How old is too old?...

[AJ]

If it shoots, it scores. Never too old, really.

Myself, if I ever had to shoot someone, I'd prefer to do it with an easily replaceable, modern firearm. Why waste a perfectly good gun on an evidence locker? Or worse, a fine old firearm disappearing from an evidence locker?

You have a good point there! Had two guns stolen from my house years ago. Turned up in the next county south. Found out from my PD where they were. Contacted the PD there and confirmed they were mine with them. Was told had to stay there until the trial. After six months I contacted the States Attorney's Office. After a bit of a delay I was told the charges had been dropped. Went down to reclaim my guns from the PD who had them in their Evidence Locker. At first they seemed to know nothing about them. I showed the the original police report, then the paperwork from the States Attorney's Office and they still hemmed and hawed about them. Had my Son-In-Law with me, he is a Deputy Sheriff in my county and he asked to see the Chief of Police about all of this. All of a sudden the guns were found and brought to us. Funny thing was there were no evidence tags on them. S-I-L figures someone was waiting to take them home with them (a FN L1A1 and a Remington USMC M870 MK 1).

 

[Truckman]

Myself, if I ever had to shoot someone, I'd prefer to do it with an easily replaceable, modern firearm. Why waste a perfectly good gun on an evidence locker?

My view is a little different...If I ever found myself in a situation where one or the other of us is likely to be shot, I'd rather stake my life on a familiar, reliable firearm which I'm accustomed to having in my hand...Why waste a perfectly good life with an unfamiliar firearm of questionable quality even if I can replace it easily at the pawn shop around the corner?......Ben

 

[Bald1]

Those 2 guns have obviously outlived their usefulness. They are better boat anchors than defensive sidearms. But it’s your lucky day. I collect boat anchors.

 

[minconrevo]

Without touching on old ammo or gummed up lubricant, a really old gun might have unreliable key springs. If the ammo is replaced with something modern and in pressure suitable for the gun, gun is cleaned and lubed and key old springs inspected/replaced as indicated, the gun will do its job.

A better question might be, is there a more suitable modern gun that will also do the job, perhaps even better. I have nothing against a red dot equipped plastic-fantastic, with a WML when it might be necessary to repel boarders. Yes, the bearer will need to learn how to run the new tech, as well as keep fresh batteries installed, Likely will work better in low light and I won't be really upset if the gun ends up in the evidence locker for a while.

 

[AJ]

as well as keep fresh batteries installed,

Fresh batteries is the key. Not a big fan of electronics on a firearm.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Metal can spoil, just like vegetables or meat, just not as fast. When your firearm smells like rotting vegetables or rotting meat, and cleaning doesn't help, it's time for it to go.

 

[minconrevo]

Fresh batteries is the key. Not a big fan of electronics on a firearm.

Under low light or dark conditions a WML beats the heck out of any handheld light. Tritium sights still require a flashlight, either handheld or WML, for proper use in low/no light conditions. With good lithium batts, one may not need to change for 5 yrs or more.

A red dot sight, coupled with a WML, makes shooting in low/no light an entirely different proposition. Quick, accurate shots are possible, even on moderate to distant threats. Mine has iron tritium backup sights that co-wit with the dot, for just in case.

Of course a bare handgun is better than none. For low/dark conditions, add the light. During daylight, I'm fine with a good non-MIM S&W revolver as well as a quality plastic fantastic. A couple handguns I might use are near 100 yrs old and I'd trust them with fresh ammo to defend the castle. A couple of my S&W revolvers are 50 years old and are trusted to defend my hide out in public.

 

[BB57]

I won’t carry this 1911 made in 1918. The slides were not hardened back in the day, and the fire control parts are old and prone to embrittlement. It’s not that it is likely to fail in a self defense situation, rather it’s less likely to tolerate regular practice long term.

I also am unlikely to carry a pre war PP series pistol as they have a known history of the face hardened fire control parts becoming brittle with repeated decocking over several decades.

My 1960s and 1980s era PP series pistols are manually decocked to avoid that issue down the road.

I doubt CMP will ever release surplus M9s, given they are obviously 15 round high capacity death machines that will autonomously seek out and murder people.

But if they do, I would not carry one as a self defense handgun without replacing the fire control parts. They also have a history of parts breakage due to embrittlement due to the US Army in particular function checking them to death. It’s not all of them by any means but rather unit and role specific and in dependent of round count.

Besides, they never adopted a compact model

 

[BB57]

As mentioned, above, assuming proper maintenance, inspection and occasional test fire, there isn't an experation date.

On a more practical side, I'd say the availability of parts, repair skills, the availability of effective ammo, round count, rust, wear, etc. would determine the actual lifespan of the weapon.

Another factor would be your ability to see the gun sights and operate the weapon.

I hear the parts breakage thing referenced a lot but realistically it’s not a big issue.

Still, when the Star BM pistols started getting imported for a second time, I jumped on board as they are a very right sized 9mm 1911 style pistol that shoots and carries exceptionably well. i bought two, as at around $225 each they were pretty much a BOGO deal. My thoughts were I’d have a spare parts donor if the need ever arose (and it never has).

Practically speaking it was also very handy as I was commuting from NC to DC at the time and with two I could have the same carry pistol at each end with no need to check baggage.

I then bought a truly ****** S&W .380 Bodyguard when the S&W folks showed up at the shop with a promotion. It was incredibly disappointing and I traded it the day after I bought it on another Star BM.

But I digress…. The point is that I have been conceal carrying for 38 years now, shooting for a lot longer, and shooting a lot by most any standard short of professional practical pistol competitors, and I have never had a quality firearm break for other than initial QA or infant mortality reasons.

I’ll add the caveat about parts embrittlement as discussed above, but beyond that, buy a quality firearm, don’t abuse it, keep it clean, keep it lubricated, and it’ll take care of you.