I'm sure there will be reports of a few instances of frame cracks.

Almost 20 years ago there were articles by Chuck Taylor in various magazines, including eventually the annual Glock Autopistols magazine, that reported a G17 that was in a long-term endurance test. IIRC, the last issue that I read back then was reporting something in excess of 120,000 rounds through it with the pistol still completely serviceable.

The early phase of that test is described through 1995 here. Prowling around the web one can find updates in teaser excerpts from gun magazines that run the count up to almost 300,000 rounds.

These articles convinced me 18 years ago that polymer-frame Glock pistols would grossly outlast the metal-frame Browning High Power, Beretta 92FS, and Colt Series 80 Mark IV that had been my favorites. A Gen2.5 G27 soon replaced my .40SW Browning High Power Mark III for EDC.

 

I'm sure someone has. But we haven't. We have service guns still on duty from the earliest gen 3 guns. More than a few with over 100K through them. I passed on a gen 2 to my father. It has somewhere in the mid 60's through it and still functions like new. No problems. We have had, across the entire region, since around 1999, three guns that were recalled by glock due to being part of a particular run as identified by serial number (I first found out about the recall here), one slide that chipped where the slide stop catches. Two slides that split by the rear rail cut. A couple of locking block chicklets broke. I think we might have had one a while back that had a slide break at the ejection port. None of the guns stopped firing. We have had zero frame failures. Zero barrel failures. No change in accuracy. We have watched the whole KB hysteria come and go without ever seeing any issues. And we continue to watch rampant reports of BTF, which we have yet to classify as a problem, as it's part of shooting and is, at least in our guns and those of our students, equally evident from the earliest gen 3's to our most recently acquired gen 4's. Same for the other agencies that use our academy and shoot sig and M&P pistols. To digress a little bit- while glocks continue to be bomb proof regarding durability and functionality, we find very similar traits, albeit at lower round counts, with Sigs. Not so much with M&P. They're good guns, but have a higher rate of malfunction and breakage than the other two, to be sure. And they are all fairly new guns.

 

Unless the frame cracks, I'm not sure you can really wear it out. Small parts/springs can be replaced.

 

What about the barrel? Will it last 50K rounds?

How many rounds until your pistol becomes a "smooth bore".

I shot a few hundred rounds of steel case through my G19 - so I figured it was about worn out. :whistling:

 

For questions regarding barrel life expectancy,this may offer some guidance. SJ 40

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1455488

 

We had a handful that had frame rails shear off. And no these we not the E series recalls.

 

What caliber or model?
I do recall, quite sometime back, of a bad batch of guns that had defective frame rails, bad before they were even cast in the guns. Is that the ones you are talking about?

 

I have had both a slide and frame fail. Not sure if that's what you mean by worn out, but they were no longer usable.

 

You can't WEAR a gun out! It may fail or break, but NEVER wear out!

 

My first Glock was a 26 that I bought new in about 2003. I shot about 300-500 rounds before one of the rear frame rails broke. I got a new one from Glock and sold it before I ever shot it. I didn't own another Glock for about seven years.

 

Using any halfway decent ammo, and cleaned by someone who know what they're doing, and they'll last far past 50K.

What about the barrel? Will it last 50K rounds?

How many rounds until your pistol becomes a "smooth bore".

I shot a few hundred rounds of steel case through my G19 - so I figured it was about worn out. :whistling:

 

Using any halfway decent ammo, and cleaned by someone who know what they're doing, and they'll last far past 50K.

For the last year or so -

I put all the pistol barrels in a small Ziploc bag - then do several good squirts of Ballistol in the bag making sure they have some inside and out.

I let them soak while I clean the rest of the parts - sometime I go to lunch - take a nap - walk the dogs.

Then I wipe them off on the outside - run a few clean patches down the inside - inspect them with a bore light - then a few more clean patches until they have no visible oil - but are still a little bit shinny.

I don't do much else - most of the time they are GTG.

If I am in hurry I just use a 9MM drill bit - slam it down the bore from the muzzle end a few times using my cordless drill - seems to remove all the dirt and left over copper.

 

Unless the frame cracks, I'm not sure you can really wear it out. Small parts/springs can be replaced.

Concur....never seen one worn out. I have seen a few barrels with over 20k ran through them....they look fine.

For the last year or so -

I put all the pistol barrels in a small Ziploc bag - then do several good squirts of Ballistol in the bag making sure they have some inside and out.

I let them soak while I clean the rest of the parts - sometime I go to lunch - take a nap - walk the dogs.

Then I wipe them off on the outside - run a few clean patches down the inside - inspect them with a bore light - then a few more clean patches until they have no visible oil - but are still a little bit shinny.

I don't do much else - most of the time they are GTG.

If I am in hurry I just use a 9MM drill bit - slam it down the bore from the muzzle end a few times using my cordless drill - seems to remove all the dirt and left over copper.

Am I missing something here....a drill bit? :headscratch:

:wavey:

red

 

Concur....never seen one worn out. I have seen a few barrels with over 20k ran through them....they look fine.



Am I missing something here....a drill bit? :headscratch:

:wavey:

red

Joking I am sure.

 

Concur....never seen one worn out. I have seen a few barrels with over 20k ran through them....they look fine.



