Things do break

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I have a very good student who trains. A lot. To say that he is somewhat of a professional student may be under-rating him. His platform of choice is a DA/SA SIG SAUER. His primary training pistol is a P226R.

Did I mention that he trains a lot?

Recently he has ran into problems during training classes. In one class he had a few, very frustrating light primer strikes. The next class, he had what can only be described as a catastrophic failure. Round count on the gun was about 30,000 rounds, with the same number of dry fires. The gun had been in for maintenance in the months prior to the failure. A competent gunsmith went through it, and shipped it back. The shooter was noticeably, and justifiably angry over the failure.

I suggested that he buy a second gun. Yep, the whole one is none thing.

Over the years, I have played with various formulas to track gun wear, and to keep up with maintenance. I’ve tried to have only one gun, and replace it at intervals. I’ve tried having a primary training gun, and then a primary carry gun. Most recently, I’ve started to advocate two guns with equal wear for those who train seriously. So, basically, have two guns that are set up the same, and rotate their use to keep the round count and wear fairly equal. As an example, have two SIG SAUER P226R Legions that get rotated out class to class.

This is a bit pricy, and I get it. But, spending money on courses and ammo is also expensive. For those who train wit their carry gun, what is that worth from the standpoint of liability?

I think for those who seriously train having two guns set up identically makes the most sense.

Enjoy the day.

2 replies
  1. Jay Zirbel
    Jay Zirbel says:

    Excellent article. Before reading I was thinking about setting up a second gun, which makes a lot of sense especially if you practice a lot or involved in any type of competition. Reading this gave me a “nudge” and I will definitely be doing so in the next several months.

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  1. […] my last installment of Things Do Break, I looked at some high round count guns, and the fact that some stuff does eventually break. What a […]

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