What parts wear out?

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brewer12345

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I have started shooting my autos a lot more since an indoor range opened 10 minutes from the house. Stupid question I imagine, but what parts tend to wear out with heavy use? I am shooting mostly home cast bullets, so I suspect that barrel wear will not likely be an issue for a very long time. So what else should I stock in the way of spares? Recoil spring? Something else?
 
XDM 45, CZ82, possibly a glock 19 down the road. I have a parts kit for the Makarov already.
 
I've wondered this myself. I think some parts might be prone to breakage -- chipped extractors come to mind -- but I think springs are the things that wear out first in a noticeable way.

Ultimately, after very long usage, the barrel, slide rails, trigger sear, slide stop, etc. might wear out too -- but that would take a lot of use.
 
After shooting upwards of 600,000 rounds through various pistols, I have found the following for my pistols (Glock, Sig 1911, M&P 40/45):
  • Recoil spring is the most frequently changed part (Consumable)
  • Magazine spring the the next frequently changed part (Consumable)
  • Glock magazine follower is the next frequently changed part (Consumable) - I shoot 1911 and M&P less and they are still going strong with original factory mag followers.
I used KKM (1:20 barrel twist rate)/Lone Wolf (1:16)/Tactical Kinetics (1:10) 40-9 conversion and 40S&W aftermarket barrels in my Glock 22/23/27 and while they do wear over time, decrease in accuracy is gradual and still outshoot factory Glock barrels (1:10).

I retired my Glock 17 used for USPSA after shooting 100,000+ rounds and sold it to another match shooter thinking I shot out the rifling. Well, surfaced hardened Glock barrel and slides are robust and match shooter who bought my "worn" Glock tested for accuracy and he was happy enough to continue shooting matches. Nothing broke in that Glock 17 nor any of my match Glocks that have 100s of thousands of rounds shot through other than routine replacement of recoil/mag springs and mag followers.

My friend bought a RIA 1911 about the same time I bought my railed Sig 1911 XO and my Sig has over 10,000 rounds shot and friend has over 8,000 rounds shot through his RIA and nothing broke. Only parts replacement were Wolff variable power and Wilson Combat recoil springs. FYI, Chip McCormick Power Mag and Wilson Combat 47D magazines were used in addition to factory magazines. So MIM parts used in "modern" manufacture pistols are holding up well, at least for RIA and Sig.

BTW, I always replace mag springs with extra power Wolff springs so when they are set in, they retain near factory level tension. ;)
 
I keep spare parts for a few guns. Mostly because of worn pins or lost pins/springs people bring me to fix. Every pin and spring in a glock can be had for cheap, along with the spring cups, firing pin, and extractor. Same for the XD, MP etc. They were designed with simplicity/low cost of maintenance in mind and parts are drop in.

I'd keep a minimum of a mag catch and spring, Return spring/assembly, extractor, firing pin, and a full spring set for my high round count guns (thousands per year). I've seen all those fail multiple times. Very few people actually break a gun though.
 
How do you know when the recoil spring is going?
Clear the pistol and point the muzzle towards the ceiling.

Pull back on the slide and slowly return until about the last 1/2 inch and let go.

If the slide returns to battery with authority without slow hesitation, recoil spring is good. If slide won't return to battery or hesitates, recoil spring is worn and needs replacement.

BUT recoil spring will wear and tension decrease before this happens and will likely affect felt recoil first.

For Glocks, if you shoot full power loads, replacement around 5000 rounds is recommended and/or if you shoot lighter target loads, replace when recoil spring rate falls less than factory rated tension. Glock captured Recoil Spring Assemblies (RSA) are only $7 and cheap to have spare in your range bag. When people complain about harsh recoil snap (Who never replaced any springs on their Glocks), I offer my RSA and they are amazed at how muzzle flip decreases with reduction in perceived felt recoil. :eek::D

For 1911s, if you shoot full power loads, you can consider replacing factory 16 lbs with Wilson Combat 18.5 lb spring and when set in, will have higher spring rate than factory 16 lbs. ;) If you shoot lighter target loads, I prefer Wolff variable power 16 lb spring.
 
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How do you know when the recoil spring is going?
Several older threads on the subject ,spent cases thrown farther out but seem would be hard to tell if indoor shooting bay , slide not returning to battery , worn slide and frame . Others said older spring will be shorter than new which is same for mag springs , Need heavy recoil spring if firing hot loads , I replaced my 5906 recoil and mag springs with Wolff springs
 
My 45 loads areof mild, 200 grain cast over 4.5 grains of bullseye. The cz mostly gets tula, so full power loads I guess.
 
