Wear on P320/365 FCU?

[Gun1]

Good morning, 

I'm curious as to how well a P320/365 FCU holds up if used for competition. I've heard that the slide rails on the FCU look worn past 20k although not yet worn-out, and that the ejector on the FCU looks worn at around 30k although also still not worn out. Then I've heard someone with 100k through a single FCU say his rails and ejector on his FCU look brand new. So I'm wondering, those of you who've used modular Sigs for competition, how well do the FCUs hold up? 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Gun1

[JoeMKY]

I’ll have to look for that when the round count comes around.  I run a fcu 320 for my open minor and has not hit that 30k yet but I Al just got it in 2021 and is nearing 10k

[Gun1]

52 minutes ago, JoeMKY said:

I’ll have to look for that when the round count comes around.  I run a fcu 320 for my open minor and has not hit that 30k yet but I Al just got it in 2021 and is nearing 10k

Nice! Any noticeable wear on any part of the FCU yet?

Edited October 24, 2022 by Gun1

[JoeMKY]

23 hours ago, Gun1 said:

Nice! Any noticeable wear on any part of the FCU yet?

 
not yet and looks no different between the it and the other 320s that I use for other matches so far.  But I had some switches and rotations in divisions with other 320s that none of the has seen that 20k mark yet in the past 5 years after switching from glocks 

[Rich406]

I’ve got one fcu over 100k, several over 50, and many over 20k. If you didn’t know beforehand, you’d never be able to tell the difference in how they shoot. 

[Gun1]

3 hours ago, Rich406 said:

I’ve got one fcu over 100k, several over 50, and many over 20k. If you didn’t know beforehand, you’d never be able to tell the difference in how they shoot. 

Are you able to tell the difference in wear and tear visually on the FCU? I'm very curious because since it's completely modular does it also get like slide rail or ejector wear like regular guns, or only the replaceable grip gets the brunt of the stress and wear?

Edited October 25, 2022 by Gun1

[Rich406]

On 10/24/2022 at 10:11 PM, Gun1 said:

Are you able to tell the difference in wear and tear visually on the FCU? I'm very curious because since it's completely modular does it also get like slide rail or ejector wear like regular guns, or only the replaceable grip gets the brunt of the stress and wear?

 

It wears everywhere there is metal to metal contact. But that is pretty much only the slide tabs. 

 

Does it look worn? More like, it looks used.. There is no appreciable difference visually, but im sure there would be a difference if I actually measured them.

[Gun1]

15 hours ago, Rich406 said:

 

It wears everywhere there is metal to metal contact. But that is pretty much only the slide tabs. 

 

Does it look worn? More like, it looks used.. There is no appreciable difference visually, but im sure there would be a difference if I actually measured them.

Yeah, I figured it was only the slide tabs and perhaps the ejector? I'm curious as to how much they measure, I'm wondering how much actual metal gets shaved off after firing 100k rounds through a FCU. Also, from what you can tell so far, do you believe eventually the slide tabs will be so worn down that you'll require a new FCU or that they'll outright crack?

[MikeBurgess]

just curious why the concern if a $300 part will wear out after eating $20,000 worth of ammo

[Gun1]

14 minutes ago, MikeBurgess said:

just curious why the concern if a $300 part will wear out after eating $20,000 worth of ammo

Because they're not available for sale here in California, so it's extremely difficult to find one.

[konkapot]

You sure are posting a lot about wearing pistols out. You either spend a lot of time in gunstores or you are pushing for 50 posts. 

[JoeMKY]

12 hours ago, Gun1 said:

Yeah, I figured it was only the slide tabs and perhaps the ejector? I'm curious as to how much they measure, I'm wondering how much actual metal gets shaved off after firing 100k rounds through a FCU. Also, from what you can tell so far, do you believe eventually the slide tabs will be so worn down that you'll require a new FCU or that they'll outright crack?

 

Anything is going to wear down after thousands of rounds fired through it, FCU, Stock 320, Glocks 1911's etc.  Just grease or oil to help with friction and perform proper maintenance and care to any firearm to help extend it's life.  On the 320 as long as you are not shooting 100's of rounds of p+/9mm Major rounds out of it, and you take care of it it will last a long time, and I would ask sig about their warranty if you are that concerned with it, they have great customer service.

 

I have. a glock 17 from 1996 and has had over 20k rounds through it and it will works great 26 years later, I just put grease on the tabs and replaced the guide rod after 10k, and would take it all the way apart back when I used it for matches, cleaned everything and inspect everything to see if there is anything that is cracked or warn just incase I need to replace and put it back together and it is good to go.

 

Other than the color, the FCU is the same as what they have been putting their recent sigs.  Back with the 320 came out, you bought the FCU as a completed firearm, but you could buy their X-Change Kits for 400 (I miss those) which came with a grip, slide and barrel, for small, medium or full size, and you can change your size or even your caliber to 40 or 357 sig.

