Q5 SF tungsten guide rod (with pix)

[titandriver]

Bumped up the weight of my Q5 SF with tungsten guide rod that accepts 1911 springs - definitely nose heavy! Gonna test it out tomorrow to see if it works worth a hoot with 130PF ammo. Tungsten rod & 1911 spring (top) and Z-R Tactical guide rod & Wilson 13 lb. spring (bottom). Pistol now weighs 47.25 ounces.

Edited March 8, 2020 by titandriver

[ohsevenflhx]

Where did you find the tungsten guide rod?

 

[titandriver]

Took it out of my P320. It was custom made before anyone offered them commercially. Prolly be able to use a Springer for P320 one now, just drill out for the indentation at the back of the guide rod head so you can turn & seat the release and you're golden. You do have to reduce the length of the recoil spring considerably though, I just match the length of the Wilson 13 lb spring I've been using.

 

[titandriver]

TTT

[oddjob]

tag

[highhope]

Very nice

[titandriver]

Finally got to get out & test it - works great! The 1911 spring I used was a cut down 13 lb along with 130 PF ammo. Cold & windy out so only fired 150 rounds with nary a bobble. I'll be using this set up into the foreseeable future.

[jdlincoln]

So...you used a normal round wire 13# 1911 spring but had to cut it down and you gained how many total oz. over the ZR and flatwire spring?

I wonder when someone is going to make a guiderod from depleted uranium for the 320 now. We should gain a couple more oz. over tungsten that way also. lol

[titandriver]

3 ounces. Commander or Officer spring would probably work without cutting but didn't have any on hand. Difference is huge, never know until you try. lol

[ohsevenflhx]

what is the actual weight of the rod.

 

[titandriver]

15 hours ago, ohsevenflhx said:

what is the actual weight of the rod.

 

I'll weigh it next time I have it apart - but, since the pistol weighs three ounces more after replacing the ZR rod & spring with it, I'm guessin' darn close to three ounces.

[oddjob]

Is this still working good for you?  Any changes in your thinking?

 

thanks

[titandriver]

8 hours ago, oddjob said:

Is this still working good for you?  Any changes in your thinking?

 

thanks

Frankly I've been working so much that I haven't been able to shoot it much since I made the switch - looks like I won't get a chance until mid-June to get to the range. 

[MemphisMechanic]

On 3/7/2020 at 5:53 PM, titandriver said:

,just drill out for the indentation at the back of the guide rod head so you can turn & seat the release and you're golden.

Were you able to actually drill it, or did you *grind* the depression into the center of the head?

 

Drilling a quality tungsten carbide alloy without something diamond-tipped is not going to turn out well.

[titandriver]

On 5/18/2020 at 6:08 AM, MemphisMechanic said:

Were you able to actually drill it, or did you *grind* the depression into the center of the head?

 

Drilling a quality tungsten carbide alloy without something diamond-tipped is not going to turn out well.

Must've been inferior "economy grade" tungsten as a dull high speed steel bit went through it like a hot knife through butter!

[MemphisMechanic]

@titandriver there are a lot of alloys of tungsten out there. I had a hunch they chose something softer and easier to machine.

 

Occasionally people complain about their tungsten guide rods gouging or wearing down after a few thousand reps of the recoil spring scrubbing up and down it.

 

That wouldn’t make sense if it were a high grade tungsten carbide, which is what machine tools are frequnently made of. It’s a pain to machine, but you could probably grind a recoil spring all the way down to dust without doing more than dulling it’s finish.

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by MemphisMechanic