Is it prudent to put 1000 rounds through a carry gun?

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Playboypenguin

Moderator
Over the past few years I have spoken to many gunsmiths on the net, in gunshops, and at gunshows. One of the questions I usually ask is...

"At what point do you see most guns start to experience failures?"

I have been pretty surprised at how uniform the answers usually end up being from the different persons. Most say that a good gun can fire multiple thousands of rounds before showing any significant signs of wearing out but that they start to see small/fixable failures occurring in substantial numbers in the 700-1000 round count area. Usually small pieces needing replaced or adjusted, timing issues, etc.

This makes me always think "hmmm" when I see people that claim they always put 1000+ rounds through a gun before they trust it as a carry gun. I usually only put about 200 rounds through mine first. Most guns with serious issues seem to fail in the first 20-50 rounds in my experiences.

I wonder if anyone ever takes into consideration that putting such a high number of rounds through a gun first might be counter productive. You might actually be causing the gun to be many times "more" likely to experience a failure. If more guns fail at the 1000 round mark than at the 200 round mark the math could certainly be used to support that line of thought.

Anyone else, that has actually thought the idea through, ever have similar or differing thoughts on this topic?
 
My carry guns and my training guns used to be the same thing, and had several thousand rounds through them. My Glock has over 100,000 rounds through it and I don't worry about it at all. Replace the parts that wear out, such a springs, on a regular basis and there shouldn't be any trouble.
 
I think a gun only requires 100 rounds through to be deemed "trustworthy" to be carried in my holster(s). Same goes for the same weapon after new parts are installed. As PBP said, the vast majority of catastrophic failures occur within the first 50 rounds and for the minor ones a simple tap and rack will cure it, like a FTE.

I'm not recommending that anyone else carries a gun after firing only 100 rounds from it, but I'm fine with it. Chances are it will have another 500 through it by the end of the month.
 
Not to me. Replacing a spring should not alter the functioning unless you are also changing the type/tension of the spring, or similar. There is a benefit to going with OEM parts. Besides, IMO the whole "validation" thing is grossly overblaown. If your gun works fine the first 50 rounds ordinarily there really isn't much reason to think it won't work fine the next 50 rounds, barring certain poorly made firearms.
 
In my sometimes warped train of thought, it would be very NON prudent (inprudent, imprudent? I don't know) to put UNDER a 1000 rounds through your carry weapon. I always go for utter familiarity and feel, and the best way to get both of those is to get out there and shoot. I have never had the need to replace a major system of part on a weapon yet. I carry 1911's though and any replacement part due to either wear or failure woud be properly fitted and tested prior to that weapon finding my carry holster again. The beauty of a 1911 is the very fact that you CAN fit a part perfectly for reliable performance without worry. Thoughts?
 
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In my sometimes warped train of thought, it would be very NON prudent to put UNDER a 1000 rounds through your carry weapon.
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You could have left the first part of that sentence off. It is pretty much assumed by most people when you post. :D ;)
The beuaty of a 1911 is the very fact that you CAN fit a part perfectly for reliable performance without worry.
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You have to remember, there are actually some people that are so crazy as to not carry a 1911...nor even a nice revolver. :)
 
I wonder if anyone ever takes into consideration that putting such a high number of rounds through a gun first might be counter productive
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nope. my experience building motors(moving parts that wear in) is that defective parts usually fail early, but if things break in right they last a long time as long as lubrication remains proper. guns are cleaned and visually inspected waaaayy more frequently that a rod bearing or lifter etc and if they inspect ok, im ok. eventually parts start to fail due to long term wear, lifes tough. im all set with certian designs to outlast me.

edit: anything could fail the next time you use it...new or old...thats just how it goes.
 
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Anyone else, that has actually thought the idea through, ever have similar or differing thoughts on this topic?
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How bout asking, "Has anyone put their own necessary number of rounds through their own pistol and then experienced some major malfunction of parts/ammo choice down the road?"
 
You're thinking to much.

You buy quality handguns.

Shoot the crap out of them and they will only usually need springs anyway and you'll see that when they start ftf'ing at the range.

Otherwise,shoot your semi auto's only at the range and carry only your revolvers. :D

I can't wait to see what breaks on my P95 first.

In 2025.:D
 
back in nov i dumped almost 1000 rounds in 2 days with a brand new, out of the box, glock. not a single issue other than snap-cap induced...

I have fired many a pistol but always on a flat range, one mag at a time, relatively slow fire...and have had very few malf's while doing so. But this one was wild and wooly and gave me complete confidence in the pistol.

i think for now on, IF i change my carry gun will be at least 500 rds in a similar situation..dropped mags and dirt and such to make sure its up to the task at hand.
 
