Question on longevity of semi autos
- Thread starter Hoppka47
- Start date
i think it depends. everyone here seems to think that if it is black then it is military grade and should go 10,000 rounds before failure (oddly enough, this is how the government thinks as well ...). however, try owning a winchester 100 or remington 740 (as i do/have in the past). these are semis from the biggest manufacturers around and were made in huge numbers and are very unreliable. so it really depends on pedigree and purpose.
It depends on the semi rifle. Ones with a military history tend to be quite robust and will last a long time (sks, type 81, AR15, ect) whereas ones developed for the commercial market like the kodiak and BCL guns tend to have more issues with parts breaking/wearing out as they were not designed for harsh conditions and more for periodic casual usage
Barrels wear out, gas systems wear out, all moving parts wear out eventually.
Not counting stuff made in Canada in the last 5 years, I'm not too concerned with my guns breaking, but I'm always observant for deals on spare parts.
Not counting stuff made in Canada in the last 5 years, I'm not too concerned with my guns breaking, but I'm always observant for deals on spare parts.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Don’t buy a wk180 lol, that shít will rattle itself to bits in no time.
Greenhorse six
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
There's more then a few M1 Garands and M1 carbines still going strong after , what, almost70 years, not to mention the odd German semi auto from WW2.
Our guns will probably out last most of us , if it wasn't for the government. Lol
Poor matance will probably be the end of a good many before they wear out a barrel or action, I.e. rust.
Our guns will probably out last most of us , if it wasn't for the government. Lol
Poor matance will probably be the end of a good many before they wear out a barrel or action, I.e. rust.
Parts wear out and eventually receivers can crack too. But not everything breaks or cracks and not all at once.
I find it's small parts like firing pins, trigger/hammer pins and extractors that need to be replaced the most.
I own or have owned many rifles with well over 10K rounds. These include SKS, AR15, WK-180, WS-MCR, Tavor 21, Tavor X95 plus some PCC;s and bolt actions too.
I know people like to hack on the Canadian 180's but of the 4 I own I've only had one major breakage which was the gas rod of a MCR around 7000 rounds IIRC. Other than that it's just been a few small parts, similar to AR15's.
I find it's small parts like firing pins, trigger/hammer pins and extractors that need to be replaced the most.
I own or have owned many rifles with well over 10K rounds. These include SKS, AR15, WK-180, WS-MCR, Tavor 21, Tavor X95 plus some PCC;s and bolt actions too.
I know people like to hack on the Canadian 180's but of the 4 I own I've only had one major breakage which was the gas rod of a MCR around 7000 rounds IIRC. Other than that it's just been a few small parts, similar to AR15's.
So much depends on what rifle, what ammo, if you do regular maintenance and cleaning etc. Anything with moving parts is going to wear and break eventually. I have had problems in the past with putting a lot of rounds through several firearms including a 1911 that cracked the slide, a Remington 870 that broke a firing pin etc.
Barrel wear isn't a pass / fail kind of problem. A badly worn barrel can still shoot well enough for many thousands of rounds. An eroded throat impacts accuracy but that kind of stabilizes after a while. It would be nearly impossible to truly wear a barrel to he point where it will not stabilize the projectile.
I've got an AR15 barrel that suffered ungodly amounts of abuse and it still goes bang and sends rounds downrange.
The way a rifle is shot also impacts wear and damage. Constant mag dumps and massively overheating the rifle causes damage way faster than a slower firing rate that allows the rifle to cool and not getting overheated.
The more burning powder that goes down the barrel, the greater the wear. PCC's shouldn't wear hardly at all over tens of thousands of rounds. The biggest problem with a 22 rimfire is lead buildup in the bore. It is basically impossible to wear out a rimfire barrel.
Poor and incorrect cleaning can badly damage portions of the barrel like the throat and crown. I can guarantee more barrels are ruined by improper cleaning than by being shot too much.
Short of serious abuse or being allowed to rust away, I have no doubt my firearms will outlast me. I have a 140 yo shotgun that still works just fine and should keep going for another 100 years at least.
Springs, extractors and other small parts are the most likely to wear or break. Those shouldn't be overly difficult to source.
Oh I didn't mean it like it happens every day, just an eventual possibility. I've got an SP1 from 68 still with the original barrel because it's only got a few thousand rounds down range.
You put enough rounds through a barrel and it won't stabilize projectiles anymore and the rounds start keyholeing.They still go downrange but accuracy is severely degraded. How quickly that happens depends on barrel quality 15-20k rounds will do it. I'll grant most people won't ever get there but some do.