[GigG]

1 hour ago, konkapot said:

You sure are posting a lot about wearing pistols out. You either spend a lot of time in gunstores or you are pushing for 50 posts. 

 

No kidding. 29 posts and all but one is about guns wearing out. The one exception is his first post where he asks about a problem with the .460 Rowland conversion he did not functioning.

[RJH]

I don't think he's worried about the 50 post, because he's been doing this really slow. But he really needs to quit worrying about wearing pistols out. 

 

If you are like people in most of the world, 10,000 rounds a year is going to be quite a bit. Go buy a Glock 17 and you'll have 10 years worth of gun. In reality you'll probably have closer to 20 years worth of gun.

 

If you decide you're going to shoot 20,000 rounds a year, you may need a gun in 5 years. More than likely though you'll probably never get that first hundred thousand

[Rich406]

Here is a pic of the rail tab on a fcu with 97k live rounds and probably another 50k+ dry fire cycles. 
 

I don’t see anyone really wearing out a FCU. 
 

 

[MikeBurgess]

2 hours ago, Gun1 said:

Because they're not available for sale here in California, so it's extremely difficult to find one.

that makes some sense. 

then I would NOT recommend a 320, having the ejector part of the FCU means a damaged ejector is a junk gun. 

get a all steel gun, 19/2011, CZ, Tanfoglio on these all the parts that could break are replicable, and if the rails wear out you can weld them up and re machine them.

one serial number could last you millions and millions of rounds.

[Gun1]

4 hours ago, Rich406 said:

Here is a pic of the rail tab on a fcu with 97k live rounds and probably another 50k+ dry fire cycles. 
 

I don’t see anyone really wearing out a FCU. 
 

 

Thanks for sharing! Wow, that's impressive. It just looks kond of rounded on the edges compared to a new one, I would guess like 5k rounds through it, not 97k. So probably in the millions of rounds to wear one out right? Now I'm more at ease about getting one.

[Gun1]

4 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

that makes some sense. 

then I would NOT recommend a 320, having the ejector part of the FCU means a damaged ejector is a junk gun. 

get a all steel gun, 19/2011, CZ, Tanfoglio on these all the parts that could break are replicable, and if the rails wear out you can weld them up and re machine them.

one serial number could last you millions and millions of rounds.

That's been a major concern of mine. I did think about a CZ or Beretta 92 instead, but heard that the actual frame cracks. Would that be repairable as well if it does?

[Gun1]

6 hours ago, Rich406 said:

Here is a pic of the rail tab on a fcu with 97k live rounds and probably another 50k+ dry fire cycles. 
 

I don’t see anyone really wearing out a FCU. 
 

 

I'm curious, I just noticed what looks like a crack on the right slide tab. Is that from the casting or a deep scratch?

[Rich406]

1 minute ago, Gun1 said:

I'm curious, I just noticed what looks like a crack on the right slide tab. Is that from the casting or a deep scratch?

That’s not a crack

[Gun1]

19 minutes ago, Rich406 said:

That’s not a crack

Is it a deep scratch or it was just cast that way since new? I was just curious because the other side appears to be smoothly rounded.

[Rich406]

1 minute ago, Gun1 said:

Is it a deep scratch or it was just cast that way since new? I was just curious because the other side appears to be smoothly rounded.

It’s a nothing. There is nothing there, mostly likely it’s a strand of grease.

[Gun1]

24 minutes ago, Rich406 said:

It’s a nothing. There is nothing there, mostly likely it’s a strand of grease.

Yeah, now that you mention it it does kind of look like grease, thanks for telling me. I was just curious because it looked more like a casting line from the factory. 

So I can't really tell that well from the photos, but the edges, particularly the front edges, are definitely more rounded and a bit "sanded down" so to speak compared with an unused FCU, correct? 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Gun1

[MikeBurgess]

15 hours ago, Gun1 said:

That's been a major concern of mine. I did think about a CZ or Beretta 92 instead, but heard that the actual frame cracks. Would that be repairable as well if it does?

Pretty much anything is reparable its just a matter of money. I know there are guys with transferable full auto guns that go great lengths to repair the serialized parts, but with those we are looking at lowers worth $30,000 so spending many thousand dollars to rebuild one from scratch makes sense.

I know California is a bitch but  unless there is zero possibility of getting a replacement its probably better to just plan on paying the premium to get a replacement when that time comes.

[Gun1]

37 minutes ago, MikeBurgess said:

Pretty much anything is reparable its just a matter of money. I know there are guys with transferable full auto guns that go great lengths to repair the serialized parts, but with those we are looking at lowers worth $30,000 so spending many thousand dollars to rebuild one from scratch makes sense.

I know California is a bitch but  unless there is zero possibility of getting a replacement its probably better to just plan on paying the premium to get a replacement when that time comes.

Yeah, I'm just planning ahead, worst case scenario with a zero possibility of replacement. So, for example, a CZ that cracks the actual frame or slide rails, I would be able to have it repaired? And would aluminum framed guns like the Sig P226 or Beretta 92fs also be candidates to get repaired?