Whats the most rounds you ever put through a revolver before you had to replace parts? I know there are guys with Glocks, 1911s, etc that have to replace trigger springs etc at a certain round count, but how about revolvers, how long do they run before parts need replacing? Lets talk Smith & Wesson Revovlers, as i know some others like Freedom arms etc,, are built stronger. However, your experiences with any revolver are welcome.
Revolver Guys, ya you Harry Calahan,RFO1, Pancake and the rest of you. Got a question
- Thread starter GunGuy34
- Start date
Smith & Wesson Model 10s in Police Service fired literally tens of thousands of rounds. Many didn't get cleaned very well, though most got looked at once in a while and at least lubricated. I'm trying to remember how many rounds went through a model 10 for recruit training. Between training, practice (!) and qualifications along the way... many thousands. No failures, or very, very few.
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The only S&W revolver I had to ever replace any part on was my Brazilian M1937. This is a bit unfair of an answer from myself, because I researched the serial number and it was Pre-WWII shipped to Brazil. The thing looks like it had been to Berlin & back. But the timing was/still if fine and it shoots spot on with factory hardball and my milder handloads. A few years back the mainspring broke. Myself I only put about 400 rounds through it before the mainspring gave up the ghost. (I suspect the original) That's it, and I replaced it with an order from Brownell's. Problem solved. Funny thing, one antique revolver of mine, a Remington Third Model Smoot circa 1875, about a month ago the exact same part broke on it. Interesting.
My half-answer to you........
My half-answer to you........
When a friend of mine was really into shooting silhouette shooting in the 80's he documented over 25 thousand rounds through his S&W model 29. It was a lot easier to send a gun across the US border then so he sent it back to S&W to have them check it for wear. They sent it back and said no work or repairs were needed. In all of his shooting it never failed once.
Graydog
Graydog
Hey GG34!
Good topic for discussion. Unfortunatly my answer is fairly bland. I have actually never replaced any parts on a revolver due to failure. I have replaced many trigger springs, hammers, sights, grips, ejector rods... But never due to failure. I have a model 10-5 that I have honestly put 8,000 rounds through, not a hickup. I know the previous owner very well and he claims 10,000 in 4 years, so now we are at 18,000 in 6 years with no repairs and the gun probably had 30 years of real "service" from an agency with god knows how many rounds through it.
I am very interested in hearing some others chime in with their ecperience, but for me I guess proper maintenance has kept me out of the shop and in the field?
Good topic for discussion. Unfortunatly my answer is fairly bland. I have actually never replaced any parts on a revolver due to failure. I have replaced many trigger springs, hammers, sights, grips, ejector rods... But never due to failure. I have a model 10-5 that I have honestly put 8,000 rounds through, not a hickup. I know the previous owner very well and he claims 10,000 in 4 years, so now we are at 18,000 in 6 years with no repairs and the gun probably had 30 years of real "service" from an agency with god knows how many rounds through it.
I am very interested in hearing some others chime in with their ecperience, but for me I guess proper maintenance has kept me out of the shop and in the field?
I had a Herbert Schmidt .357 in the 80s and I shot it all the time and have no real count as to how many rounds I put through it. Thousands for sure. Other than putting locktite on the screws that was all I ever did to it except of course clean it. Next one will be a Uberti I think.
Years ago, I used to shoot IPSC with a S&W M66 revolver using .38 spl +P loads, had to replace the firing pin twice in about 25,000 rds. Since I've started Cowboy action shooting I have a .44 Mag Ruger "old style" Vaquero that broke its transfer bar at about the 20,000 rd mark.
I've shot few of the old ones with the higher round count...barely cleaned and abused really badly.
About one in five...or maybe six...developed some small quirks.
It depends on the revolver. I've seen some old M10's with over 50,000 rounds fired having perfect timing and worn blueing but the only thing that was replaced was the firing pin (maybe 2-3 times) and the inner springs.
K frames .357 mags will need service at least two or three time sooner when shooting magnum ammo.
L frame is both stronger and will last longer w/o any major problems. The N frame in .44 will also need some TLC after a lot of hot magnum ammo. In .357 and .41 it's a tank!
