Prior to getting into competition I always thought that firearms were indestructible and lasted indefinitely. However, I was recently told that, for a semi-auto, each time the slide cycles it scrapes off a miniscule amount of metal from the slide rails. Eventually, the slide rails will get so thin that the frame will need to be replaced, or the rails will outright crack because they're so thin.
On that note, do revolvers also suffer from something similar to this, or revolvers last longer? For revolvers I've heard that frame stretching can be a problem.
So, if I do something like cerakote on the slide rails, will that stop the wearing done on the slide rails, or can that not be done, or it won't stop the wearing down of the slide rails?
The question of what is a reasonable lifetime is a very important issue. The buyer wants an MTBF of 1,000,000 years with an infinite lifetime, for $20.00. Thirty bucks if the gun is shiny. The manufacturer has very different expectations. Now any darn fool can build a twenty or thirty pound single shot firearm that never breaks, the real art is making one as light as possible.
From what I have read, the early M1911's had to pass a 6,000 round endurance test. To pass a 6,000 round endurance test, obviously the pistol has to be built so all pass this test, which means the pistol will function longer on the average. These numbers probably came from the experience of the military and estimates of a reasonable number of rounds per year. It could have come from the Arsenals and Shooting Teams, where round counts, pistols rebuilt, etc, were considered. I believe a case can be made that the firearm should last as long as the barrel, as barrels typically wear out first. So with the soft steels of the day, after 5000 or 6000 rounds the barrels would be shot out, the pistol send back to Depot for overhaul. Once at Depot any part could be replaced if need be.
Something to note, the early M1911's were made of plain carbon steels and were not even heat treated. Gunsmiths state that the parts are dead soft. By the time WW2 rolls around, the slides and frames are still plain carbon steels but the slide nose is hardened two inches back. There is no evidence I have seen of any case hardening on military 1911's, they were made of the absolute cheapest materials possible to meet the 6000 round requirement. And after 6000 rounds, the pistol was expected to go to Depot, where any or all parts could be scrapped in a rebuild.'
I got to shoot with the All Guard, they are using WW2 era frames, maybe other parts, in their Bullseye Pistols. I talked with the Armorer and forgot all the details other than these slides and frames have to be refitted in time spans equal to years. He had wear criteria and I forgot what it was, I think it was frame rail thickness. Frame rails are peened, then the slide and frame are assembled with a hammer and grinding compound in the slide rails. The slide is beat back and forth till experience says, the fit is just right. Not too tight and not loose at all.
I also talked to the AMU shooters. I asked about pistol durability, etc. Seems their frames and slides were made by Caspian Arms. No one on the firing line knew how old they were other than these things had been around before anyone joined the team. Some guys thought they might have been made in the 1970s or 80's. I talked to the gunsmith David Sams about these pistols, he claims he helped set them up in the middle 1990's.
I asked the AMU shooters how many rounds they shoot through the things, well the AMU shooter said about 5,000 to 7,000 rounds. I asked, "per year"?, no, "per month!"
AMU shooters wore out triggers, sears, in time periods close to a year, if my recollection was right. Barrels took several years. Springs were replaced frequently. No one had ever seen a frame or slide crack or break, and none had every required refitting, within the experience (around six years max) of the shooters on the line. That is just exceptional.
There are a number of differences between vintage M1911's and these modern era pistols. The first is alloy steels. Alloy steels are so superior to the plain carbon steels that were in exclusive use up through WW2 in firearms. When arms manufacturer's first used nickel steel, such as Winchester, they bragged about it. After WW2, even though that was vacuum tube era, everyone knew and understood that the material properties of alloys were so superior that only legacy designs and lazy firearms manufacturers used plain carbon steels in structural elements. In the 1990’s, the semi conductor revolution began to affect manufacturing. CNC machining has produced the tightest factory pistols that have ever been made. Pick up a Kimber, a Range Master, or a Les Baer. They don't rattle. The old Colt series 70's and 80's rattled when new. The combination of better steels, cleaner steels, and better machining have extended the lifetime of firearms, given the same loads.
This is a cheap 1911 and it is made from far better materials and to a much higher precision than the old military models
this one is also a cheap 1911, claimed to also milled 4140 slide, cast 4140 frame
I called Tisas Knoxville, they told me this was made of forged M4065 steel. I could only find MIM 4065. It is a "low alloy steel" but still the properties are much better than the GI 1035 or 1050 steels. I think 1050 would made a good lawn mower blade, cheap but tough.
