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When is a gun "shot out"?


rowdyb

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So I shoot a fair number of rounds through my two main pistols. I've heard of guns getting "shot out".

What exactly does this mean and when do people consider it to have happened?

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Oh I see that happen all the time. Its usually when someone buys a used pistol and can only shoot 8-12" 3 shot groups at 10yds. The evidence of hard usage on the pre owned gun is usually some very light finish wear on high edges.

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What TT said. Generally refers to the barrel no longer holding acceptable accuracy standards. IIRC, usually as simple as replacing the shot out barrel and fitting it, and should be right back to normal.

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I was mostly joking. Just pointing out that most gun owners default to blaming the gun when they can't shoot. I have seen quite a few rifles that where missing the rifling entirely, most of them shot about as bad as expected when they where new. They're also always better than 80 years old and have been used in a world war or two.

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Rowdy, figure if you know what your guns' accuracy standard was before, most barrels have a service life around 15-20k rounds give or take. When you start getting groups outside of that known standard, then start planning on replacing at least the barrel.

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A shadow can shoot a shitload more than 20k rounds and still hold a group. There is a club gun near me with reportedly 200k+ on the original barrel and still shoots a decent group. Some other bits have bee replaced as needed.

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most barrels have a service life around 15-20k rounds give or take.

15-20k is very low. I've got quite a few guns with 15-50k that still group close to when new and one at 60k that's still acceptable. I also know a few comp shooters getting over 100k per barrel. A barrel should be good for at least 80k.

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Barrel life is a combination of factors, hardness of the barrel, bullets, typical powder charge, etc. etc. A gun is "shot out" I would think when you can no longer get it to work reliably as a result of extensive all-around wear. Like an auto loader whose barrel is worn out, and whose frame rails are shot, and the trigger is not resetting reliably. A revo whose cylinder is worn, blown forcing cone, etc.

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Shot out usually means the barrel rifling is worn out or pitted badly where accuracy is gone.

Check muzzle crowns too. I've seen many times when a new crown has restored accuracy.

When it comes to barrels, rifle or pistol, the higher pressure loads being used such as magnum or 9mm Major, the faster the throat gets worn out.

Might take 100K rounds in pistols to do so, but the beauty is you can replace the barrel.

Most rifles in serious comps gets replaced between 1 to 5K depending on caliber.

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Typically people refer to a pistol being shot out when the accuracy drops below an acceptable level. You should be regularly range testing your pistols accuracy and keeping a record of it. This way you can track it's performance and/or it's decline.

There are several things that can effect the accuracy but the most common, excluding ammo and technique, is the barrel. It can be a result of either internal wear (rifling worn out) or fit (clearances worn). It is pretty hard to wear out the rifling, I just rebarreled my Kimber 1911 after 8 years and approximately 150,000 rounds. But there are things that will cause it to happen quicker. The type of powder you use, the type of bullet you use, how carefully and often you clean it, how hot you get the barrel, can all influence the life of your barrel's rifling. Rifles, because of increased pressure and heat (and flame cutting) will wear out a barrel much quicker then a pistol. (A overbored cartridge case pushing a small, fast bullet will eat barrels very quickly).

The fit of the barrel and to a much smaller degree the fit of the slide to the frame can also influence your accuracy. The slide to frame fit is much more important on a gun were the sights are mounted to the frame, usually Open guns. In that case even if the barrel is locking up the same everytime with the slide, if the slide is locking up different each time relative to the frame and thus the sights, your groups will expand.

For iron sighted, or at least pistols with the sights mounted to the slide it is much less important. With those it is the fit of the barrel to the slide that makes the most difference. A requirement of accuracy is that the barrel lock up into the slide in exactly the same way each time the gun cycles. Since the sights are mounted to the slide that means the barrel would also be locked up exactly the same with the sights each time the gun cycles. That provides the repeatability commonly referred to as accuracy. As the pistol cycles and parts rub up against each other the softest material will start to wear away increasing the clearances that were built into the pistol allowing the barrel to lock up slightly differently each time the pistol cycles, causing it to lose that repeatability and thus the accuracy. In simple terms the barrel will be pointed in slightly different direction, relative to the sights, each time the gun fires changing the point of impact relative to the point of aim.

Things like Hard Chrome or Ion Bond on the slide and frame can reduce wear extending their life. Some of the hard coating's for the barrel (and bushing if so equipted) can help protect those clearances. Under those conditions, assuming quality maintenance and quality parts, a pistol should be good for at least 100,000 rounds especially considering the accuracy requirement of IDPA and USPSA.

Edited by Bob Hostetter
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