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Not all guide rods are made equal


muncie21

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Cleaned my two limited guns as the season here is all but done.  Both guns started the year with new guide rods.  One guide rod is an EGW, I don't recall the brand of the other one, nor which guide rod went into which gun.  I thought that guide rods were all essentially the same so didn't bother to track this stuff.  I should add that both pistols get about the same use and I run the same recoil spring in both. 

Looking at the GR on the left, it seems I need to pay a bit more attention to brand names. :)

 

IMG_1103.thumb.JPG.4301bbaae803022589c9f2eec9d721d7.JPG

Edited by muncie21
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The one on the left has a smaller diameter on the back of the rear of the head, it's for a factory ramp cut frame for a sti frame. The head is able to move around at the contact point of the frame, that is why you see the battering marks. If it was in the properly sized frame the battering wouldn't happen.

Rich

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Thanks for the feedback RIID.  Are you saying that the frame the ‘left’ guide rod was in, is out of spec?

 or is the guide rod out of spec? 

 

If it makes a difference both guide rods were installed in STI frames. However my understanding is that these frames have a degree of variation depending on when they were made. 

Edited by muncie21
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The one on right is smaller, with squared sides. The GR on the left has a much bigger, more round head. It's too big for the gun, which is why it's getting banged up. In fact, due to it's completely round shape, rather than the squared sides, are you sure that guide rod was designed for a 2011 gun?

Edited by Postal Bob
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3 hours ago, Postal Bob said:

The one on right is smaller, with squared sides. The GR on the left has a much bigger, more round head. It's too big for the gun, which is why it's getting banged up. In fact, due to it's completely round shape, rather than the squared sides, are you sure that guide rod was designed for a 2011 gun?

The angle of the picture made the GR on the left look a bit funky.  Here's a better pic.

 

Feels like it's aluminum, if so perhaps it was acting like a buffer and was actually a good thing... :)  who knows.  I replaced it with a stainless one anyway, so that it would match my other limited pistol.

IMG_1108.JPG.3ebf03025326f503103fa94c361ef1d0.JPG

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Sti uses one cutter size to cut the ramp, most everyone else uses 2 cutters one to cut the slot and a larger diameter to cut the vertical impact surface creating the larger diameter. This is where the two different sized guide rod head ends come from. If your guns weren't factory built the gunsmith used the two cutter way creating the larger diameter and a sti sized rod was used and allowing the guide rod to move downward. Just use the larger head guide rod and you shouldn't have anymore issues.

Rich

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5 hours ago, RIIID said:

Sti uses one cutter size to cut the ramp, most everyone else uses 2 cutters one to cut the slot and a larger diameter to cut the vertical impact surface creating the larger diameter. This is where the two different sized guide rod head ends come from. If your guns weren't factory built the gunsmith used the two cutter way creating the larger diameter and a sti sized rod was used and allowing the guide rod to move downward. Just use the larger head guide rod and you shouldn't have anymore issues.

Rich

Wow, that interesting.  Thanks for sharing Rich.

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