for me opined it was WWI production.
Mike
bobelk99
Member
I shot out a couple of 22 cal revolvers. About 30k rounds through them combined.
Does this count? I actually received this M&P in it's present condition. I leave the M&P on my loading bench as a constant reminder.
bobelk99
Member
Does this count? I actually received this M&P in it's present condition. I leave the M&P on my loading bench as a constant reminder.
Nope, ignorance doesn't count.
papajohn428
Member
I figure shooting a handgun until it's no longer functional would take more ammo than five similar guns would cost. Or with hot handloads it's possible to blow a gun out of time, I had a 686 I had to have re-timed more than once, but as was said, ignorance doesn't count.
I ran almost 70,000 rounds through a well-used Model Ten a few years back, every one of them was Plus-P, and when I turned the gun back in it had some pretty shallow rifling but mechanically it was fine. Bear in mind this was a company-issued gun, with lots of holster wear when I got it, and the smoothness of the trigger told me it had been shot quite a bit. I don't think plated bullets are as hard on a barrel as the stouter jacketed stuff, but even with really shallow rifling it never keyholed a shot.
I don't think I could afford enough ammo to wear out a well-made gun, like the S&W revolvers of the 50's and 60's.
I ran almost 70,000 rounds through a well-used Model Ten a few years back, every one of them was Plus-P, and when I turned the gun back in it had some pretty shallow rifling but mechanically it was fine. Bear in mind this was a company-issued gun, with lots of holster wear when I got it, and the smoothness of the trigger told me it had been shot quite a bit. I don't think plated bullets are as hard on a barrel as the stouter jacketed stuff, but even with really shallow rifling it never keyholed a shot.
I don't think I could afford enough ammo to wear out a well-made gun, like the S&W revolvers of the 50's and 60's.
I put more than 40,000 rounds through my old steel framed Commander. Rebuilt, reblued, rebarreled, respringed, new firing pin and hammer. But would I consider it shot to death? No way, still going strong for a friend I sold it to. No damage to the frame or slide, locking lugs still in great shape, very useable gun.
Bullzaye
US Veteran
A friend of mine said that when he was a teenager he was into competitive .22 pistol shooting, and he bought a pair of Ruger MKIIs. He said he shot both barrels out in a couple years. Seems hard to believe to me, but he swears it's true.
Tim
Tim
OP
Marshall 357
Member
Was that a triple charge or something?
I never did. The closest I saw was a rather ratty Model 19 that I bought from a pawn shop once that had some endshake. It looked like it was fired a lot with full power loads and had loosend up some. It was easily repaired and fired and functioned as good as new when I sold it.
The closest I have come is my old 29-2. It was my first 29, bought new in 1980. At the time being young and tough, the only load I believed in was 22 grains of 2400 with a Keith 240 SWC, and I used to shoot this gun a lot! After a boat load of these rounds the gun went out of time. So I sent it back to the the factory and Smith overhauled and reblued the gun at no charge. Being that I still didn't learn my lesson I kept up with my pet load. Awhile later the trigger stud broke. Once again off to the factory, they repaired the stud, overhauled the gun and reblued it once again at no charge. By this time I had learned my lesson and slacked off a bit on my loads. About this time I read about master tuner Andy Cannon in American Handgunner so I figured what better gun to have tuned than my trusty old 29-2 so off it went to Montana for a deluxe tuning! I still have the gun, other than a slight bit of endshake its in good shape and shoots great but it is semi retired now and I only shoot light to mid range loads in it these days. If I have the urge to step things up a bit I grab one of my other newer .44's
Brian41
Member
I bought a used Model 19 four inch mid seventies. It was one of just a few guns and got shot lots over the years and with many stiff had loads too. I don't know how may thousands of rounds it has through it but managed to wear out the main spring and now the timing is slightly off.
The barrel and the rest of the gun is still good and I expect this will be the worst wear I'll ever put a gun through as I have many others to shoot now.
If this is as bad as I can 'wear out" a S&W revolver I'll be pretty happy. I can't say the same for other items I've bought and worn out though.
The barrel and the rest of the gun is still good and I expect this will be the worst wear I'll ever put a gun through as I have many others to shoot now.
If this is as bad as I can 'wear out" a S&W revolver I'll be pretty happy. I can't say the same for other items I've bought and worn out though.
I have never worn out a gun. But I never have shot any centerfire enough to try. I have seen 45acp barrels that had quite a bit of wear in the barrel! I do not shoot HOT loads in my guns unless I am shooting to sight in and carrying in the woods. I do not shoot these for fun. Just me.
