I had great fun putting this gun through the wringer.

Gun: A factory Nickel P228, serial # B152251, mint condition unfired by previous owner. Still looks outstanding, but it's now no longer mint.

Test: 10,000 rounds in 5 weeks (12/28/18 - 1/30/19)

Lubrication: Slip2000 EWL30 and EWL first 3750 rds; EWL30 exclusively after that.

Mags used: Mostly Mec-Gars, a few Germans, and a single Checkmate.

Ammo used:

Blazer Brass 115 FMJ = 2000 rds
Blazer Brass 124 FMJ = 300 rds
Fiocchi 115 FMJ = 500 rds
Fiocchi 124 XTPHP = 50 rds
Geco 115 FMJ = 2700 rds
Geco 124 FMJ = 1000 rds
Sellier & Bellot 115 FMJ = 2000 rds
Speer Lawman 115 TMJ = 950 rds
Speer Gold Dot 124 GDHP = 150 rds
Federal Hi-Shok 115 JHP = 150 rds
Federal HST 147 JHP = 150 rds
Remington Golden Saber 124 +P BJHP = 50 rds

Range sessions:

#01- 12/28/18 - 200 rds
#02- 01/02/19 - 400 rds
#03- 01/04/19 - 400 rds
#04- 01/05/19 - 500 rds
#05- 01/08/19 - 500 rds
#06- 01/10/19 - 500 rds
#07- 01/11/19 - 500 rds
#08- 01/15/19 - 750 rds
#09- 01/16/19 - 250 rds
#10- 01/17/19 - 500 rds
#11- 01/18/19 - 500 rds
#12- 01/19/19 - 400 rds
#13- 01/20/19 - 600 rds
#14- 01/22/19 - 600 rds
#15- 01/23/19 - 600 rds (50 are HP)
#16- 01/24/19 - 600 rds
#17- 01/25/19 - 600 rds
#18- 01/26/19 - 600 rds
#19- 01/29/19 - 500 rds (all HP)
#20- 01/30/19 - 500 rds

Distances: 10 & 15 yds.

Cleaning: From round #6001 to round #10,000, the gun was left uncleaned (not even a wipe down). Only added was some more EWL30 at the beginning of each range trip. And, it finally got its overdue clean up after the last range trip.

Malfunctions: One. Round #9390 (a Federal HST 147 HP) got hung up on the feed ramp. A quick rack of the slide, and it went right in chamber.

Conclusions/Observations:
- Nothing was replaced during the entire testing. Except for the grips, everything is original from start to finish.
- Can't speak for any other guns, but this particular gun is impressive.
- First session - the gun had the aluminum grips on, and they immediately became loose.
- So, grips were changed to G10 for the rest of the sessions, with blue Loctite to secure the grips. They were pretty good, but as the sessions went on, the screws still worked themselves loose.
- Guns gets extremely hot during mag dump sessions, as you can imagine. I got blisters a couple of times.
- The blued barrel resists wear better than I had expected. The lube must have helped quite a bit.
- There is some flaking on the left side of the chin of the slide and on its undersurface.
- Because it’s slicker, the nickel gun is easier to clean. Also, with a white gun, it’s just easier to spot a dirty spot, even when it’s hidden in cracks/corners/crevices.

Plan: This first phase is over. The next phase will be less volume and longer term, with reports back from time to time. The main reason I started this whole process is really to see how the stripped factory anodized frame that has been Nickel plated will hold up over time.

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Enjoy the pics.

Barrel smileys from zero to 10,000








From 6001 to 10,000, the gun was not cleaned, so the barrel was dirty. So, pics are not included here.

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Gun at the start and at finish

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Some other fun pics in between

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 12131,

Well reported, sir. Look forward to phase 2.

Thank you for sharing.

what a great report + pics, thanks q.

Damn! It cleaned up nicely after that torture test!

How much did your accuracy and recoil sensitivity improve after shooting that many rounds in such a short time? I hope you went for accuracy once in a while.

A very impressive performance—by both the gun and the shooter!

Originally posted by sigfreund:
A very impressive performance—by both the gun and the shooter!
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To Hell and Back Reliability!

That is amazing Q. The hammer face is still intact. Eventually, the slide bore begins to dig in deeper and the smilies become a displacement of metal. Seen some Sigs with a fair amount of depth to the smiley area. Also, atop the large diameter of its barrel, just forward of its chamber there is a small progression of that little flat spot. The lube stayed put just nicely. I bet the trigger finger is tired. The nickle held up well. The whole guns parts functioned together beautifully. This is proof one doesn't have to be afraid to shoot their collectable guns.

Did you replace any springs or the breech block roll pin along the way?

Wow that is impressive.
I would have thought there would have been more ware on the firearm.

That is great Q!!

My son's M11-a1 is up over 6K but it has taken years and we did replace the recoil spring. These guns sure do well!

Thanks for the write up!

Very interesting. Thanks for documenting and sharing. I see you lubricate well, that gun looks better than some I've seen with a fraction of the rounds fired.

Thanks Q, very impressive. That takes some dedication. Would you agree that this backs up the claim of
"To hell and back" reliability"?

Heroic effort in so many aspects of that word. Thanks for the info and pictures.

So after 10K rounds, what is your assessment of the frame status?

thanks,

RMD

That’s very cool! It would have been very difficult for me to resist the urge to clean it when it started looking nasty, but I totally understand why you did it.

Thanks for posting and sharing your observations!

Very impressive the way the nickel held up after $1,700+ worth of ammo

Well done Q!

I'd say that dispels the myth that removing the anodizing and nickel plating, weakens the alloy frame.

Great pics and documentation Q. Best thread ever!!

Heck of a 'Break-in' procedure!

Thanks Q, that was a very comprehensive evaluation. What I find amazing is that after cleaning ? The barrel shows minimal wear (smileys) and the face of the hammer though not extreme shows very little wear otherwise it still looks new. I honestly didn't know that nickel was so sturdy. WOW. John.