In all seriousness, I was gearing up to write a post on why you need to maintain your gun, even if you shoot the most unbreakable of Ultimate CQB Tactical Death Rays. Then I clicked over to her site and saw this post. So I figured I’d just link to hers instead and save myself the trouble.
She is 100% correct – there is no unbreakable gun. I run about 15,000-20,000 rounds a year through various guns, and let me tell you; stuff breaks. This is why I keep a log book of the rounds I’ve fired through every gun, the malfunctions I’ve had, the last time I cleaned the gun, etc. That way I can track when parts need to be changed.
A gun is just like a car – regular maintenance is the key to continuing performance.
Many years ago I shifted to calendar-based maintenance on cars instead of mileage-based; I realized that, over four months, mileage was reasonably constant, even though sometimes it exceeded strict maintenance mileage guidelines, so 120 days +/- 15 became the maintenance cycle, with specific tasks assigned to each 1/3 year cycle.
I figured guns run the same way. Minor maintenance at each shooting (basic barrel, action, cylinder/slide, magazine, etc. cleaning and lubrication), full field strip and new critical springs at 120 days, detail strip with critical component replacement (extractor, ejector, etc.) at 360. So far that’s worked pretty well, and I can “time budget” a weekend or day off into the schedule months in advance. One must approach this methodology with some discipline – pick a weekend and stick with it. Once the Significant Other understands that It’s On The Calendar In Concrete and all other weekends/days are flexible it becomes easier.
Sure, I buy springs more often, and replace extractors too soon, but bits and pieces are cheap in comparison to knowing I have guns that are ready to run all the time. I don’t worry too much about whether gun A shot 3600 rounds or only 2200 . When the time cycle comes up it gets the appropriate treatment.
I agree with the logbook idea. Knowing what was done to which gun when is important, but I don’t get carried away with it. I don’t track round count, only days for matches and practice.
Sometimes I change oil and filter at 2700 miles, sometimes it goes to 5000. That’s why I use Amsoil and premium filters. Same reason why I buy premium gun parts.