I have talked to several serious Bullseye shooters who also shot revolvers. One, his customized K frame S&W, his 38 Special barrel was still shooting two inch groups at 50 yards with 600,000 rounds through it. The loads he used were 148 LSWC with 2.7 grains Bullseye. This guy had won multiple PPC championships with this K frame S&W. The other shooter had around 250,000 rounds through his S&W K frame revolver. Both said extractor stars wore at some point, their revolvers lost their timing, and they had to send their pistols back to S&W. I think cylinder hands also wore. One guy had a S&W hammer mounted firing pin break. I assume they replaced springs along the way. I was told that Colt revolvers were very rare in PPC as they got out of tune much earlier than the S&W. It had to do with the timing of the lockup. Colts locked up during hammer fall, S&W’s locked up before hammer fall. Colts were much more sensitive to wear in the cylinder hand and extractor star. The PPC champ said that rebarreling a S&W with a Colt barrel was fairly common as the Colt barrels were tighter and shot more accurately. He called the conversions “Smoults”.
I was told the aluminum frames on military Beretta M92's will crack around 35,000 rounds. I recall reading a review of a new polymer Czech striker fired 9mm, the article claimed the design lifetime was 35,000 rounds. Price out the cost of 35,000 rounds, you bank account may give out before the pistol wears out.
Twenty two semi auto pistols can run darn near forever. I met an 85 year old Bullseye Pistol shooter and he was using his High Standard from the early 1960's. He had fired enough rounds that the lug holding the barrel to the frame had cracked. Another shooter with a high mileage High Standard had the same experience. The second shooter, he had all sorts of magazine problems with his High Standard. Magazines for old High Standards are pricey and not necessarily reliable, that is always a problem with old, discontinued 22lr automatics. One shooter I met at the range claimed he had 300,000 rounds through a Ruger MKIII. I examined the pistol, dirty as all get out, but still there. A gunsmith at Clark guns told me the older S&W M41's were made of softer materials than later ones. He recommended only standard velocity rounds as he had one M41 where the slide was bent like a banana.
This is a M46, a M41 variant. The round pushes back against the top of the slide, and on this 1968 vintage pistol, the slide rails are thinner than later pistols. Bolt thrust is therefore not symmetrical and I can see with HV ammunition that would tend to tip the slide down.
Something that is always true, fired full power rounds, or +P rounds, and you can expect a short lifetime from your pistol. A PPC National Champ I talked to, he had to fire "Major" rounds in competition, and that cracked the barrel forcing cone on his K frame revolver.
Keep a modern semi auto pistol clean and lubricated, fire mid level to light loads, the thing might just last longer than the shooter. I have no experience with polymer pistols, no idea who long their frames will last.
Barrels are going to wear out with jacketed bullets. I have no idea of the fatigue life of a barrel, they are a pressure vessel, I expect at some point they will rupture. A low pressure cartridge such as a 45 ACP I expect the barrel will never fatigue rupture before the rifling is worn smooth. However, I am aware of a shooter who had a vintage 30-06 barrel rebored to 35 Whelen. The rifle barrel had gone through its normal service life, was old steel, and yet the barrel was enlarged internally, making it weaker, and installed on the action. The shooter fired a couple of factory 35 Whelen rounds, the barrel burst, and the owner is mad at the barrel maker. The barrel maker blames the owner and ammunition, the owner blames the barrel maker. My advice: never rebore a barrel that has been shot out.
Bolt action rifles, I have had the bolt cocking cam wear out on a Mauser 98. I used the action as an XTC rifle, it was in 30-06. The thing went through three barrels, and was dry fired tens of thousands of times. Whatever case hardening on the cocking cam wore. After that the firing pin nose galled the cocking cam, the rifle was hard to operate from the shoulder, and so I replaced the bolt.
You can find pictures of cracked rifle bolt lugs on all sorts of actions. All bolt actions, and semi auto’s will crack lugs in time. The lugs on a AR15 typically start cracking lugs between 10,000 and 30,000 rounds. The better made AR15 bolts will last 30,000 rounds before cracking. Depends on the materials and heat treatment.
