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Some thoughts on round counts and reliability.

Some thoughts on round counts and reliability.

What follows came up in a discussion about the reliability of 1911 pistols, but is actually universally applicable: to Glocks, SIGs, HKs, rifles, shotguns – and, yes, revolvers.

The context of the discussion was the validity of looking at failures during a training class as indicative of larger problems. It usually takes a form similar to “I’m not going to fire 1,000 rounds in self defense, so a gun problem in a class proves nothing; my gun is reliable enough for the 10 rounds it’s going to take.”

The statement is valid – no one is going to fire 500 or 1,000 rounds in self defense – but the conclusion isn’t.

A gun which is carried for self defense continuously deteriorates in terms of its operational condition. Lubricants ooze out and evaporate, while lint and dirt work their way into and onto the operating surfaces. A gun which has been carried without stripping, cleaning and re-oiling for a few weeks may in fact be at the same level of cleanliness, and the oil and grease at the same level of lubricity, as a gun which has just fired 500 or more rounds. (Yeah, yeah, I know – you clean your gun every night and twice on Sundays. You get a gold star that says “I’m the extreme exception!”)

Now you might say that a failure at 600 or 700 rounds is immaterial because you never will shoot it that much in real life, but consider this: the gun that’s been riding around in its holster for a while may in fact be a lot closer in terms of operational condition to that 600 round mark than you might believe. Since malfunctions are, at some level, random, that gun may be at the brink of malfunction with the first round – or second or third – that’s fired in defense of its owner. The shorter the interval between malfunctions, the more concerning this becomes. Different story now, isn’t it?

This is why it’s important to test your self defense gun thoroughly, and yes – that means a days where you shoot 500 or more rounds through it without cleaning, oiling, or otherwise pampering the thing. It’s not to prove that the gun will shoot that many rounds without malfunction; it’s a way of helping you determine whether the gun will function in the non-pristine condition in which it probably always exists. The goal should be zero malfunctions, because that’s what’s necessary when our lives are on the line.

Regardless of the make or model.

-=[ Grant ]=-

  • Posted by Grant Cunningham
  • On May 9, 2012

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