Merlin Orr Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Trying to expand my revolver knowledge base - on another forum - and asked a question about a S&W for competition use. After the first 5 or 6 posts in a row telling me I should never shoot a S&W as they are meant to be ooooed and awwwed over I gave up and just publicly apologized for suggesting something as dastardly as buying a revolver to actually "Shoot...." I was told by that ""in a year or two" the gun would be trashed out with " the amount of rounds that a competition shooter runs through a gun." Got to thinking on that one. Just how long (with reasonable care) does a revolver last in competition? How many rounds do some of you REAL revolver shooters put through a gun and how long has Your gun lasted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I have worn out a barrel or two in somewhere over 100,000 rounds (each). The rest of the gun? Don't know yet. With occasional retiming, like a tune up on a car, they will go for years. Anything mechanical is going to wear out eventually, sometimes a part will break. Most people won't shoot a revolver enough to wear it out in a lifetime. A rimfire is almost impossible to wear out due to the very low pressure and heat generated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I have a 686 that I am sure it over 50,000 rds. Had to put a new hand in it and it keeps on shooting as good as new. Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Yeah, they last a long time. I remember Jerry talking about a couple of his older working guns that had a lot of mileage--I know one of his 27s was well up into the six digits. I haven't kept track of the round count on any of my guns, but my old 25-2 is probably the highest. That gun was well-used when I bought it back in 1987, and it was the primary gun I used during my first 10 years of shooting pins and plates. In fact, Mas Ayoob mentioned my old 25-2 in one of his recent articles--funny that he would remember that gun! The center-pin hole on that ol' heater has gotten a little oblong, but I've kept it tuned up over the years and it's still a great match gun. I had it with me as a back-up at Nationals and Sam shot it at Memphis back in the fall. Bottom line--you just gotta ignore all those little old hens on the S&W Forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 I bought a nice 25-2 today and I fully intend to wear it totally out... Glad to hear it won't be in one year...LOL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Sahlberg Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 My 1st S&W was a Model 64 4" SS adj sights that I had used for PPC, had 100K+ and traded it away...PPC loads were 3 gr Bullseye under a 148 gr HBWC @ 700 fps always shot accurately and back then PPC meant 24 rnds at 50 YDS (not 50 feet) I have had 25+ revos, mostly S&Ws because they are like my Benelli, nothing ever goes wrong with them. I bought 3 S&W 627s (8 shot .357) the first year they came out through Lew Horton ($735 ea. :-) One has 75K+ with 38 Colt Shorts loaded with Montana Gold 130 gr RN bullets @ 1100 fps without having to replace anything. I did buy a Fiber Optic front sight a few years ago because of my aging eyes. No springs, no firing pin breakage, and I even clean it every 1000 rnds. BEST DAM GUN I EVER OWNED!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMajor Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 My 625 .45 ACP has been my main USPSA/IPSC gun for about 15 years and I've put somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50K rounds through it - almost all making major power factor. Lead bullets for practice and competition up until about 5 years ago, now plated bullets for competition. Nowhere near "worn out" yet - had to send the cylinder back to S&W about 5K rounds ago to replace a broken extractor locater pin. That is it for repairs. Been thinking about getting it looked at for a tune up/tightening up, but am sure I have tens of thousands of rounds left before I need to. I do know a couple revolver shooters who use Ruger DA guns, but would venture to guess that 98% of the revolvers you'll see competitors using in USPSA/ICORE/IDPA are S&W revolvers. Certainly not too fragile for competition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round_Gun_Shooter Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 (edited) I bought a nice 25-2 today and I fully intend to wear it totally out... Glad to hear it won't be in one year...LOL... You won't live long enough to do it my friend. Edited March 14, 2010 by Round_Gun_Shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubber Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 It took me 12 years to wear out a 586 L frame from 1980 to 1992. I wore out the yoke as the cylinder wore it down thin enough to cause it to flex under pressure. If I could have bought a yoke back then I could have had it fitted and continue on. I was told it was a gunsmith only part. I had the hammer stud replace on it already. Shot my open K frames for a few years until I had an eight shot built on a 44 mag Taurus frame. It held up for only 20,000 or so maybe one year. Gene then