there is a used Sti steelmaster 9mm on gunbroker. I has requested the history of the gun with no reply as of yet so in the mean time I thought I would ask the same question to all of you. What no. Of shots would you all consider the life of a barrel. Thanks
Life span of a race gun barrel
- Thread starter Groucho7
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LiveLife
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Factory Glock or M&P barrels with surface hardening treatment will last a long time before losing accuracy. With lead bullets, even longer than with jacketed/plated bullets.
I retired a Glock 17 with over 100,000 rounds of Montana Gold jacked bullets through it in fear of loss of accuracy and another match shooter bought it to shoot USPSA matches. And he never complained about accuracy of the barrel (Yes, I did disclose the round count before selling the pistol).
With no surface hardening treated stainless aftermarket barrels, it would depend on the metal used and type of match loads used but I would say accuracy will likely start decreasing after several thousand rounds of jacketed bullets. If barrel was used to shoot 9mm Major loads, probably less. If lead bullets were used, definitely more.
Besides, how can you assure of the round count other than going by what the seller is claiming? Barrel with 5000 round count won't look much different from barrel with 10,000 rounds.
I have several Lone Wolf and KKM barrels in 9mm and 40S&W. Each barrel has well over 10,000 rounds of mostly lead along with some jacketed/plated bullets and I have not seen measurable decrease in accuracy although my guess is wear on rifling likely have decreased the accuracy some. But that's benefit of shooting lead bullets, longer barrel life.
My Sig 1911 has factory match grade barrel and bushing and after 10,000 rounds of mostly lead bullets, it's showing very slight increase in group size at 25 yards.
I retired a Glock 17 with over 100,000 rounds of Montana Gold jacked bullets through it in fear of loss of accuracy and another match shooter bought it to shoot USPSA matches. And he never complained about accuracy of the barrel (Yes, I did disclose the round count before selling the pistol).
With no surface hardening treated stainless aftermarket barrels, it would depend on the metal used and type of match loads used but I would say accuracy will likely start decreasing after several thousand rounds of jacketed bullets. If barrel was used to shoot 9mm Major loads, probably less. If lead bullets were used, definitely more.
Besides, how can you assure of the round count other than going by what the seller is claiming? Barrel with 5000 round count won't look much different from barrel with 10,000 rounds.
I have several Lone Wolf and KKM barrels in 9mm and 40S&W. Each barrel has well over 10,000 rounds of mostly lead along with some jacketed/plated bullets and I have not seen measurable decrease in accuracy although my guess is wear on rifling likely have decreased the accuracy some. But that's benefit of shooting lead bullets, longer barrel life.
My Sig 1911 has factory match grade barrel and bushing and after 10,000 rounds of mostly lead bullets, it's showing very slight increase in group size at 25 yards.
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Varminterror
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Lots of other things to worry about before bore life in a semiauto pistol.
LiveLife
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This bullseye forum thread mentioned a Kart match barrel going from 2" groups at 50 yards to 5" groups after 30,000 lead rounds - http://www.bullseyeforum.net/t6801-jacketed-vs-lead-and-barrel-wear
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