What is the life of an N Frame .357 in rounds?

[dwever]

I have a Performance Center Model 627 .357 8 shot N Frame (2.625" Barrel).

About to spend $899. As I consider an additional 627 for competition, I am wondering what the life expectancy of this weapon will be in rounds before it needs adjustments and or replacement parts or tuning? I shoot about 85% .38, always FMJ (Winchester White Box) and about 15% .357.

I've put over a thousand rounds through in just under three months.

Can I get 5,000, 7,500, 10,000 through and the N Frame maintain it's tolerances?

Thanks for your help!

 

[calmex]

Well, I'm no expert, but I think you'd wear down your rifling using FMJ ammo quicker than you'll wear out the revolver. When I lived in Canada, I shot an L-frame using .357 loads quite steadily -- weather permitting -- and never wore that out. I've got some friends here with .38-44's that use pretty hot loads a lot and nothing seems to be stretching or moaning or going out of time.

However, we use cast bullets exclusively since it's pretty much a reloading World down here (and they sure try to stop you from doing it, although, they aren't real good at that either). My personal opinion is that the FMJ bullets are probably wearing your barrel out faster than the actual shooting is ever going to bother the revolver. And that could be stopped immediately by just using something softer as a projectile. And with that little adjustment you should get a lot more than 10,000 out of it. A lot more. Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[tomcatt51]

Can I get 5,000, 7,500, 10,000 through and the N Frame maintain it's tolerances?

Yes, easily. The one thing I would recommend doing is trimming and squaring the end of the yoke so you can run a .004" endshake washer from the start. Then you just add .002" or .004" shims as you develop more endshake. The yoke wears a grove in the face of the cylinder it rides against and using an endshake washer from the start will prevent the groove from forming and keep your endshake in spec much longer on a high usage gun.
CYLINDER BEARINGS - Brownells 713-100-004
YOKE FACING REAMER - Brownells

Check your yoke endshake, with the yoke screw removed, and keep it shimmed also.
CYLINDER BEARINGS - Brownells 713-012-002

Your gun's life expectancy is in terms of how many 100,000's of rds you can shoot.

Other than keeping the cylinder and yoke endshake adjusted my guns get a new cylinder stop and spring once a year.

 

[growr]

I doubt that it would wear out in a dozen lifetimes! Shoot it and enjoy the heck out of it......
Randy

 

[s&wchad]

I purchased a new Model 27-2 in the mid-1970's. About 10 years ago, it developed a timing issue and went back for a tune up. I have no idea how many rounds went thru it, but in the early years most were magnums. It's been fine since the tune up.

 

[yamadeal]

Proper service is the life of anything. End shake is something to keep an eye on . You will be a lucky man if you live long enough to really wear it completely out. Keep it clean and shoot good ammo.

 

[chief38]

Guns are sort of like cars..........

Sometimes they go 100,000 miles without a hitch, and sometimes they are a problem from the get-go. Your Revolver should last a lifetime, but like anything else, you "mileage" will be determined by:

A) usage
B) type of loads fired
C) maintenance
D) the tolerances it was built to in the first place
E) the luck of the draw

When my Dad passed away last March, I inherited a bunch of his guns, one of which was his prized Combat Masterpiece (pre M15) competition gun. This gun has had at least one barrel replacement (that I am aware of), all new internal parts (multiple times), new sights, new trigger & hammer, and is THE MOST ACCURATE .38 SPECIAL I HAVE EVER FIRED IN MY LIFE, BAR NONE!

I will never know exactly how many rounds he fired through this gun, but if I had to guess I would say at least 30,000 - 40,000. He used this gun for competition over 53 years, and won many trophy's with it. He practiced religiously, and while he did have a strict maintenance regiment, he did NOT baby this gun. This gun has been shot so many times, the Target Hammer Sprur checkering has actually been worn off (smooth) by his thumb; and like I said, it is not even the original hammer! On the other hand, he had other guns that are about the same age, and have never had a single part replaced. Thankfully, most of the internal parts on these revolvers are not too pricey, easily replaced and not difficult to find, so I would not be overly concerned.

Chief38

 

[dwever]

Thanks guys! Love to read your revolver experiences since most of my range and training rounds have gone through a soul less duty Glock. Found an interesting web site while researching this to bring me up to speed in understanding Tomcatt51's excellent and informative post above: The importance of endshake | Revolvers, Gunsmithing | GrantCunningham.com, and bought his book on Kindle, "Gun Digest Book of the Revolver."