Life Expectancy Of A Firearm

[Rabies]

I've got an armload of modest guns. Some bought new and some bought used. Some they don't make any more. I've always considered a firearm to be something that will last a lifetime or two if decently maintained. Maybe longer. I've been to a museum before.

I was looking at Kel Tec's website, and for the first time ever, I saw a gun maker put a life expectancy on their firearms. 6,000+ rounds. Ok, plus can be six thousand and one to six thousand and infinity. But to come out and state any kind of life expectancy? I've never seen that.

Sure, I've heard of a gun being 'shot out'. Make and model, what type of ammo used, how many shots fired, weather used in, maintenance, cleaners used, how many times run over with the 3 wheeler will all have an effect on overall life expectancy.

How many shots do you think any one of your guns is good for?

 

[Burt Gummer]

I've got an armload of modest guns. Some bought new and some bought used. Some they don't make any more. I've always considered a firearm to be something that will last a lifetime or two if decently maintained. Maybe longer. I've been to a museum before.

I was looking at Kel Tec's website, and for the first time ever, I saw a gun maker put a life expectancy on their firearms. 6,000+ rounds. Ok, plus can be six thousand and one to six thousand and infinity. But to come out and state any kind of life expectancy? I've never seen that.

Sure, I've heard of a gun being 'shot out'. Make and model, what type of ammo used, how many shots fired, weather used in, maintenance, cleaners used, how many times run over with the 3 wheeler will all have an effect on overall life expectancy.

How many shots do you think any one of your guns is good for?

I would estimate over 10k rounds so far in several of my handguns. I have replaced a few springs, many magazines and some of the guns need new blueing but they are holding up well.
I would think 6k is a conservative estimate.

 

[Young Gun]

Several members at the Kel-Tec board I go to have 6,000"+" rounds through their guns and claim they feel the same as they did new. Not sure why Kel-Tec says that, maybe since in the past they've had some quality/reliability issues they thought it would make sense. It didn't stop me from buying one of their guns though. I do know they do not recommend using +P ammunition on a regular basis.

My Ruger 10/22 probably has 5-6,000 rounds through it and other than some of the paint on the receiver wearing off it looks and feels like new to me. I've upgraded some of the internals, but have not had to replace a single thing due to wear or malfunction from use. It's still going strong.

 

[Rabies]

10,000! I gotta call my buddy and and tell him we've not even begun to shoot. We've had some camping trips where we went through maybe 100 or so rounds each and thought we were really blasting it up. I may have 800 through an SKS I bought in 1993. Maybe 2,500 in my Marlin .22lr. It was $8.88 for the 550 round bucket. No telling how many it had before I bought it though.

People used to say we sent some money up in smoke. 10,000 rounds is new gun money. New guns money, even. But hey, shooting them is what there for.

 

[Dawico]

How about 100,000 rounds through a Glock? I believe he is over 200k now with minimal damage. Chuck Taylors torture test.Unofficial Glock Page The last I personally read from him he was at 192k.

 

[Young Gun]

Assuming it was 9mm at $10/box of 50 rounds (a fairly conservative price these days) you're looking at $40,000 worth of ammo if you've shot 200,000 rounds through your Glock. Hopefully I did my math right.

Maybe I'm just cheap...but I won't likely shoot that much ammo in my life time. He could have stopped at 10,000 rounds and I would have believed the Glock was as good a gun as people say it is. The other 190,000 rounds were just...well...hopefully he had fun with them.

 

[Texas1911]

Our rifles have about 25,000 rounds through them before parts fail (AR15 / AK47), and that's with little to no maintenance. ARs will crack the bolt face, which is a cheap fix.

Our handguns probably get to about 50,000 - 100,000 rounds before springs start to wear out to the point that they work 75% of the time. Replace the springs, and voila they still run. Our Glock 19 has about 250 - 300K through it and the rifling is showing some issues, the recoil spring has been replaced and I think the firing pin spring.

 

[Texasjack]

I suspect I'll be flamed for this, but I wouldn't consider Kel-Tec to be a particularly high quality manufacturer. Maybe a lower expectation is reasonable.

How many guns do you know of that have come flying apart, except where someone has made an egregious error in a reload, used the wrong caliber cartridge, or fired after something lodged in the barrel? I've never heard of it happening. The margins that are built into the construction are huge and ammo loadings are set on the safe side of maximum pressures.

On one of the NRA sponsored shows, they tried to blow up a Ruger bolt action rifle with overloaded cartridges. It took quite a few rounds to mess up the bolt noticeably and they never did get the barrel to fail.

That's not to say that things don't break. Springs, extractors, sights, etc. do eventually fail. And you can have barrel erosion on magnum calibers, if you fire a lot of rounds. And of course you can corrode a gun, leaving it dirty or wet.

 

[Texas1911]

Texasjack has a valid point ... alot of guns out there are, or can be, extremely reliable in the gross sense of the term. The only time I've seen guns blow up are due to reloads or squibs. As far as an acceptable limit, if it's under $200 then I would be suspect. Good metal, machining, and good design takes money.

 

[Young Gun]

I suspect I'll be flamed for this, but I wouldn't consider Kel-Tec to be a particularly high quality manufacturer. Maybe a lower expectation is reasonable.

I don't think this is an unfair statement at all. I own and like my Kel-Tec, I'll probably buy more in the future; but I wouldn't consider them as high quality or well built as other more expensive guns.

 

[hk boy]

IMHO, KelTec are meant to be carried often and shot little
I own a PF9
just my 2 cents

 

[jordanmills]

I suspect I'll be flamed for this, but I wouldn't consider Kel-Tec to be a particularly high quality manufacturer. Maybe a lower expectation is reasonable.

no flaming. I own a kel tec and I'd say you're dead on.

 

[lmao_37]

i brought my first rifle since i moved here to Texas and i have only been to the range twice and both times i fired about 600 rounds through a gsg AK47 .22 looks like i'll have a warn out gun pretty quick

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

When I started shooting in competition again in 2003, I decided to keep accurate records of how many rounds I fired from each firearm. The Series 70 Colt I had Clark Custom Guns work on in November 2003 just hit the 17,000 round count and it still shoots better than I can hold it. My .38 Special Series 70 Conversion from Clark that I had built in 1983 just had a new bushing installed at the 14,000 round count. It will hold an inch and half group at 50 yards in a Ransom Rest again. Aside from worn-out parts, most guns will go a long way before they are "shot-out" and even then, it may a matter of replacing some parts to get them back in the game. My HS Victor (bought in 1976) has at least 50,000 rounds through it. The frame cracked at around 40,000 (not the best steel in the older HSs) and I had HS replace it. The barrel will probably never wear out.

 

[Texas42]

The kel tec's are small, light, and cheap. It is not really an insult to the gun to say that. Small guns take more beating (just like my hand takes more beating from my kel tec than my Glock). Makes sense to me, though I'm not a gunsmith. I wouldn't expect my P3AT to last a forever, . . . . .but then again I'm not sure I could afford the 6k rounds of 380 auto in my life time either.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

For good quality guns, lifespan longer than most people will ever shoot in their lifetime.