I read various forums, and sometimes questions arise about, for example, “Is this wear normal, I’ve only shot 1000 rounds?” As I shop for the best deals on various firearms, that is always of concern. Even many pistols that appear to have been shot very little have been lubricated even less, with the factory-included lube tube unopened in the box, and disproportionate wear already showing on the rails.
The point being, it’s possible to put a severe amount of wear on a pistol in a relatively short time if it’s not kept properly cleaned and lubed in critical locations. Some pistols are more susceptible than others.
Glocks may not care much, but I’ve still seen chrome flake off the steel “rail” tabs in a very short time.
Sigs want grease, and plenty of it. They’ll go 100k rounds and beyond if properly cleaned and lubed and parts changed on schedule, but they can be killed with a much smaller round count if neglected. I’d definitely have different hot weather and cold weather solutions for a Sig used as a carry piece, and I’d probably have different solutions for one used as a carry piece, that absolutely had to work for a handful of shots if needed, and one used for a high volume practice or competition gun that I wanted to last tens of thousands of rounds.
In my opinion, based on what I hope is still only half a lifetime or so operating, maintaining and repairing mechanical stuff, the ability of a machine to withstand neglect and abuse is not the best measure of performance or reliability. The Lexus that was built to last 1000 years sits in the junk yard for the same reason as the ratted-out crap can next to it: improper maintenance.
You wouldn’t measure the quality of a car by its ability to be driven 20,000 miles without touching the dip stick and not have the engine seize. Some cars may burn a quart of oil every 3000 miles or so. There’s no problem with that, but if you try to go 20k without topping it up and changing it a few times, you will destroy it completely when, with proper maintenance, that car might go 250k miles. Another car might just make it to the 20k line without apparent problems, but being two quarts low for the last 5000 miles of that could cause increased wear that will cause it to begin failing emissions tests 50-100k miles earlier at end of life than if it had been properly maintained from the start.
I'm much more in tune with the guy whose daily driver has 80k miles, with 15k of those on race tracks, and is running as strong as it did after its first oil change and rocking its emissions tests because the best oil is used and changed when it should be, and all the other maintenance is kept up with.
Similarly, while the ability of a pistol to go 2000 rounds without cleaning or lubrication and not choke may provide some indication of its reliability or durability when properly maintained, I’d personally rather know that I’m taking care of it in a way that will maximize its reliability and service life over the lifetime of use I (or the future owners, of whose pistol I am a custodian) will get from it.
In particular, as I’ve searched for some older, out of production models where it hasn’t been possible to just go buy a new one for many years, I appreciate them being in better condition, with less wear and more useful life ahead of them. All firearms eventually become a non-renewable resource.
Some say that more guns are damaged by over cleaning than under cleaning, but I can’t see how wiping a patch down the barrel and cleaning the old lube and grease off the rails and replacing it with new, clean lube can possibly be bad. I am not in the sand box, so attracting the alkali dust (which I know well) is not a worry on the nightstand, the range, at a competition, or under a shirt.
A professional shooter/trainer who may acquire his tools at steeply discounted prices, and may plan to wear them out in a year or less and then move on to the next one, may find comfort in knowing his consumable implement is robust to unreasonable abuse. But looking at them as more of a capital investment, my goal is to obtain the longest possible service from them, or best resale value should it come to that. Because of that, I’ll be keeping my equipment cleaned and lubed much more frequently.
I hope this doesn’t come across as an attitude of pissing on the campfire, but as a new guy around here, I have felt a bit of a cultural mentality that the 2000 round challenge is a normal/standard/necessary rite of passage for a firearm to be regarded as truly trustworthy. I do appreciate seeing the reports where pistols I like do very well, but I don’t really buy into the idea that I should do it with every pistol I own, just to be sure it’s up to snuff. I’m kinda wondering how many people feel more like me when it comes to how they treat their own stuff.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
