Round Count... Really?

[KalamaMark]

I'm sorta new to this forum, just joining a couple months ago or so.

I'm not a young kid, I've bought, sold, and traded lots of guns before...but I've never seen such attention to 'Round Count.'

Frankly, I couldn't give you an honest estimate to how many rounds have been through any of my firearms.

"I've shot that one a lot. That one, not so much. That one, only to verify zero for hunting season and then to kill something to eat."

Do folks really keep a count of how much ammo they run down the pipe of their guns? Do ya keep a spreadsheet to keep it straight?

Does anyone really put any monetary value on 'stated' round count when shopping for a firearm?

I just don't get it.

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[Unka-Boo]

My favorite....

" < 200 rounds "


I think I've seen that posted more than anything else...


I can see where it could be an issue on a rifle that may have had thousands of rounds down the pipe ( AR, AK, Mini, ect...) but for the most part, it's meaningless.

 

[stitchclimber]

I think people like to know ballparks... If I am buying an AR15 I don't want one that has 3k-5k rounds through it. and I know a lot of members that have ran that many down their AR's.

On the flip side if I were buying a Kimber or some other handgun that needed broken in, it'd be nice to know that its had a few boxes of ammo through it to break it in.

I give ballpark roundcounts when I can, other guns I know specifically how many times its been to the range, others I couldn't even begin to guess on.

I'm sorta new to this forum, just joining a couple months ago or so.

I'm not a young kid, I've bought, sold, and traded lots of guns before...but I've never seen such attention to 'Round Count.'

Frankly, I couldn't give you an honest estimate to how many rounds have been through any of my firearms.

"I've shot that one a lot. That one, not so much. That one, only to verify zero for hunting season and then to kill something to eat."

Do folks really keep a count of how much ammo they run down the pipe of their guns? Do ya keep a spreadsheet to keep it straight?

Does anyone really put any monetary value on 'stated' round count when shopping for a firearm?

I just don't get it.

 

[mjbskwim]

Some calibers eat barrels faster than others?
Other parts that may break/need replaced?

So I have heard.
I don't shoot near enough,so I can get pretty close to what I have put through my guns.
I believe target and varmint shooters keep a spread sheet to keep track of loads,so they might have an accurate count,but I get your point

A lot of machinists and engineers shoot too,ya know.And they need to keep track of everything.

 

[stitchclimber]

Some calibers eat barrels faster than others?

IE magnum rifles...

 

[iusmc2002]

When you're talking about buying something as finicky as an AR, I would definitely want to know the approx. round count! There is one on here for sale that the round count was stated at around 4000. That's a lot of freakin' rounds! Is it worth the asking price, to someone it may be. (It LOOKS kickass BTW!) Any hunting type rifle, I wouldn't imagine a round count would be all that important, unless it was my .270. That poor thing has seen a lot of rounds for that type of weapon. I got it back when Winchester 130 or 150 gr were only $9.99, some brands were less than that, so it got fed lots of ammo. Would that type of round count mean something to someone else? More than likely

 

[KalamaMark]

Perhaps I just use my firearms differently.

I've got a .300 Win. Mag that sees 3-4 rounds a year. Twice to check zero, once at a deer, once at an elk, if I'm lucky. I'm barely interested in shooting it more than that, just for fun.

Same for a Marlin Guide gun.

I couldn't venture a guess at how many thousand rounds have went through my 10-22's, nor any of the 'fun plinkers.'

I keep meticulous records on my diesel pickup of miles, MPG, oil changes, fuel filter changes, etc. That makes sense to me. I've never thought of counting bullets, however.

 

[Outrider]

Round count helps keep track when routine maintenance is recommended. For example some parts (i.e. recoil springs) are supposed to be replaced at certain round counts in particular pistols. For example, I believe Walther recommends replacing the guide rod and recoil spring in its P99 at 5,000 rounds whereas a spring in a 1911 may get replaced at 2,000. With other firearms, even relatively low round counts can produce significant wear. Take a look at a muzzle brake on a SBR AR-15 and you can see the erosion before 1,000 rounds.

It is not uncommon to see shooters with a little note pad where they write down how many rounds they shot with a particular firearm. I know several people in a local pistol league who do this religiously. They have some fairly high round counts because they are shooting at least 200 rounds a week. It adds up.

