Life span of a model 60, .357

[L-Frame]

I was wondering what the life span would be in terms of round count of a S&W 60-9 in .357 mag. with a diet of .38's and .38+P's only.

 

[L-Frame]

I was wondering what the life span would be in terms of round count of a S&W 60-9 in .357 mag. with a diet of .38's and .38+P's only.

 

[stevieboy]

Uhh, forever?

 

[orangehole]

Yeah will probably last longer than you will.

 

[animalmother]

Shooting 38s in a modern 357 means the gun will outlast its owner.

 

[L-Frame]

I knew that was true with the larger framed guns but wasn't sure about the J's.

 

[Spotteddog]

Agree.....

 

[model10]

will u wont live that long befor it wears out

 

[rburg]

I'm going to offer a contrary opinion. J frames aren't nearly as robust in the boiler room as Ks, Ls, and Ns. And of those, Ns probably don't last as long because of the weight of the cylinder turning. I'm not saying that Js are going to wear out next week or anything like it. But depending on how you fire the gun, as in rapid double action, you may discover wear before you would expect it. Like 20 or 30 years instead of 50 or 60.

Even worse, depending on the vintage of the stainless, it may gall or smear. That is directed primarily at the very early guns, like those before the R prefix. Those won't break after the first box of ammo, either. Just be aware that they may not last a long as one made in the 1970s or 80s.

The kind of early death I'm discussing doesn't come from the ammo used. Sure, full house 357s can shoot a K frame loose over time. But what I'm discussing is internal lock wear, made worse if the gun isn't maintained with regular cleaning and lubrication (maybe it would even be smart to use a wonder lube, not bacon grease.)

The reason most of us laugh at these threads is that we don't own just one gun. Yep, I said it. Some of us actually bought a second one and shoot it as much as the first. And because of that, we tend to distribute our round counts. But if you don't, you'll start to have some minor lockwork issues before you'd expect it on a Model 10 with wadcutters. Those are generally expected to last 100,000 rounds.

 

[model10]

RICHARD I WOULD SAY THAT U COULD FIRE A MODEL 60 EACH DAY FOR A YEAR AN NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITN IT AS LONG AS U CLEAN IT , THAT SAID I FEEL THAT ITS ONE OF THE GREASTEST GUNS SOLD YOUR MAILAGE MAY VERY CLEANING IS THE IS THE CLUE TO IT

 

[L-Frame]

When you speak of early death, via the lockwork, would that be an expensive fix? (I'm assuming it would be fixable).

Thanks.

 

[photoman]

FYI: I was just reading about a special run of 442's for the Secret Service this morning in the SCSW. It was built with a modern alloy (aluminum) cylinder and was tested up to 5000 rounds with +P ammo and no failure.

Something to think about.

 

[Spotteddog]

Not exorbitantly expensive. Any more though, the availability of the forged parts might be an issue in 10-20 years? $50-$100 in parts, problem dependent. At least in 2008' dollars, that is.

 

[shawn mccarver]

Originally posted by L-Frame:
I was wondering what the life span would be in terms of round count of a S&W 60-9 in .357 mag. with a diet of .38's and .38+P's only.

Although you may have to have it maintained (end shake, timing, etc.) after many thousands of rounds (I have a friend with over 20,000 rounds by actual count through an airweight 38 special J frame), the basic gun will outlast you.

Like the 7 shot L frame, the 5 shot J frame has the locking notches cut in between charge holes, which makes the cylinder incredibly strong.

Plan to do routine maintenance, but also plan on passing that gun off to your heirs.

 

[BobK]

I'll nail it down for you.......a Gazilion!!!!!

Bob

 

[Bullseye Smith]

The first one's was made in the 60's and still going strong.

 

[rburg]

Originally posted by Bullseye Smith:
The first one's was made in the 60's and still going strong.

Actually, thats not so true. The early ones had some problems with the stainless hammers and they recalled and replaced that part.

My post has put me in a position of dis-ing a gun I like a lot. I'm just realistic enough to understand that small parts (J frame) by defination don't seem to last as long as the larger ones on K frame guns. If I were guessing, most if not the vast majority of these guns never see enough use to wear them at all. Same for the other frame sizes. If I were guessing, I'd repeat the often used benchmark we use for M&P/M10 guns. Thats 100,000 round before they need a tune. Thats just maybe peenin the hand and probably replacing the cylinder stop, etc. If thats true (and some guns can probably go significantly longer,) then I'd just toss out an even wilder guess that most J frames might need that kind of service work at 50,000-66,000 rounds. I'm basing that wild ass guess on the smaller parts, the higher pressures needed to move the hammer and cylinder (smaller parts doing essentially the same work with less leverage.)

So be careful. If what I've just postulated is true, after only 1,000 boxes of ammo (at $20 a box these days?), you might need some work on the gun. So we have a situation where a gun that maybe cost you $350 might start showing signs of wear at only $20,000 worth of ammo. Life just isn't fair.

 

[Chief's Special]

Hey, Shawn: After 20,000 rounds in an airweight J-frame belonging to your friend and it's still going strong. Wonderful. I'm impressed, but what about your friend's hand?

I had to qualify with my Centennial Airweight monthly (50-100 rounds) and my hand took offense.

 

[J. Galt]

So what about shooting 125 grain .357 mags through a J frame? Does that pose a substantially bigger problem than with the K frame? I don't plan on shooting a lot of hot 125 grain ammo in my 60, but considering what I have read about what such ammo will do to a K frame over time, I'm afraid to shoot any in a J. Am I being too cautious?

 

[Iggy]

I'm bettin' your wrist gives out to arthritis before your gun gives out.