I have shot several hundred thousand 22LR's in several rifles and handguns. It is my honest opinion that a 22 can't be worn out by shooting it. But the cheaper ones will wear out by functioning. Meaning inferior material used in the gun will wear.
I have shot countless rounds in my 40X sporter, (10's of thousands or rounds), and it hardly shows wear.
I believe the comment about wearing out a Ruger MKII is probably due to improper cleaning. I have shot 10's of thousands of rounds in mine and they are still shooting great. Ruger guns are tough.
I did have a 6" 19 and a early 17 that Andy Cannon work on for me. He lived on the south side of the lake from me. They were absolutely works of art. I regret selling those guns. They shot beautifully.
John
I have shot several hundred thousand 22LR's in several rifles and handguns. It is my honest opinion that a 22 can't be worn out by shooting it. But the cheaper ones will wear out by functioning. Meaning inferior material used in the gun will wear.
I have shot countless rounds in my 40X sporter, (10's of thousands or rounds), and it hardly shows wear.
I believe the comment about wearing out a Ruger MKII is probably due to improper cleaning. I have shot 10's of thousands of rounds in mine and they are still shooting great. Ruger guns are tough.
I did have a 6" 19 and a early 17 that Andy Cannon work on for me. He lived on the south side of the lake from me. They were absolutely works of art. I regret selling those guns. They shot beautifully.
John
Sir, not pistols, but I have worn out a few rifle barrels in NRA high power competition. How long it takes depends on the cartridge/load, the quality of the barrel, and the owner's accuracy expectations.
With a good barrel like a Krieger, a .223 AR barrel will typically last last about 3,500 rounds before the accuracy drops off to where the gun can no longer hold the X-ring at 600 yards. .30-cal barrels last longer, typically 5,000 rounds. Interestingly, a barrel that's reached this point often is still accurate at 200 and 300 yards. I don't know why it's non-linear, but it is. [shrug]
With rifles and pistols both, it's hard to wear out the entire gun just from shooting unless it's a poor design or made from poor materials or something. However, it's entirely possible--even easy--to wear out parts of a gun from shooting: barrels (as above), links, bushings, springs, hands, cylinder stops, even cylinders. On DA revolvers, lots of fast DA shooting can batter the cylinder stop notches to the point where the entire cylinder is useless. Running lots of big loads can open up a revolver's endshake pretty quickly.
Most of these things can be remedied via parts replacement or rebuilding, so they haven't actually worn the gun out. For the entire gun to be rendered useless (as in nothing salvageable remaining), there pretty much has to be some sort of abuse or negligence involved.
Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.
Ron H.
Double-O-Dave
US Veteran
I have to agree with your opinions. I have fired thousands of rounds through my Ruger Mk-II without problems. But I shot a used H&R 9? series handgun until something broke and it wouldn't fire anymore. A local gunsmith repaired it, but it never fired reliably again. Still, I was able to get $100.00 worth of credit for it when I traded it for a Rossi Model 720. That H&R was fun, and cheap, but it was no where in the same league as a Ruger or S&W.
Best regards,
Dave
S&WIowegan
US Veteran
The closest I've come is my Model 625-3 5" IPSC revolver. I used all hardball in it for about 15 yrs. It still shot and ran fine but I discovered my ammo was running slow in it as the bore wore down so I retired it. A friend has a Model 25-2 he shot pins with that has also given slower velocity over the years.
1 old 0311
Member
I had a 10-2 that I bought used. I put 35,000-40,000 VERY hot rounds through it. At about 30,000 rounds I did have to replace the trigger return spring but other than that is was, and still may be, a tack driver.
whitecoyote
Member
Not yet, but I'm working on it.
Sig Saur P226 Navy has 61,000 rounds through it, and is still going strong.
Sig Saur P226 Navy has 61,000 rounds through it, and is still going strong.
I've had bad luck with aluminum frame guns, starting with a Colt Commander in 45. A steady diet of a little over 1000 rounds of GI hardball, and it rattled pretty badly. Not unsafe to shoot but no accuracy. I shoulda learned my lesson; some 40 years later I got a Colt Stainless Pocketlite Mustang. About 800 rounds of my cast bullet handloads, considerably lighter than factory loads, and the frame began to peen where the breech of the barrel slammed down onto it. Had the same thing happen to a Llama 380 with an alloy frame. And my first Model 39 shot loose in about 1500 rounds, mostly handloads a good deal milder than factory ammo. I try to stay with steel in auto pistols now, except for Glocks; you just can't destroy those things no matter how hard you try.
