How many rounds till I should trust a pistol?

W

WheelGunRealGun

New member
How many rounds should I be able to shoot between stoppages or jams of any kind in order to consider it reliable enough to stake my life on? I've heard some say 2,000 and I've also heard as low as 500 or 250.
 
10, if it fires 10 times then its a 100% success rate. ;)

This is really subjective, when I got my first gun/handgun/self defense weapon I wanted at least 1,000 rounds with no failures. I only have about 500 through it now and I trust it 100%. It had 2 FTE's during the first 100 rounds, after that its been flawless and I'm very happy with it.
 
a high quality barrel is good for 50,000 rounds before significant loss of accuracy....

average spring life is 5000 to 15,000 rounds according to varying manufacturer.......

so you be the judge on your gun......people have 100 year old guns that are 100% reliable with the original parts so that goes to say most modern higher quality manufacturing should be as reliable also :)
 
I trust mine fully after 200 flawless or near-flawless rounds using least two brands of FMJ / plinker ammo, followed by a flawless box of carry ammo.

Some need 50 rounds, some 1,000. When you feel good, you're good to go. What is NOT debatable is that you must test at least 1 full magazine of your chosen carry ammo.
 
The answer is simple.... As many rounds as it takes you to trust that pistol.

For instance, you might purchase a cheap pistol and find it FTE's about 1 time in 100, causing you to never trust that pistol for defensive use. Then you might buy a new Glock and be confident after just 100 rounds. Or you might get a gun from a friend that you know has a great history, and trust it immediately.

In my case I have a fair number of handguns. Each gun has required a different number of rounds to earn my trust in its reliability, but none of them has required a particularly large number (100 for the least, 400 for the most). Even the two 60-year-old beretta's my dad has loaned me gained my confidence with a fairly small number of rounds.

What is more important is how many rounds it takes me to trust myself with a particular gun for defensive carry or home defense use. This number is almost always much higher than the number of rounds needed to trust the gun itself. The only exception would be when the guns are essentially the same, such as when I already owned a .45 XD and then picked up a 9mm XD. In that case I trusted myself at the same time I trusted the gun.
 
There really isn't an answer to the question. Personally, if I run 100 rounds or so through gun without issue I tend to trust it. With that said, my NIB Taurus M85 froze up solid at 250 rounds. That of course was the last time I'd ever trust Taurus as a carry gun.

Shoot your guns and see when you are comfortable with their function. I would suggest shooting various ammo to ensure it all feeds correctly and go from their.
 
If I've fired 200 rounds without a problem, I think it's trustworthy. One never knows, guns are mechanical devices and something can always go wrong. But 200 with a variety of ammo will usually highlight any potential issues.
 
Unfortunately this question is completely subjective to each individual user, you ask 10 different people this same question, you are likely to get 10 different answers. Personally for me, I allow up to 2 malfunctions in the first 50 rounds, using the supplied magazine(s), and up to 1 malfunction in the second 50 rounds, after that I have to have at least 250 malfunction free rounds.
 
Like everyone's said, it really depends on the firearm and you. The average for me is 200-500 trouble free rounds.

I've got just about 70K rounds through my HK USP Compact 9mm now and I just had my FIRST malfunction (double feed) in it 2 days ago at the range. Thinking it was a weak mag spring so it's been replaced but won't be able to hit the range again for about a week to find out.
 
That's the question, when will something mechanical malfunction. Only God knows and he's not sure. That's why I carry Two Guns at all time's.
 
No set round count for me. I do shoot the gun a lot and I will soon have an ideal if it's a keeper or not.

A lot has to do with if I like the gun or not. If I really like the way a gun shoots and feels in my grip I may try and get it running right. If it's some dime a dozen ( common easy to find) gun I won't waste much time trying to make it right, just move on to something else.
 
As above - different folks, different levels of trust in their weapon. BUT - the real bottom line is this - learn how to clear a malfunction under stress. Range time is fine if you are just burning ammo to see when a FTF etc will occur. But that is ideal conditions - a stress situation just may create a hurried grip, a weak hand use, bad ammunition, whatever - and the weapon then has the potential to fail. Also consider what to do when the weapon is unusable and a hands on defense is what is left.
 
I shot 20 rounds out of my Sig and it was, this thing is solid. Put the laser on it and it was my HD gun (I can clear a malfunction, but if I can't see to shoot....)

I chose a good ammunition and I am still using that is as my home D load (I prefer factory SD ammo to my hand loads thought those are available in an extended Katrina situation at which point I would have more than one pistol and the carbine would be the primary.

I have continued to shoot it as much as time and weather permits at the range and it continues to be rock solid.

Normally a couple hundred rounds will tell you, I have 500 or so through it and it continues to be solid, but this was so solid that it was trust at first firing as it were.
 
I want to get 1000 rounds down it before I carry it. My logic is that I usually put 200 to 300 rounds down a gun per session so this gives me 4 to 5 trips to the range to get comfortable with it and make sure I feel good about it shooting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top