What's the lifespan of a firearm?

[Riomouse911]

IMHO, the lifespan of a firearm is directly proportional to the care it receives. Whether in use or in storage, a properly cared for firearm should last many generations. Parts may need replacing, sights may need readjusting, stocks and steel may need refinishing.. but they’ll still work if they’re cared for.

Firearms my Grandfather bought in the 1920’s through the early 1950’s and hunted with for decades are still humming along swimmingly for me... minus some of the finish and a few stock dings from honest use. I strongly believe my son will be able to use them all when I shake off this mortal coil... and if he takes his cue about firearms care from me (Who learned it from his Grandfather) they should be used two or three generations in the future.

Stay safe.

 

[Paul7]

You got lucky. Nitrocellulose powders break down and become unstable. This can result in explosive burn rate and dangerous pressure spikes. WW1 contractor ammo was notoriously poor quality as well.

The military is still using .50 cal ammo from WWII.

 

[jmorris]

Plastic will be the weak spot. I have a number of firearms that are over 100 years old and still work.

I have a car that will be 100 in 4 years, it may just outlast one I have that’s only 15 years old though that can be blamed on electronics and planned obsolescence due to lack of support.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

The military is still using .50 cal ammo from WWII.

 

[Qweevox]

Everything has parts that wear with use. Too many variables to say reliably how long some firearms would continue functioning well. It depends on the gun, parts used, use, and care. I have AR15's built from less expensive components that probably won't last as long as one of more well built rifles with higher quality manufacturing standards.

Then there's technology to consider. With 3D printer technology advancing, maybe one day a person may be able to print high quality metal parts, or perhaps even exotic materials to use in firearms. Who knows what technology will be available in 50-100 years. Ammunition is more of a problem. I can make homemade black powder for my black powder firearms that would probably last 100 years if stored properly. But modern powder is another story, it does degrade over time.

I still have some old South African battle packs that are probably 20-25 years old and I'm pretty sure 5.56 in them would still be good.

By 2119 we might have plasma rifles in the 40 watt range

 

[John Joseph]

A lot may depend on how careful you assemble your hand loads!

 

[JONWILL]

You might want to re-check your source. Parrott Rifles, if they did fail, tended to blow out near the muzzle rather than the breech, which made them safer for the crew. And, the cause of these blow-outs was usually a premature explosion of the projectile (an "in-bore" in modern parlance), not ant inherent weakness of the gun. Lastly, if they only lasted 300 rounds, the Union Army at Gettysburg would have had no artillery to deal with Pickett on the third day....

I think Parrot guns were not made of steel. It might have been Mallable Iron. Stronger than cast iron but no where near steel

 

[Slamfire]

I think Parrot guns were not made of steel. It might have been Mallable Iron. Stronger than cast iron but no where near steel

Every reference I can remember states that the Parrot gun tube was cast iron but the band is wrought iron. See Wiki on this.




if you can read this, you are too close!



I remember a reference to an all steel cannon made during the Civil war, but cannot find it. I did find a Wiki article to the Wiard rifle
which is called a semi steel. Another link says the material was semi puddled wrought iron. Until the Bessemer converter of the 1870's, making and casting a steel ingot the size of a cannon tube was impossible.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Every reference I can remember states that the Parrot gun tube was cast iron but the band is wrought iron. See Wiki on this.

View attachment 857776
View attachment 857777

if you can read this, you are too close!

View attachment 857778

I remember a reference to an all steel cannon made during the Civil war, but cannot find it. I did find a Wiki article to the Wiard rifle
which is called a semi steel. Another link says the material was semi puddled wrought iron. Until the Bessemer converter of the 1870's, making and casting a steel ingot the size of a cannon tube was impossible.

Bronze barrels were is many respects better, than cast iron.... The Parrott and Ericsson guns were made by heat shrinking wrought iron bands, or hoops onto a tube, the difference being Ericsson used a wrought iron tube.

The 3" Ordnance Rifle was also made with a wrought iron barrel.

"Steel" at this stage would be classed today as some form of iron.

 

[Slamfire]

The more I research Parrot guns, the more I find that even the field guns had a bad reputation for coming apart.

From civilwarwiki.net
20 pdr. Parrott Rifle

The 20 Pounder Parrott Rifle was one of the heaviest field artillery pieces of the American Civil War. It was highly accurate, cheap to make, and easy to operate. However, it was soon discovered that some Parrott Rifles, particularly the 20 pounders, were prone to bursting... killing and injuring many artillerymen. The cast iron design of these large rifles just couldn't contain the stresses of firing.

By December of 1862, General Henry Hunt attempted to eliminate the 20 pdr. Parrott completely from the Army of the Potomac. He wrote, "I have the honor to report that the practice in the recent battle with the 20-pounder Parrott was in some respects very unsatisfactory, from the imperfection of the projectiles, which, notwithstanding the pains which have been taken to procure reliable ones, are nearly as dangerous to our own troops as to the enemy, if the former are in advance of our lines. In addition, the guns themselves are unsafe. At Antietam two of the twenty-two, and on the 13th instant another, were disabled by the bursting of the gun near the muzzle. The gun is too heavy for field purposes, and can be used with advantage only as batteries of position. For the last purpose it is inferior to the 4½-inch siege-gun, which requires the same number of horses and only half the number of drivers. I therefore respectfully propose that, as the allowance of artillery in this army is small, the 20-pounders be turned in to the Ordnance Department as soon as they can be replaced by light field guns."

 

[4v50 Gary]

Use (type of ammunition and frequency of usage), care (cleaning and lubrication), maintenance (inspections, replacement of worn parts). Storage.

 

[lysanderxiii]

"from the imperfection of the projectiles, which...[the cannons] were disabled by the bursting of the gun near the muzzle...."

There is no doubt that cast iron guns of these sizes are starting to push the limit of what can be safely be contained, but we've been over the most likely cause of muzzle bursting....

Ammunition prematurely exploding in-bore.

An in-bore with a bronze tube is seen below. While still a major hazard to the crew, much safer than if the front 18 inches of barrel came off.





This time system was most employed fuze system. Time fuzes were designed to explode a projectile after a predetermined number of seconds. Two basic systems of time fuzes were used. The first system was simply a powder composition, wrapped tightly in paper and pre-cut at the factory to determine the time before explosion. It was driven into a metal or wood fuze plug mounted in the fuze hole of the projectile. The second system employed a soft metal housing containing a powder train. The artillerist would cut through the train at the appropriate time mark before loading the projectile into the cannon.

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Both time fuze systems relied on the flame from the exploding propellant charge in the cannon tube to ignite the powder composition. After the composition had

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burned down through the set number of seconds, the fuze flame would enter the powder chamber inside the projectile and cause the projectile to explode.

The most common projectiles found which employed the time fuze system are Parrott, Hotchkiss, and Bormann-fuzed spherical shells.