[745SW]

In the distant past I had spare parts for my Colt AR15, not anymore. Today and for the past decade or more I’m more incline to have another identical firearm. My reasoning has to do with cost and value, the total cost of the parts of a firearm will grossly exceed the cost of the individual firearm. Similar to a motor vehicle the total sum cost of parts will be greater than the vehicle, perhaps as much a three times.

Normal replacement/wear parts for a pistol would be the recoil spring or RSA (recoil spring assembly) and firing pin/striker spring. Any additional parts replacement within a reasonable life round count not attributed to abuse I would contemplate dumping the firearm. I would degrade the life round count substantially for magnums or like magnums and for pistols that have a smaller form factor than full size.

I don’t share the same mentality as hardcore video gamers where replacing the console every few months or years is normal and acceptable. The consoles are designed to fail because of the use of BGA (ball grid array) in place of the normal pins and sockets. Use of BGA gives the console more upfront consumer value at the cost of long-term life. The maker sells the consoles at a loss but will eventually make it up by selling more consoles.

Another element to consider when stocking parts is the popularity. The 1911 and Glock have extensive after sales support. Part acquisition shouldn’t be an issue, well sort of. I’ve been trying to get a replacement barrel for my Glock 19C at the various shows but no enchilada. My take on this is folks don’t need/want a replacement part, they only want something different. Such as a ported or longer barrel and/or regular rifling instead of the polygonal.

Reasonable care of the pistol IMO would be expected for a problem free service life. Thousands of rounds without cleaning and lube I would consider a torture test.