I knew a guy who shot a model 19 loose.
He was a second chance competitor and also shot regional pin shoots weekly. He bought the 4" model 19 used with no idea of history. He documented over 90,000 rounds of hot .38 handloads and IIRC nearly 30,000 .357 loads through it. He died with gnarly arthritis in his hands.
So 120,000 total rounds, I'd say that's durable enough for me.
I really like M19's
The guy's brother still has his old loading books. He was a bullet casting and loading fool all week long. His loading logs are like a diary. Old matches, old friends, the birth of his daughter...
Just a little proud that my name comes up in the book here and there.
