This guy does great youtube videos. Here are a few that amuse me.
I love to see how modern semi-autos have really come so far in terms of reliability. Wasn’t long ago people would deride semi-autos because they would jam in combat. We still have cheap semi-autos that don’t run well, or need very specific ammo to function, and of course (most common with 1911s, Berettas, Glocks, and other guns with a plethora of after-market magazines) a perfectly reliable gun can be mucked up by putting a crappy magazine into it…or simply allowing a magazine to run in the gun well past its service life. (Remember if you have a magazine that starts causing malfunctions, don’t try and fix it, just toss it in the trash and buy a new one. Magazines are like gun springs, they’re consumable parts and once they’re used up just buy new ones and move on.)
That being said there’s a part of me that cringes when I see this. Just because you gun can run for 1200 rounds without cleaning, or survive being burred in mud, or frozen in a block of ice, or used as a marine boat anchor, doesn’t mean that its GOOD for your gun. I see stuff like increased rail wear, metal corrosion, increased barrel wear, decreased overall service life.
I’m glad to know that if I was ever in a horrible situation where my gun got dragged through the mud, or exposed to lots of dust, or just couldn’t be cleaned that it isn’t unreasonable for me to expect it to run. But also I like my guns, and I’d rather spend my cash on new guns, or ammo, or other shooting supplies than replace a shot-out gun because I lapped the rails loose with burnt powder and no lube because I wanted to see how long it would function in those conditions.
Glad there are people who love their guns less than I do, because they supply valuable data, and they rough up their guns so I don’t have to!
Arrrrrr
-Weer’d Beard
However, there is somethingt o be said for pushing your gear to see how far it will go (barring blowing it up). I just recently took a carbine course and made the conciou decision to run it for 3 days with no cleaning, no lube other then waht it started with, and used the crappiest ammo I could use (steel cased Wolf).
The course was 3-days of fairly intense movement, multiple targets, etc to include dropping the weapon twice in the mud to pull my pistol for a fast reaction transition drill. I was pleasantly surprised that after almost 1200+ rounds through the AR my one and only jam was a failue to extract literally within minutes of ending the entire course. My XDm was pushed similarly but to the tune of 300+ rounds with no failures.
I have to say it gave me quite a confidence boost on the capabilities of my primary weapons.
In other news- your random code to post had me type in FCKU!
I totally hear you, but then again I wonder how much of a boost does that give you? I mean it survived that time, and maybe get a little beat-on in the process.
Still in the end quality gun makers build their guns to work, and work damn well, and God bless them.
Gives a good answer to that sticker-shock when a n00b first sees what a 1911 or an AR actually costs. They’re expensive because they’re worth it!
So what does that mean for folks who’ll buy a $260 Sig P6 that has gone several thousand rounds without a malfunction?
Means they shopped surplus!
That being said all sorts of new polymer pistols can shoot in HORRIBLE conditions and still bounce back, and because of their manufacturing materials, they’re considerably cheaper.
Still even a Brand-new Cobra Patriot Sells for $200, guns are simply expensive to make.
I just wish I could afford to buy two of every gun I want. Then I could just abuse the hell out of one to see what it can take.
Well then you’d need to buy THREE, unless you kept competing models, as what would you do when you destructively tested one, and then the other one needed some basic repair work?
I guess it would be ok if you kept, say a S&W642 AND a Ruger LCR or something like that.
Or better yet, I’d LOVE to test the crap out of the new .357 LCR when they hit the Mass Market, maybe Ruger will let me beat the shit out of one….I gots me a nice 158 Gr. handload that will either break the gun or my wrist!
Might as well have four of each…just to be on the safe side. It’s nice to dream!
Isn’t it 🙂
“Just because you gun can run for 1200 rounds without cleaning, or survive being burred in mud, or frozen in a block of ice, or used as a marine boat anchor, doesn’t mean that its GOOD for your gun. I see stuff like increased rail wear, metal corrosion, increased barrel wear, decreased overall service life.”
This. Most guns will run pretty well without lube over the short term. The lack of some lubricants may actually slow down fouling because there is no sticky grease or oil to grab hold of particulates. But they will also show signs of wear much sooner.
And of course if they’re blue or (even worse) in the white, then they rust a lot faster even in open air. I didn’t bother to lube the barrel on my hipower when I first got it because I thought it was stainless. Nope it was just in the white. No spots in the barrel or chamber, but a few dark spots on the crown and on the outside of the ejection port. Doh. That’s what I got for assuming.