As others have noted, the specifics depend on the gun. Most springs are designed as wear items, especially the large springs (recoil, magazine, hammer/striker). Even small springs tend to go eventually if they are subject to binding or operating near their limits (trigger return springs are a "weak point," relatively speaking, on many handguns). Pins are another common item that breaks. Firing pins break noses, or sometimes crack in half. Extractors can get the claw damaged or (1911's) can get their tension fouled up.

Shoot long enough with high volume shooters and you'll see pretty much every part break, or at least everything that is subjected to dynamic loads. I once saw a factory Glock barrel shear off at the cam/lower-lug. It was an old, 1st gen 45ACP Glock that had been used a lot in competition. That's a very tough part on a fundamentally rugged gun... and at least one dude got it to fail.

If you can, find some high-volume competitive shooters who use the same basic gun type and ask them what wears out. They will know.

For instance, I'd ask these guys about the Springfield (or search through the posts): https://forums.brianenos.com/forum/207-springfield-xd/
 
I've wondered this myself. I think some parts might be prone to breakage -- chipped extractors come to mind -- but I think springs are the things that wear out first in a noticeable way.

Ultimately, after very long usage, the barrel, slide rails, trigger sear, slide stop, etc. might wear out too -- but that would take a lot of use.
What he said: get some mag springs, recoil springs, an extractor, ejector, slide stop,firing pin and you should be good.
 
I just sent the Glock 17 I shoot in weekly practice back to Glock a couple of months back. At around 150,000 rounds (the offical "weekly" count was 147,400 rounds, based on 300 rounds a week over about ten years, but I often shot more, so 150K is a better guess) the rear rail tab sheared off. Glock replaced the frame and rebuilt the gun. The only thing original now, is the slide, barrel and night sights.

The barrel has a pretty good smiley on it, and you can actually feel it if you run a fingernail across it. Bore is starting to show some marks, but they said it and the slide were fine.

I replace the RSA twice a year. Probably let them go a little longer than I should, but I have yet to have it fail "the test".

The only other parts Ive had go, were two trigger springs. One at around 90K. the other at 120K. Thats it.

Ive also been using about 20 of the Korean mags on a weekly basis for practice, for about 12 years now. I did change some of the springs out about five years ago with Wolff springs, when I was having some function issues and trying to diagnose that, but that turned out to be a worn out brass problem, and not a spring problem. Most of those mags still have the original springs in them.
 
Get an extra trigger spring. For something so cheap it might not be immediately available when you need it. I've worn out more slide stops and mag springs than RSAs.
 
"XDM 45, CZ82, possibly a glock 19 down the road. I have a parts kit for the Makarov already."

Just to clarify, but if you have a "Makarov" parts kit you're SOL, as you don't have a Makarov pistol. While a CZ82 and a Makarov use the same ammo, they are totally different pistols, using completely different parts. But then, I'm sure you already know that.
 
My thoughts are for your high round count gun is to have two. One you carry and the other that you train with. Carry the low count gun. A part is more likely to break on a high round count gun at any time then on the low round count gun. On many mass produced guns like the glock parts like the firing pin are made not from stock steel, but but by MIM or metal injection molding. https://www.ammoland.com/2017/10/matter-gun-parts-mim/#axzz5waJK2XGJ It is cheaper and is normally good enough, but some think that they are more prone to failure, especially on high round count guns.
 
Unless you are clairvoyant no telling what might break so the real solution is summed up in the old saying "one is none, two is one" Have a spare (duplicate) to switch to when something breaks, then fix what breaks and return it to service and the back-up goes back to backing up. Obviously out of production guns are poor choices for high round count use.

My most frequent replacement parts (for failures that I didn't bother with using the manufacturer's warranty) have been extractors and firing pins.

Like I always say: "If you never broken a gun, you just ain't been shooting enough!"
 
1) Recoil spring calibration kit from Wolff with firing pin spring
2) Grip panels because they are going to crack
3) Magazine spring
4) Most importantly, don't attempt to take the trigger assembly apart. That will wear you out- haha.

(or most striker fired handguns)
1) Recoil spring
2) Magazine spring
3) Firing pin / striker assembly
 
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