Most durable pistol?

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Josh D,

Have you handled a USP 45? They're large pistols, so hand-to-grip fit could be a problem if you don't have large hands.

The only other issue I'd be concerned about is long term availability of magazines and spare parts. I'd stock up on whatever's available.

BTW, as others have mentioned, the Ruger .45 pistols (P90 and P97) are also very durable and you could buy two for the price of one HK. Just a thought...
 
Any large frame revolver with light loads is pretty tough and damn near immortal.

Auto pistols? In no particular order the 1911, BHP, CZ75, HKs, Rugers, Glocks, sig pro, steel frame S&Ws are up there. Most alloy frame autos will last longer than most people can afford to shoot them. A Beretta or SIG will go at least 50 yrs if ya shoot 200-400 rounds a year. Have heard of both going over 100K rounds. Ya never know...

I've seen oodles of broken 1911s. New USPs break pins and springs. The USP 45Cs had some probs w broken firing pins. I can send ya a pic of a USP w the frame in two pieces. Can send ya pics of Glock 40/357/45s w ruptured barrels/slides/frames too. Had a friend break two BHPs at about 14K rounds each. Have seen some bad HS ammo that blew up Glocks, just blew cases in SIGs and USPs...

I would get what I like/shoot best and forget the durability issue. Get two if you are the worrying kind. A spare is always a good idea. :)


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[This message has been edited by BrokenArrow (edited March 29, 2000).]
 
I know that the Austrian ammo maker,Hirtenberger,has a Glock 17 they use for testing that has like 200,000 rounds through it or some insane number like that with not one part breaking or wearing out. Recently read a similar story by Chuck Taylor talking about his 17 with a whole lot of rounds through it,over 100,000 I think it was.

Guess I'd have to say the Glock 17.
 
I have to wonder about what the FBI told 7th about alloy guns lasting only 10,000 and the BHP and 1911 lasting 100,000. This is no flame to 7th I just want to know if any one knows more on the subject. I limit the use each year on the BHP and 1911 My wife and I own because I want them to last a lifetime. I'm not talking about simple parts wear. I'm talking serious and potentially catistopic failure leading to the end of the frame for example.

Does anyone have any sources of testing Gov or Maker to back it up?

Moe


[This message has been edited by Moe (edited March 30, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Moe (edited March 30, 2000).]
 
Moe when I learn how to use this new fangled contraption called a flat bed scanner. I will post the information out of the FBI manual that I still have in my library. Its getting kind of dated now but the guns mentioned are still being made and marketed. The manual was given to us LEO Firearms Instructors when we went to a revolver to autopistol transisiton school back in the late 80's. It was published by the FBI Academy Firearms Training Unit and is called "Semiautomatic Pistols 1987 - 1988. They discussed the slide cracking problems on the Beretta M-9s and the frame cracking problems on the Sig Sauer P-226s and S&W M459. For example on page 38 it says. "Alloy framed weapons such as the Sig-Sauer P226 and the S&W M459 will eventually fail. The history of frame failures among these weapons indicates a probable service life expectancy of 10,000 rounds. It then goes in to detail on the the frame cracking problems. This information was given to us because at that time most Police Departments were in the process of changing over from revolvers to semiauto pistols. This was so that we could adopt the most durable/reliable semiautos for our agencies when we returned from this school.

...7th

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SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POLICE, KEEP THEM INDEPENDENT.
 
Thank you 7th. That is just the information I was looking for. I very much apreciate the effort you put into helping me out.

Moe
 
I own a USP .45 and I must say out of all the .45's ive fired it is the most amazing. Check out wikipedia on the usp .45. as far as duribility one of the tests that was done was a bullet was loged into the barrell then a round was fired though it to clear the obstruction! with only a minor bulge to the barrell the weapon still produced 4in groups at 25m. That is incredible. I own a sp. 1911 and a XDM .45 as well and will tell you I carry the usp at all times for its relibility.
 
When I went to Glock Armorer's school in 1995 they told us about the Austrian ammo maker's G17. The number was more like 354,000 documented rounds and they had given the gun to Glock for them to study and examine.

The legendary 1911 pistol smith Jim Hoag once told me a Government Model in 45 ACP will go 100,000 rounds. He also said in his experience alloy frames (our conversation was specifically about the Commander) will only last 7,000 to 10,000 rounds at best.

As for the HK USP, the police department where I lived when I was a deputy sheriff gave up on the USP and switched to Glocks because HK was terrible about servicing their weapons. Parts support was almost non-existent. The factory rep kept telling them HKs didn't fail so they shouldn't need parts.

Dave
 
I love 1911s. But Glocks rule the roost in terms of durability.
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Uh, yeah, sure. I've got a Colt GI 45 born in 1945 that had seen unknown thousands of rounds before my family got it in the mid 50s, and thousands more since then. It has never, and I repeat for possible penetration, never failed us.

The 1911 may not be the best platform for some things, but it's durability in use is hard to equal, let alone beat.

IMHO, of course, YMMV.
 
We had to resurrect an 11 year old thread to argue about Glocks vs 1911s again!

FWIW, I don't consider accuracy after deliberately bulging a barrel to be an important criteria for selecting a handgun.
 
Well Tailgator, he said he planned on having it at least 50 years.

Josh, do you still have it now? :D

The Search feature is a mixed blessing sometimes. It's good for finding information, but if one is not paying attention... BOOM. Zombie thread.

zombie_1-9316_640x480.jpg
 
one that is new and remains locked in a safe with armed security and also lubed and greased real well, and covered in cosmoline never again to be used or removed from its safe with cannister incandescants that are regularly changed/reinacted.
 
I think some of the Army 1911s I carried were used in WWII.

They were loose and rattled around, but they seemed to last forever.

I know what you mean about wanting a pistol to last forever. Now that H&K has stopped manufacturing P7M8s I feel differently about my pistol. It's like I don't want to shoot it because I want to preserve it.
 
We had to resurrect an 11 year old thread to argue about Glocks vs 1911s again!
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No, actually we didn't.

Since the OP, Josh, hasn't even visited for over 10 years I don't see much need for replying to his thread.

Closed.
 
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