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Tungsten of stainless steel guide rod for a G17 Gen 5?

14K views 11 replies 11 participants last post by  ede 
#1 ·
Any benefits or pros and cons of switching the stock plastic guide rod with either a Tungsten or stainless steel guide rod? Many competitive shooters and recreational swear by them. Some say the their Glock’s shoot better shot groups, less felt recoil, less muzzle flip, etc etc.

Opinions on above? Not sure if I should be posting this on the gunsmith forum or competitive one but here it goes. Thanks
 
#10 ·
I've only ever changed springs I'm my 10mm glocks so I could bump the spring weight up. Otherwise, I don't feel it's worth changing. If you wear the first one out, try something new. I think by the time you realize its wore out though, you may forget about wanting to change it.
 
#11 ·
My opinion regarding aftermarket recoil spring setups is "it depends".

If you are talking about the Tungsten or Stainless Guide Rod assemblies that are the same multi spring design as the factory stock units, I would steer clear. They seem to be pretty problematic and any small benefit you might gain in muzzle flip will be wiped out by reliability concerns. Stock Glock RSA's are pretty bullet proof.

If you are talking about a single spring replacement guide rod and spring assembly, I think you can expect perhaps an upgrade in durability to a stock multi spring unit (maybe even a little bit better feed reliability with marginal ammo, using stock spring weights) and gain some of the marginal benefit available with the heavier material in the guide rod. But you would be splitting hairs pretty finely.

I would maybe just skip the whole thing and focus on your technique. Maybe commit to watch a YouTube tutorial from one of the many Grand Master shooters available once a week and then practice that drill. Big tip here, ignore videos from guys who are not Grand Masters.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Tungsten density is 19 times that of plastic not 4 times as stated above. Weight of stock guide rod and spring is 14.7 grams weight of tungsten guide rod with spring is 44.3 grams. That's about one ounce difference. Figure the weight of a few loaded round is more than the difference in guide rods. Do you notice any difference in recoil as you fire rounds? Also consider general rule of thumb is removing weight from moving parts and adding weight to parts that don't move.
 
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