I have thought about it. I have even considered buying the same carry gun but for range purposes. My carry gun has 3605 rounds through it (i keep a spread sheet) and it has already had a broken roll pin. That, according to Sig, should not have happned but what about other parts already well worn?
 
I stopped keeping records on my carry gun (Wilson Combat CQB .45 acp 1911A1) at just over 85,000 rounds because my computer crashed and I didn't have a backup of my shooting data. It probably has over 100K now, or if not, it is really close.

Personally, I like being "intimate" with my carry gun in the sense that it how it performs is second nature to me.

If 1000 rounds spoils a gun, then we keep spoiling guns at these 1000 round matches :D

See post #6...
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292012&highlight=ishot1000

For those who are interested in being imprudent this year...
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=324738&highlight=ishot1000
 
I think the question is being over simplified. If your carry gun is a small pocket pistol, like a Keltec .380 or something like that, perhaps it isnt mean to rack up a high round count.

And realistically, what kinds of hiccups are you looking for? FTF? FTEj? FTEx? Double feed?

If your carry gun is a 1911, the first thing one should have done is replaced the MIM parts with something better, then start to break it in for a few hundred rounds. Barring any magazine malfunctions, or anything from the gun being dirty, the gun should operate just fine and you should have faith in it.

Oddly enough, my Kimber has eaten through two Wilson slide stops, everything else has been just fine.
 
MY last range trip made my really aware of how important trigger time is on a CCW gun. With both the 360PD, and the Kahr PM9, it was not really second nature to shoot them well.

I have hundreds of thousands of rounds in 1911's over the 30 years I've been shooting, and, most of that was with a Detonics Mark VI. Shooting a Detonics again brought a HUGE smile to my face, and a love of the function, accuracy, and quality of the gun.

I've always believed that my carry gun should be shot as my main gun at the range, and, it should receive more trigger time, and more load development then the others.
With that criteria, I've always looked for carry guns that have the potential for shooting a LOT, without failing.
The S&@ 329 idea of shoot little, carry a lot just doesn't get it for me. I want the gun to be the gun I'm MOST confident in, and, a gun that I KNOW I'm going to hit what I'm shooting at. I don't think people realize that much like shooting a basketball, confidence, and belief in your shooting ability allows the brain to function, and execute on it's own, at a level you are not conciously capable of shooting at.

An example is shooting the Detonics with 45 Super. I used to term my shooting technique as a controlled flinch.
I'd put so much time in at the range that when the front site was hovering, my brain was on auto, knowing when to pull the trigger far better then my thinking mind could do, and, it would place the bullet on target, without percise aim, or, without for that matter a perfect 'hold' on the target.

I've watched great double rifle shooters do the same thing, using a 450 Nitro Express 2, Jack Huntington can get off two shoots in well under a second, yet nail two jugs at 25 yards, 25 yards apart, like a great skeet shooter does.
 
I keep a journal on all my weapons, I track everything. Other than date purchased, price, date fired, # rounds fired and total# rounds fired I have very few entries on any of my handguns that I presently have on hand. My CCW is a SA XD40 sub compact with 3,820 rounds thru it with out a failure to fire for any reason. My other handguns have from 650 to 4,210. I did write up a FTF on my M&P 9MM and M&P 40. Operator problem, required cleaning and polishing of the ramp on both. I had blamed cheap ammo until a fine gentleman recommended that I polish the ramps. I talked to a fellow at the range who claims to have close to 10,000 rounds thru his S&W M&P 9mm with only one parts failure, a spring.
 
When I make the statement of putting a thousand rounds through a gun before I trust it with my life, it means that the gun gets thoroughly tested as well as myself becoming fully broken in on it. The first five hundred tests the gun and the second five hundred is for me.

It's been my experience that if a gun goes a thousand rounds with no problems then it'll go many thousand more. I think it's a good thing for a part to break early on in a guns life, it gives you the opportunity to get the substandard parts out of it. A breakdown at the range means it didn't breakdown when you needed it.
 
"Is it prudent to put 1000 rounds through a carry gun?"

Yes.

"At what point do you see most guns start to experience failures?"

Prior to the 1000 round mark.
 
One thing to consider as well is what TYPE of ammo is being used for these thousands of rounds. Im almost certain that +P ammo will wear on a gun faster than standard pressure loads.

Other than this consideration, given proper maintenance, I see no problem with firing many, many rounds through a carry gun. If it becomes too worrysome, consider buying a second gun identical to the carry weapon. Then, after the necessary "defense ammo trials" are over, use one for the range and save the other for carry. Just an idea.....
 
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