Am I missing something here....a drill bit? :headscratch:

:wavey:

red

My Dremel wouldn't reach all the way down the inside of the barrel - it is just too much work to use a chopstick and 500 grit wet & dry sand paper - so this was the best choice.

Only problems are I get a lot of keyhole shots on target - and the more I practice (and clean) the worse my marksmanship seems to get - and now even the 9MM drill bit is not doing a good enough job -

Is there a 9.5 MM drill bit or do I need to go all the way up to 10MM?

 

Am I missing something here...

Yes.

You are missing the humor.

:faint:

 

Butch had slide crack at a match in Lexington few years ago on a high mileage 1st gen G17.

 

I wish I had saved/bookmarked the post. A guy who I thought lives just a bit north of me said he had a G34 that he used often for competition and I thought he said he had around 100k rounds through it and it was starting to be less accurate. He said Glock told him to send them the pistol and they sent to him a new one.

If I could afford enough ammunition to wear out a Glock I would gladly try to. If someone else would provide the ammunition I would gladly buy a few new Glocks and see how many rounds it takes to wear them out. Then if he or they would buy more ammunition I would gladly buy a few more Glocks to try to wear them out too.

 

My Dremel wouldn't reach all the way down the inside of the barrel - it is just too much work to use a chopstick and 500 grit wet & dry sand paper - so this was the best choice.

Only problems are I get a lot of keyhole shots on target - and the more I practice (and clean) the worse my marksmanship seems to get - and now even the 9MM drill bit is not doing a good enough job -

Is there a 9.5 MM drill bit or do I need to go all the way up to 10MM?

:rofl:

Good stuff.

 

From the Hirtenberger ammo company.

"Dear gentlemen!

The hereby rendered weapon Glock 17 number AC 428 has been strained with 348'210 rounds during functional and endurance firing.

The firing has been done exclusively with Hirtenberger ammunition. The following types have been used mostly: 65% 30% 5%

Up to the mentioned number of bullets after which the barrel lacerated, no gross errors have occured.

The firing pin spring and recoil spring have each been replaced once.

The weapon would be fully functional again if fitted with a replacement barrel.

We remain with our best thanks for your obligingness sincerely yours

Hirtenberger incorporation"


It takes a lot of rounds to wear one out! It would probably still shoot today if they had replaced the barrel.

 

For the last year or so -

I put all the pistol barrels in a small Ziploc bag - then do several good squirts of Ballistol in the bag making sure they have some inside and out.

I let them soak while I clean the rest of the parts - sometime I go to lunch - take a nap - walk the dogs.

Then I wipe them off on the outside - run a few clean patches down the inside - inspect them with a bore light - then a few more clean patches until they have no visible oil - but are still a little bit shinny.

I don't do much else - most of the time they are GTG.

If I am in hurry I just use a 9MM drill bit - slam it down the bore from the muzzle end a few times using my cordless drill - seems to remove all the dirt and left over copper.

Plus one on the 9mm drill bit. I have found that sometimes I need to run a 9.5 mm bit of it especially dirty.

 

I am working on wearing out my G20SF.

I will let you know when that happens. :wavey:

 

Yup one of my instructors, who has been teaching a long long time and is a firearms instructor for a very large police department, told me last year his Gen 2 40 cal Glock had given up after a jillion rounds. I imagine he had well over 500,00 rounds through that pistol.

 

What failed on it?

 

IIRC there was a link to an article posted here about a batch of Glocks given to Russian special forces for a period of testing. I don't remember the duration of the tests nor the rounds they put through the guns but they turned them into a pile of scrap metal and plastic chips. The Russians declined to adopt them as their sidearm. Again, I do not remember the estimated number of rounds each failed gun was subjected to. Having said that I don't think I can afford the ammo it would take to wear ANY of my guns out. I don't accept the idea that a polymer Glock will automatically outlast an all-metal gun. I own a CZ 75 Massada that was used in one of Israel's Special Forces training school for 20 years before it was retired. Only worn parts were the extractor and trigger bow. No measurable slide rail wear and it's still a tack driver.
With ammo prices and reloading components being what they are it's doubtful you'll find many gun of any manufacture worn out.

 

From the Hirtenberger ammo company.

"Dear gentlemen!

The hereby rendered weapon Glock 17 number AC 428 has been strained with 348'210 rounds during functional and endurance firing.


The firing pin spring and recoil spring have each been replaced once.

Hirtenberger incorporation"

And yet tons of morons here think they need to replace their springs at 2k, 3k or 5k rounds. :rofl::rofl:

 

And yet tons of morons here think they need to replace their springs at 2k, 3k or 5k rounds. 🤣🤣

My 25 year old g19 Gen 2 was getting failures to extract with reloads. I changed the recoil spring and it became more reliable. This was after about 5,000 rounds. I ordered a heavier striker spring due to occasional failures to ignite the primer but haven't tried it yet. I suspect this is due to reloads rather than quality commercial ammo.

 

Do you have any idea of age and/or round count when this happened.

If it happens below some arbitrary round count (let's say 10,000) I'd consider it to be defective. If it happens somewhere above that, I'd consider it shot out.

I have had both a slide and frame fail. Not sure if that's what you mean by worn out, but they were no longer usable.

 

Do you have any idea of age and/or round count when this happened.

If it happens below some arbitrary round count (let's say 10,000) I'd consider it to be defective. If it happens somewhere above that, I'd consider it shot out.

Roughly 50K/2 years