Shoot till it breaks?

[elsolo]

I noticed most guns minus 1911's recommend recoil spring replacement at 5K and all springs at 20K.

What do you mean "most"?
Have you read every gun owners manual in existence?
I am yet to find scheduled service recommendation intervals in an owners manual.

[heidad01]

Unless if one is shooting competition and/or going to the range every weekend, most people do not shoot enough to wear out anything in a gun. That said, change parts when you see signs of heavy wear. Never wait for it to brake.

[unusedusername]

Many full sized guns say 5k for the spring replacement, and if you skip it you risk having the slide bang aginst the stop at the back of the frame and cracking the frame.

Some guns work differently of course... It also *greatly* depends if you are shooting low power competition rounds, regular target rounds, or ++P++.

My opinion is that it isn't worth it for "bragging rights" unless you don't mind spending cash on a new gun.

Would you skip maintence on your tires just to see if you could?

[elsolo]

Many full sized guns say 5k for the spring replacement, and if you skip it you risk having the slide bang aginst the stop at the back of the frame and cracking the frame.

Some guns work differently of course... It also *greatly* depends if you are shooting low power competition rounds, regular target rounds, or ++P++.

My opinion is that it isn't worth it for "bragging rights" unless you don't mind spending cash on a new gun.

Would you skip maintence on your tires just to see if you could?

specifically, which guns give this recommendation?

First you said "most guns" now it's some guns, just name a couple.

When was the last time you saw a handgun worn out, that might have lived longer if it only had more frequent spring changes?

What tire maintenance do you do other than keep them full of air and perhaps rotate them (if your car has same size all the way around)? Do you replace the air every 5000 miles?

[unusedusername]

specifically, which guns give this recommendation?

First you said "most guns" now it's some guns, just name a couple.

When was the last time you saw a handgun worn out, that might have lived longer if it only had more frequent spring changes?

What tire maintenance do you do other than keep them full of air and perhaps rotate them (if your car has same size all the way around)? Do you replace the air every 5000 miles?

Actually, to be specific I said "most guns" have some sort of maintence every 5k rounds, in "many guns" that maintence is a spring change, and "some guns" work differently, meaning the part that might break won't be the frame

I have seen a Glock with a cracked frame at ~15k rounds which was due to a combination of no maintence and no lube. I've also seen a Sig P6 with a battered locking block and slide stop due to a combination of a late spring change and lots of +p ammo.

Since I'm not a gunsmith by trade I'll admit I have not seen many abused guns. I won't pretend that 2 guns is statistically significant.

Also, I was referring to replacing the tires in a car as being similar to replacing the springs in a pistol. I agree that tires (and springs) require little maintence.