Maintenance schedule and service life of a Airwieght J-Frame?

[Buckshot]

The Centennial J's, as represented by the 442, are actually rather resistant to dust bunny incursion. One of the concerns I had when I took the lock mechanism out of my 360PD was that a horde of pocket lint, etc., would foul the action in very short order, entering through that large open slot next to the hammer. That has not come to pass. I pocket-carry that piece all day, every day. Every other day or so, I brush it off with a old paint brush or a few shots of canned air; depends on which is within reach when I decide to do it. For the first few years, I would remove the sideplate every month, expecting to find a mess in there. Nope. Now, I pop the plate off during its annual go-over. I find very little, if any, foreign matter in there.

That's pocket carry. As Buckshot pointed out, the game changes when you carry the piece on your ankle. It is simply amazing how fungy the piece will get, and how quickly. An ankle-carried gun needs DAILY attention. Cleaning it off every day will reduce the amount of crap that finds its way inside, but that sideplate should still be removed and the internals cleaned/re-lubed every six months, at a minumum, IMO.

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I agree in toto - I'd say every 6 mos FIRM if you ankle carry 40+ hours a week & don't spend all your time at a desk. And don't just peel that irritating rig off your ankle at EOS & leave it in the leather - wipe it down!

[deputyG23]

The Centennial J's, as represented by the 442, are actually rather resistant to dust bunny incursion. One of the concerns I had when I took the lock mechanism out of my 360PD was that a horde of pocket lint, etc., would foul the action in very short order, entering through that large open slot next to the hammer. That has not come to pass. I pocket-carry that piece all day, every day. Every other day or so, I brush it off with a old paint brush or a few shots of canned air; depends on which is within reach when I decide to do it. For the first few years, I would remove the sideplate every month, expecting to find a mess in there. Nope. Now, I pop the plate off during its annual go-over. I find very little, if any, foreign matter in there.

That's pocket carry. As Buckshot pointed out, the game changes when you carry the piece on your ankle. It is simply amazing how fungy the piece will get, and how quickly. An ankle-carried gun needs DAILY attention. Cleaning it off every day will reduce the amount of crap that finds its way inside, but that sideplate should still be removed and the internals cleaned/re-lubed every six months, at a minumum, IMO.

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Thanks for the prompt reply.
I wipe it off with a silicone cloth 1 to 2x a week and brush the chambers and barrel out with a Glock cleaning rod/brush.
I am hoping to supplement this gun by year's end with a no lock 442 for carry and use the 442-2 for dry fire and live practice.

[Lester Polfus]

Thanks everyone, especially you LSP972. You're a gem man.

I think its reasonable to budget for another J-Frame. It wouldn't be the end of the world if it broke, as I've got other guns to run, but they do fill a niche very nicely.

At one point in my life, I would have been excited by the thought of buying another gun, but now its just another damn thing to do. At least I don't have to buy a bunch of holsters and accessories for it.

[41magfan]

I'm fairy anal about gun maintenance as it's one of the few variables that I have total control over. It only takes a few seconds to "dust off" my carry guns everyday with an old shave brush.

[LSP972]

At one point in my life, I would have been excited by the thought of buying another gun, but now its just another damn thing to do.

I know, right?

You realize you've passed a milestone when your wife, out of ideas for an Xmas present and just wanting to get it over with, tells you "Okay, let's go to Jim's (local huge candy store) and you can pick out what you want."

And you think about it for a minute, and say "Nah."

[camsdaddy]

I've never considered wearing out a J frame. I am in the process of the beginning to reload and have intentions of shooting mine a lot more. I guess I now have a goal. I clean after each visit. I figure with an airweight I would wear out my hand before I wore out the gun.

[LSP972]

I figure with an airweight I would wear out my hand before I wore out the gun.

Maybe. And maybe not.

The post-'95 J frames SHOULD be more durable than the pre-'95s. But I've seen more gooned-up examples of the former than of the latter. And almost all of the gooned-up pre-'95 guns were victims of "hot ammo".

Bottom line: if you stick with the so-called "mid-range" loadings- basically, a 148-158 grain bullet at 700 or so fps- the gun should indeed outlast your hand. Keep in mind, revolvers are tailor-made for light loads that are kind to your hand. The only thing to watch out for there is what- and how much - powder you use. Trail Boss is probably the best for this, as it was designed to produce light loads while filling up the case volume. But there are any number of suitable powders that will lessen the risk of detonation, which can occur when you have a small amount of powder in a large space.

What happens there is this: the small amount of powder lies alongside the case wall, instead of being packed up against the web (inside of the case head), the jet from the primer flashes over the powder and, instead of the powder burning at its design rate, it ignites all at once and explodes instead of burning. There are people who say this is so much bullshit, and point to the long-time use of the classic 2.7 grains of Bullseye powder under a 148gr wadcutter. True, zillions upon zillions of this combination have been fired by cops and PPC competitors over many decades without incident. Also true is that there have been a few blown guns because of it; some of them rather spectacular.

So, one can believe it or not. I believe it, for I have seen the evidence. All of this is probably more than you were looking for, so sorry about that. But its something every reloader should be aware of.

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[camsdaddy]

Well last night I made my first bullets. The first are 158 LSWC over 3.5 and tonight I hope to load 148 lwc over 2.8 (auto disk doesn't show 2.7) bullseye. I will look into trail boss next

[Lester Polfus]

I bought 4 pounds of Titegroup during the ammo panic because it was about the only handgun powder I could find. I really don't like it very much. Detonation concerns aside, I really don't like the fact that I could double, or even triple charge a .38 case and still seat the bullet. In the past I've always worked with powders that were essentially impossible to double charge as they'd spill out of the case, giving me the clue.

Also, I loaded 250 rounds of 148 grain HBWC, and I'm done with that. That's such a classic load I figured I should do it once, and I was very pleased at the accuracy, but good Lord the leading...

[LSP972]

Well last night I made my first bullets. The first are 158 LSWC over 3.5 and tonight I hope to load 148 lwc over 2.8 (auto disk doesn't show 2.7) bullseye. I will look into trail boss next

That 158/3.5 load should be quite pleasant, and more accurate (assuming the bullets are well-made) than you can hold.

Also, 231 is one of the best general-purpose handgun powders extant. Its also hard to find due to its popularity; that's one reason I shifted to WST some years back. But in my experience, WST doesn't do so hot in mid-range .38 loadings. Maybe I didn't experiment enough..

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