As far as the impact on price, usually a gun with a lot of use will show wear. I believe when you see someone ask about round count here with a firearm being sold they are trying to gauge how much use the firearm has had and if the price is fair for the usage. A Glock may be a Glock, but a Glock with less than 500 rounds probably has a better resale value than one with 10,000 rounds (assuming both were maintained equally well).

 

[KalamaMark]

I guess it does make sense, having some kind of guage for wear in this internet age.
I suppose I've been more used to looking, fondling, barrel/throat inspecting in gun stores, gun shows, pawn shops, etc... Where it's hard to do that here via pictures.

I do suppose I'd be cranky if I drove to Seattle to buy a rifle that looked good in pics, but found it 'shot out' when inspecting it in person.

 

[absoluterik07]

Like others have said, I use it just to gauge how much it's been used and usually from the pictures ou can tell outerwear no problem. Like you stated, I don't want to drive a long distance to find out it's been shot to heck and back for $50 less than a new gun.

 

[i8asquirrel]

I am really more concerned with how its been shot rather than how any times. I have seen dudes at the forest range we shoot at burn through 150 rounds as fast as he could spray them down range through an AR15 gettin it hot enough to cook off rounds and laugh thinking it was Cool....My AR has never been fired hot. its a accurate long range tool. I always clean and properly oil the bore, I am sure its as good as new....

 

[madcratebuilder]

I am really more concerned with how its been shot rather than how any times. I have seen dudes at the forest range we shoot at burn through 150 rounds as fast as he could spray them down range through an AR15 gettin it hot enough to cook off rounds and laugh thinking it was Cool....My AR has never been fired hot. its a accurate long range tool. I always clean and properly oil the bore, I am sure its as good as new....

Round count can be misleading, or fictitious. A five mag dump can cause more wear then 1K fired slowly. Plus it does not tell you if they were hot reloads or mild reloads. I just look for wear and signs of abuse when buying a used firearm.

 

[coop44]

As long as a gun shoots in the direction I want the bullets to go I don't really care. I look for obvious signs of wear and abuse. An AR or a semi auto pistol can get a new barrel pretty easily.

 

[tlfreek]

-actually this is a good topic since I've wondered this myself.

question

If someone went and bought a brand new gun right now, put 500 rounds through it tried to sell it stating that it had 30 rounds max - would an experienced buyer know? assume its been cleaned and maintained. If so, what do you look for?

 

[VW_Factor]

TBH..

If there are Maintenance things to do on the gun with higher round counts put through them, replace it anyway.

Like a timing belt on a used car... Seller doesn't know when its been replaced last (if ever). Replace it anyway. Don't want to have to go through that (or the extra cost) of the gun, don't buy it.

Those are only my thoughts about it.

I personally would look for abuse / misuse if possible.

 

[KalamaMark]

I've never replaced a part on a gun as a 'scheduled maintenance' item....except for ammo.
Nor have I ever heard of anyone doing such a thing, except for pro competitors.
That's what's cool about this forum...I'm learning all sorts of new things.

 

[Spitpatch]

I'm in Madcrate's camp. Certainly, some guns deserve a closer inspection, and a general query as to how they were used. Example: guns chambered for cartridges such as .264, .25-06 or .22-250. (candidates for wearing out a barrel).

And since I'm in Madcrate's (and Kalama's) camp on this, "round count" sort of threw me when I first heard it too, and unless it's a near-new gun (guy tossed a couple boxes of shells thru it before he decided to sell it), I'd suspect the "round count".

I do have guns that I could give a good ballpark figure on (not coincidentally, .25-06 and .22-250, etc.), but only because I've written down every shot off the bench for load development. Add rounds shot in the field, and hence a ballpark figure.

 

[glockguy]

I honestly don't keep track... I have 5 guns 4 handguns 1 AR.... I couldn't tell you how much i have put down the pipes.... Like the OP said... iv shot that one a lot, that one not so much... that one sometimes, but im always willing to throw out the most honest guess i can come up with... but i have bought enough new guns to know when someone says a gun has 200 and see all the wear on it to know they are talkin out there @ss

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Scheduled maintenance is the key. Make sure at 100k rounds the timing belt was replaced and the gun was cleaned and lube changed every 3k rounds. Grip panels should also be rotated about every 7k rounds.

I don't keep exact track in my guns beyond ballpark numbers. If its a high dollar or very hot cartridge firearm I probably will.
I felt like a noob (well, I was at the time) when I bought a 380 pocket gun and asked the seller if he knew how many rounds had been through it. "Uh..not many, it ain't a target pistol"