Torture Test Why?
Would you pour sand into your brand new car’s engine and expect it to work? So why do it to your defense firearm? I can see some problems on the horizon. What I'm referring to is the amount of people purchasing a firearm and thinking, ” I’m not going to clean this gun I’m going to torture test it.”
There is the need to send a couple hundred rounds or more down range to get the “feel” for the firearm especially if it is a new pistol or a type of firearm you may not have shot before. I understand, getting a feel for the gun, practicing your grip, emptying a magazine or two in a rapid string of fire, check your target(s) reload and then do it all again.
Now comes the area of my concern. The unnecessary destruction of an new ( even if only new to you ) defensive firearm. A serious concern lies with Shooters that say to themselves and others. ” I’m going to do the torture test like the ones I saw on TV and Youtube! After all the Firearms Companies have done torture tests to get the Firearm to the public to buy, so I should be able to torture it too.” Nope leave it to the Pro’s, in controlled environment so you and those around don’t get hurt, or worse.
I understand that most of the pistols out on the market today are designed to take some abuse and some punishment. But why would a person new to shooting want to possibly damage their Defensive Firearm? All the videos and the Internet says ” I did this to my gun and it still worked, people have even dropped firearm from aircraft into a cornfield. After all you spent good money on the firearm and ammo and you don't want to beat the heck out of your firearm just to see how it will hold up to whatever torture test you put it through, and then carry it for protection and expect to perform as it did on the first day you used it at the range.
After a good day at the range, once you get home set a area to break it down, clean it out and get it ready for defending your life should that time come. Laying under that carbon build up could very well be a crack in the frame that leads to a Catastrophic Failure.
When a Dynamic Critical Incident occurs you want to know that your weapon is ready for combat! That means that your weapon must be Efficient and Accurate, and it needs to be reliable and functional. Hours of training is great and it needs to be done with a Qualified Instructor. But if after each one of the training sessions if you put away your weapon without cleaning or checking it, whether it is going on your hip or in a safe storage container to be used only in that Dynamic Critical Incident, then you are doing yourself a great discredit.
You might be in a for a surprise. It could be a good surprise and your defensive firearm will have worked perfectly. Or it could be a bad surprise and you could end up with a failure to feed or even worse failure to fire. That is precious time wasted that could save your Life and STOP the THREAT.
Clean and do regular maintenance and complete checks on our firearms. Since you are going to use the gun for defense it should always be well maintained, and you should not be waiting to see when it will fail. The torture testing of the firearms should be left to the firearm manufactures.That is not to say that even with doing all of the all of the previous mentioned, that you can not run into a problem. This picture is from an Armed Professional who did do all of the cleaning and maintenance to keep this pistol in service for approx 20 years.
Keep it clean and well maintained, you should get years of good times and use. You never know when the Ambush will occur, and you may have to deploy the firearm during the Dynamic Critical Incident. We may not know when these incidents will happen but we should at least be prepared for it, that goes for the proper maintenance along with frequent and realistic training. Stay strong, Stay Focused and Train as if your Life depends on it, Because it DOES.
Michael Hoehne
Manager
10X Defense Utah