built me an eight shot built on an old model 27 frame. I got maybe ten years out of it. Replced the hammer stud and now the firing pin bushing is quite oblong and enlarged. It needs to be replaced and raised maybe 0.003 to compensate for the raised bore. I am now using a 627 in 38 super. I only get to shoot it about two times a month in a match lus a little practice now and then. I maybe have 4 years on it. I have not been able to wear out a barrel yet though. How long will a S&W last. Mybe ten years if you perform no maintainance on them, longer if you take care of them. Hope this is helpful. Later rdd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 I bought a nice 25-2 today and I fully intend to wear it totally out... Glad to hear it won't be in one year...LOL... You won't live long enough to do it my friend. Merlin, you better watch your back--that sounds like a threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopalong Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Merlin, The 625-3 I have as my now practice gun, was my main gun for 5 years I know has 200k through it. Like Carmoneys 25 it too has an oblonged center pin hole. I had to put a Firing pin in it this year, and about a month after I aquired it I had to put a cylinder on it after I double charged it. It still has the factory cylinder stop (window is pretty slopy now) and I found out the hard way the star fingers don't like a deep chamfer. (had to replace the star after breaking 3 fingers). Other than that it is good to go. I shoot 90+% lead through the gun so the barrel looks good and it still groups 2 inches at 25 yds, plenty good for what we do. HOP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 I was told by a friend that used to shoot Second Chance for most of the almost 30years it was on with a full house .44 mag this story. The group that shot alot ran into some factory guys from SW that were at the match one year. They got to talking about the guns and the guys told them how many rounds they had through the guns, and the Factory guys couldn't believe they shot that many rounds, and that the guns were still holding up. They honestly over engineered the N frames and didn't think people would shoot the tens of thousand's of rounds we do for competition..... That is why all my wheelguns are Smiths.... You will probably see the center pin hole egg out, which can be welded back up and recut from the rear. I have had a 625 that the factory said was junk repaired to it's greatness now.... and also a 627 as well. If you are running a heavy trigger you can get away with the egged out hole, but if you lighten the trigger it will cause you fits...You will need to replace the cylinder stop at some point, but that is pretty easy now with the MIM parts...... In short, just shoot it! DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Service Desk Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 (edited) Just how long (with reasonable care) does a revolver last in competition? How many rounds do some of you REAL revolver shooters put through a gun and how long has Your gun lasted? 1) A very, very long time.... just oil them each time you shoot. 2) Lots, (20K + annually)mainly lead boolits because of cost constraints. 3) One K frame has over 150K of 125pf loads since 1993... still holds the X ring at 50 yards Like most other guys have said a few Ron Power shims, the occasional replacement of a timing hand and maybe a cylinder stop. Adequate lubrication with oil on a regular basis will keep the internals alive. A broken trigger pin is the most common round count injury. Edited March 15, 2010 by Service Desk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8ring Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 Two parts have worn out on my 625-3 that I bought used in 2005. The firing pin bushing (the conical shaped piece that surrounds the firing pin) began setting in deeper than the recoil plate after 2,000+ rounds. (I don't know haw many rounds the gun had on it when I bought it.) This caused primers to back out after the round had been shot which, in turn, caused excessive cylinder dragging.The gunsmith replaced the firing pin bushing and all was well for another 2,000 to 3,000 rounds when the problem arose again. This time the frame behind the firing pin bushing was peened too much and I sent it back to SW who supplied a new (625-2) frame to the tune of $225 plus shipping and handling. All was well for a while. Then the cylinder started skipping. The cylinder notches had been peened due to firing and dry firing. I bought a titanium cylinder which a good local SW smith installed for me. Since titanium is very hard, there is no visible wear on the cylinder notches after a couple thousand rounds. The cylinder stop will probably need to be replaced in the future but, since it runs fine at the moment, I'll save that task till another day. In my unsophisticated opinion, I think that excessive dry-firing puts a lot of wear on these revolvers. I never saw much more personal improvement dryfiring 500 shots a week as opposed to 75 shots a week. (Practicing reloads, on the other hand, paid dividends.) At the practice range, the most important thing to me was getting the proper high neutral grip with just enough finger on the trigger so the front sight moved up 1/2 to 3/4" and came back down into the middle of the rear sight notch. My 2 cents. