Re-timing Revolvers

I'm no revolver expert, but...

I had the pleasure of shooting the Alabama State USPSA/IPSC match this weekend with a friend from Tennessee, Sam Keen. Sam started shooting a revolver a number of years ago with a goal of becoming proficient. He worked hard, practiced a lot, and is now one of 15 USPSA shooters in the country to have obtained a Grandmaster classification with a revolver. Of the 15, he is currently 10th in classification percentage. (Yes, Jerry Miculek is #1, and our own Johnny Brister from the MS Delta happens to currently be #2, but I digress).

I asked Sam about this thread as well as the S&W 625 .45ACP that he was shooting at the match. Some of you might not believe this, but I don't doubt him. He told me he has a little over 300,000 rounds through the very revolver he was shooting at the match, and that he put that number through it in 4-5 years. During that period, he broke the star, or the piece that actually ejects the brass from the cylinder as I understood him, and the firing pin broke rendering the gun inoperable until replaced. That's it. It's never had the timing adjusted or corrected, and he says it will still shoot about 2.5" at 25 yards if he does his part. About 90% of the rounds down range were lead bullets, which probably plays a part in the fact it still has some rifling left in the bore.

I also talked to a few revolver shooters at the local Magnolia USPSA match today, and none of them have had to have timing adjusted. One had the trigger pivot pin shear off recently and others had some equally strange issues along the way, but timing doesn't seem to be an issue in this crowd.

One of my objections to Colt's revolvers is, they get out of time easier than S&W. Yes, even the Python.

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I agree with Mr. Bowser, as it is my understanding this is one of the major reasons you don't see Colt revolvers in USPSA competition very often. They can't take the abuse and do need to be tuned up much more often than Smiths. Another factor is the reverse cylinder latch which requires pulling rather than pushing, which is slightly more difficult when reloading quickly.

Granted the above information is from a small sampling, but USPSA shooters are pretty good at finding something's weaknesses and putting a lifetime (or lifetimes) worth of wear on equipment in a relatively short period of time compared to most shooters.

Sorry to drift your thread slightly, 'Neck, but yeah, that is a lot on one barrel. It is of course affected by many factors though.

George Smith of Evolution Gun Works has posted on another forum that he has seen a .38 Super USPSA Open gun barrel worn out in just 7K rounds with Accurate No. 7. Apparently it is an abrasive powder, and that would have been at the old power factor so it was likely a 115 gr. jacketed bullet at 1550+ fps.

George also posted that Doug Koenig had over 105K through his first .45, largely with lead, and although the rifling was worn in the throat area immediately in front of the chamber, it would still shoot under 3" at 50 yards.

I believe Jack Barnes, former Springfield Armory sponsored shooter, has an old .45 that has over 200K on it that still shoots fine. He also mentioned some of the rifling was worn in the throat. One common thread is the use of lead rather than jacketed, as well as the comparatively large bore and low pressure of the .45ACP.

I've been told I should expect between 80-100K barrel life in my .40S&W Limited guns shooting jacketed bullets with fast powder. My highest round gun has about 45-50K on it now and it still shoots pretty well. Groups are marginally larger than when it was new, but then again I am shooting different bullets now so I can't say for sure it is due to barrel wear. Either way, the barrel clearly has life left for its intended purpose (IPSC/USPSA matches).