I am looking at an S&W Airweight on gunbroker. This is a .38 special, that is reported by the seller as manufactured in 1954. I am interested in this gun as a CCW, and also because it was manufactured in the year i was born (yes, i am officially old)
I have read about j-frame guns (alloy) that have cracked frames due to overtightening barrels at manufacture. Is is reasonable to think this 1954 gun would be safe from this 'overtorque' issue since it was made so long ago?
Thank You,
I have read some posts by owners of Taurus lightweights with round counts in the 30,000 round range, if not more, and those aluminum frames have not cracked. I am going to claim that S&W, even back then, designed that revolver to survive that many standard velocity 38 Special rounds. These lightweight pistols are designed for tens of thousands of rounds, not hundreds of thousands. Even then, talking to S&W about my modern airweights, they told me I should not have any timing issues for 5000 rounds. After that, maybe something would need to be replaced. None of those older J frames are designed for +P and a vintage pistol like the one you are looking at, should be standard pressure only. I would not be surprised if the frame cracked in under 1000 rounds of +P.
Aluminum has a finite fatigue lifetime. That is why aircraft have to be rebuilt after a certain number of flights, the aluminum structure develops cracks. Vintage planes have been known to crack off a main wing spar and crash. Steel can be made thick enough that given a certain load, it can have an infinite fatigue lifetime. I want to say, it is very unlikely that any steel firearm is made to an infinite fatigue lifetime, because weight is traded off for portability. Want a five pound 38 snubbie? I know of competition 22lr's with a half million rounds through the tube. I suspect the springs needed replacing, and I am sure the older rifles have erosion in front of the throat due to glass in the primer compound. According to the 100 yard range tester at Lapua, older rimfire rifles in constant use are "loose". I guess the barrel, bolt, receiver peen enough to flex over time. You can look on AR15.com, there was a thread about AR15 bolt lifetime, some bolts cracked lugs at 12,000 rounds, more at 20,000, a few special shot peened types last 30,000 rounds.
I have more faith that a modern aluminum airweight will be stronger and have a longer fatigue lifetime than one made from WW2 era materials and processes. But, is the purpose of your interest to conduct an accelerated lifetime failure test? If not, then shoot standard loads, and you will probably get tired of it before you shoot enough rounds to cause problems.
