Thread: Your opinion on this hypothetical situation...

Depends, if your shooting a taurus its going to shoot crappy either way, if your shooting an HK, Sig, Colt, I think it would matter after that many rounds. I think of firearms as machines, that's what they are for our use. Much like a car, if you have one driver for 20 years and different drivers of that same car for 20 years the one driver car is going to last twice as long as the other with different drivers.

Well..I'm about 3/4 the way to that goal with a Taurus and it's spot on. And it keeps up with HK, Sig, Colt etc where I shoot at distances from 50 yards to 15 yards.

....

Now back to he Ops question. It will depend on what kind of weapon it is, what it's designed to use. If you have a weapon that is not supposed to use +P/+p+ ammo then you might see an issue with the weapon after all those rounds. For the most part in my experience a weapon is much like any other machine. If it's properly maintained it will continue to function worry for longer. I have weapons with untold thousands of rounds and they are as good as the day I bought them. Keep up with maintenance and they will last a long-long time.

that is a very interesting theoretical question, and I guess I know what triggered this question..We used to have discussions like this between me and my brother in law on various topics ranging from car engines to carbage disposals..You know like the myth busters type of discussions..

Back to the question at hand..I will refer to the guns as gun_1 (same ammo) and gun_2 (multiple loads and ammo)..Now theoretically the gun usage of different ammo doesn't have anything to do with adapting the gun or conditioning it to accept these ammo. The gun has to accept these ammo by design..So if the gun is designed to accept these variables ammo then using 100.000 rounds in both guns will not result in modifications in gun_2 over gun_1 to make it more reliable with different ammo..Because at point zero both guns are designed and manufactured equally..At the same token, after 100,000 rds in gun_1 this will not make gun_1 less reliable that gun_2 because using different ammo will not change anything in gun_2 to condition it to this ammo like shaving the ramp to the barrel or any other changes...These parameters have to be included in the original design and manufacturing control. Therefore both guns are equal in design and this type of usage difference will not result in one gun being better than the other gun in terms of accepting different ammo..This type of variability comes from design and not from usage...

For example a paramter that comes with usage is trigger smoothening, friction reduction stuff like that that is dependant on the number of rounds fired..It is really complicated to explain, but I guess I have painted the picture and hopefully answered your question...

Disclaimer: this is my own personal opinion based on the way I understood the question..I am not an expert but that was my analysis..Any other opinions are welcome.

Assuming that you cleaned both guns equally often and equally carefully, there should be little (if any) difference.
However, if you fired only FMJ bullets through one, and only lead bullets through the other, you would find a different set of wear patterns in each barrel.
Further, if you fired only +P or +P+ ammunition through one, and only standard-pressure ammunition through the other, there would be many differences in the observed wear patterns, including possible metal fatigue and fractures.

From what I understand, the + loads will wear your gun down faster than a standard. I don't think you specified, but I would assume that your gun (both) are designed to take + loads. Either way, any loads that are harder on the gun above standard seems like they will put extra strain on the gun, and extra weathering on the metal.

...that the guns in question are designed to handle +p ammo.

great responses so far everyone. keep em comin!

If both are "approved" to handle +P and +P+ loads, and both fire approximately the same mix of standard, +P, and +P+ cartridges, once again there'll be no appreciable difference.
If one, only, is used with +P or +P+, or with a preponderance of hot loads, than that one will show greater wear and greater stress, even though it's supposedly designed expressly for hot loads.

I gotta note that this hypothetical is now reaching silly proportions. You have several similar answers to your original question, and your subsequent question is solvable through the application of simple common sense.
Enough, already.

Kind of rude of you, SteveM1911A1, to decide when a thread has had "enough already", especially one that you didn't start. If you don't want to continue to respond to a thread, simply choose not to click on it. But please don't tell me or others when to stop posting about a topic in an open forum.

fliperoo;
You're right. Sorry 'bout that.
OK, I've had enough of what seems to me to be an endless, circular discussion.
So I'm outta here.

thank you, steve

I would have to agree with Steve1911's original answer. If both guns were +P,+P+ rated and you shot an equal porportion in each, the only difference would occur in the barrel as some types of bullets cause greater and different wear patterns than others.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!

Don

Quick question fliperoo....
I kind of assumed the first time that I read this "hypothetical question" that gun 1 was using "standard" loads and gun 2 was using anything including + ammo. Was this a correct assumption?

Yeah,,,me too...

..anyway.It's really hard to shoot out a well made handgun. Like I said. I have some here that have had more rounds than I can count and they are like new. You replace springs and things but the barrel and frame will outlast the owner. This hinges on the does it rate the +p thing. Stay within the accepted tolerances and it's going to be fine.