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Round_Gun_Shooter Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 I bought a nice 25-2 today and I fully intend to wear it totally out... Glad to hear it won't be in one year...LOL... You won't live long enough to do it my friend. Merlin, you better watch your back--that sounds like a threat. He only needs to watch his back when picking up moon clips in front of you Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 I bought a nice 25-2 today and I fully intend to wear it totally out... Glad to hear it won't be in one year...LOL... You won't live long enough to do it my friend. Merlin, you better watch your back--that sounds like a threat. He only needs to watch his back when picking up moon clips in front of you Mike I believe you're thinking of Hopalong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S&WIowegan Posted March 15, 2010 Share Posted March 15, 2010 (edited) I have a 625-2 5"bbl.(transition gun that looks like a dash 3) that I acquired used in 1994. This gun was my primary IPSC competition revolver until recently. I retired it from competition when I noticed my handloads were chroning slower than they had been and slower than in a newer 4" 625. The gun was shot in 2 or 3 matches a month plus big matches and practice. Most of my ammo is jacketed. The bore has simply worn just enough to make it slightly over-sized. The gun still runs like a charm. Bob A16841 PS I believe Carmoney's 25-2 requires a little extra powder to make major too. You should ask his son about that. Edited March 15, 2010 by S&WIowegan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasond Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 I sometimes shoot silhouette, and the old timers tell me that 29s were stretching frames after a few thousand full power .44 mags. I have had a few factory installed problems with my 627, but nothing due to wear in about 25,000 rounds. I'm sure that a S&W revo would come out ahead of most autos in repair costs/service life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 I am very encouraged about the service life of the Smiths after reading these posts.... I have also learned to watch the revolver bunch Veeerrrry closely when policing my brass.... Luckily I shoot with the Corpus Christi Wild Bunch so I am very accustomed to protecting my six.... Great info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leam Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Very encouraging, thanks for posting the question Merlin! A friend is offereing me a good deal on a 28. I'm still hemming and hawing about it mentally, but knowing Smith's hold up well helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Ho Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 I bought a nice 25-2 today and I fully intend to wear it totally out... another $200 well spent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmc1974 Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 This is all good to hear. I really like my 25-5 4" 45 Colt/45acp. I had cut for moonclips. It is one of my favorite pistola's. I dought I will ever wear it out, I only shoot it a few matches a year. Still it is a favorite, just something about a big old N frame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Griffin Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 I wear mine out in dryfire, honestly. I'm putting more stress on them practicing reloads, thus replacing the ejector every now and again. My -4 is fine after 10k or so rounds and 30k or so pulls, I did just have to get the hammer pin replaced on the -8, 15k rounds and 50k pulls, but I seem to remember taking it apart a few times without detensioning the mainspring, a big no-no. It started shedding ejector arms last year during the peak of my practice, but I really can't blame the gun for that. Worked fine with 3 arms at Memphis, then I replaced it. That said, I've gone through two or three main pins in my G35, and two trigger springs, all of which are critical failures. Probably 50k rounds through that gun, along with 50k dryfires. Nobody makes a gun for the wear we put on them, frankly. H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Ya know? A thread on Rev. will not work like the Single Stack glub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sargenv Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 I have likely over 100,000 through my 610-2, pretty sure they were all reloads.. and it's a very slick shooter.. nice smooth trigger... I think D.Carden wore out one of his 625's from combined dry fire and matches.. something about the internals were worn out.. Most people who are not competitors will ever wear it out due to actual use, likely they will wear it out from cleaning or damage the crown or other internals by messing with something they shouldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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