FuglyStick

Is chamber pressure a concern when choosing a pistol, or are pistols engineered to withstand, say, for example, 10k rounds without having any adverse wear and tear on components?

According to Wikipedia, these are some of chamber pressures of a handful of popular calibers--

.45ACP----------21000 psi
9mm & .40S&W--35000 psi
10mm-----------37500 psi
.357SIG---------40000 psi

It could be that a person will never fire enough rounds in normal usage for chamber pressure and the related stresses to ever be a concern. Do any of you guys that shoot regularly ever take it into consideration? Would it be a factor in choosing a caliber?

The_Dunedan

Chamber pressure doesn't start to become a factor in wear on the firearm until;

1: You start loading -way- beyond SAAMI specs, or
2: You start loading beyond SAAMI specs -and- shooting a lot of rounds.

Modern firearms are mostly designed to take full-power standard (up to SAAMI max for caliber) loadings through their entire service life. Most modern weapons, even those not specifically marked for it, can safely use +P loads as well, although +P+ is getting into hedgy territory, especially with smaller/lighter designs or those with partially-supported chambers. The Glock factory has a "torture test" weapon that's been through over 1,000,000 rounds and only needed the bbl replaced a few times.

Now, other oddball stuff -can- cause sudden changes in the pressure curve (the way in which the pressure rises, falls, and then equalizes within the weapon as it's being fired) which -can- destroy a gun. A common example is Glock's 50/50 deserved/undeserved reputation for blowing up when using cast-lead ammo. Exposed lead fouls the Glock's polygonal rifling very quickly, which can lead to a spike in chamber/barrel pressure when the weapon is fired. -Any- weapon will kB! if you foul/obstruct the barrel sufficiently and fire: even though the bullet might make it out of the muzzle, the spike in pressures (especially if that spike occurs too fast for the steel) will destroy the ass-end of the barrel and breech. In my area, it's not uncommon for morons to blow their thumbs off or simply destroy their gun by firing it with the barrel either plugged with thick mud or partially submerged in water.

The only time I'd seriously consider chamber pressures in purchasing a handgun is if I was planning to use that handgun with hot-for-caliber handloads, or some of the -really- serious commercial Elephant Killers (Buffalo Bore, Garrett, Cor-Bon, etc). -Those- bad boys will destroy most handguns: Buffalo Bore and Garrett, in fact, ship their hottest ammo with big red warnings on it cautioning the user to never, ever, under any circumstances whatsoever, fire these rounds in ANYTHING but a Ruger heavy revolver. Colt, S&W, Dan Wesson, etc...all will simply disintegrate. Only the Rugers are heavily-built enough to deal with the pressures these loads generate, which are -far- in excess of SAAMI maximum.

FuglyStick

Thanks, Dunedan. I was fairly certain that pistols manufactured by quality manufacturers were engineered to withstand a ton of factory rounds without any excessive wear, regardless of caliber; +P rounds I wasn't sure about. And, of course, hopped-up hand loads are another thing altogether.

Walt

Meh. SAAMI specs are more of guideline than a rule.

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Calmer than you are...

Fire

say that again after you see a gun go kaboom on someone......

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Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens

Shadowex3

Does kB in the second post actually mean kaboom like i think it does? Forgive the noob questions but I'm trying to learn some of the stuff and trying to google anything 3 letters or less is not always a good idea.

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The_Dunedan

Yah. kB! is gunnutese for kaBOOM!