Calamity Jane Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 OK I know it happens but it sure is irritating to see your guide rod fly down range in the middle of a very productive practice session. I was at the range today trying to record some times on my draws, splits, reloads etc... It was going GREAT. I was just getting warmed up. I just had a 1.16 sec draw at 10 yards (anything under 1.2 is fast for me) when I saw my 2 piece heavy tungston guide rod launch itself down range. GRRRRRRR! This is the second guide rod that I've broken in the last 3 months. Anyone have a favorite DURABLE heavy tungston guide rod they would recommend? Anyone have a guide rod launch at an inopportune moment? (careful with your answers boys) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 My super duper durable guide rod is made of steel Never had a guide rod break, but I do hate it when a gun dosen't work 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mscott Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Is this a common problem? It seems to be, but the internet sometimes seems to magnify things. As often as you here of them breaking, are they really worth the cash you put into them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket4 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I know what you mean. My husband had that happen to him not to long ago. He didn't know that it flew out but he said that something didn't feel right. The gun still kept shooting. After he found out that it was missing I had to go back to the range to find it. That was hard to find. I don't know about yours but the one that my husband had has a life time warranty on it and is being replaced for nothing. Still waiting for it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Since you asked a pointed question I feel ok in replying. Yes almost any quality tungsten guide rod will do, as long as you RED loc-tite the two pieces together! I have used an STI in a 5' Edge now for over 6 years and after I loc-tited the two pieces together it has never broke ( first one broke after 500 or so rounds ) I have a 6" EGW rod all glued together and it has never broke either. All the ones I have glued together have never broke. Hope that helps!! And for what it,s worth I like the EGW design the best! KURTM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 Since you asked a pointed question I feel ok in replying. Yes almost any quality tungsten guide rod will do, as long as you RED loc-tite the two pieces together! I have used an STI in a 5' Edge now for over 6 years and after I loc-tited the two pieces together it has never broke ( first one broke after 500 or so rounds ) I have a 6" EGW rod all glued together and it has never broke either. All the ones I have glued together have never broke. Hope that helps!! And for what it,s worth I like the EGW design the best! KURTM Yep, tried that the first time. My gunsmith put some nerling???on the end of it and then used some sort of super strength lock tite and put it back together........broke it today. Just so we can be true to the "hate thread"....I hate that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 to see your guide rod fly down range in the middle of a very productive practice session. Could have been during a very productive MATCH! I had a practice session very similar to yours just last week. For the 1st time ever I was writing down my draw times, split times, reload times, at 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 yards. I am nearing the end of the session (at around 200 ~ rounds) and I look down about 3 feet in front of where I am standing, and I see this rather large "nail". I think gee that's odd that there would be a 16 penny nail lying around the range. Wonder where that came from. Weirdly enough I decide to pick it up, and to my surprise it's no nail ............... it's my tungsten guide-rod! My suggestion is if we didnt practice so hard, we wouldn't be looking for lost guide-rods on the ground anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I've run Dawson Tungsten rods for the last 100K rounds or so with no breakage. Getting it fit correctly is half the battle, the other half is getting a rod that's made well to begin with. I really like the toolless ones since I'm far too lazy to keep bent paperclips around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 The second one I broke is was the last one I will ever own.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I've broken two and my son Sam has broken one. All in about one year's time. And we're not even serious auto-pistol shooters! No more tungsten for the Carmoney boys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 I've run Dawson Tungsten rods for the last 100K rounds or so with no breakage. Getting it fit correctly is half the battle, the other half is getting a rod that's made well to begin with.I really like the toolless ones since I'm far too lazy to keep bent paperclips around. How do you know if your guide rod fits correctly? Why do they (tungston) make two piece and one piece versions? Those may be questions for the gun smithing forum....but I sure would like to know how and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul B Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I too have launched a tungsten guide rod down range - twice! Broke both at the base. Some friends can shoot them and never have a problem. It may have something to do with the fit at the guide rod head ( it must be totally square with full contact or it may have something to do with barrel geometry) I just don't know. In my case it was just not worth it for me to buy another one. I finally solved the problem with a hollow steel guide rod that was originally made to be mercury filled. I lost the mercury and filled it with melted lead shot. It's now the same weight as tungsten and has the strenth of steel. No more problems. There is a way to repair the tungsten guide rods that was explained in a previous issue of Front Sight (I don't remember which one but some one might). It involves drilling and tapping the rod and head for a steel machine screw so you would be reinforcing the rod with steel. I tried to do this at home, but it is really difficult to center and may best be left to a gunsmith. A lot of people think steel is enough. I will say I have an old really heavy tungsten rod (5 oz) in a .45 and it has never broken, but it is soo big it requires special springs. Certainly tames the .45 though. I think Wilson used to sell them but it is another vendor now. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneet Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 If the back piece doesn't have enough space and is put in a bind by the underside of the barrel where it rides, not long before it'll snap. Tungsten is more brittle than steel. I'm assuming that's where yours is breaking. I had a few break in that manner many years ago in my old single stack 45 until I figured out what was happening. The ones that I run now are 2 piece tungsten EGW 5 & 6" and Clark 2 piece steel 5 & 6". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin40 Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I had atleast 4 STI guiderods break. I'm done with them. I know STI couldn't stop the breakage thats why they no longer produce them. They said they couldn't fix it. Flyin40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 I've run Dawson Tungsten rods for the last 100K rounds or so with no breakage. Getting it fit correctly is half the battle, the other half is getting a rod that's made well to begin with. I really like the toolless ones since I'm far too lazy to keep bent paperclips around. How do you know if your guide rod fits correctly? Why do they (tungston) make two piece and one piece versions? Those may be questions for the gun smithing forum....but I sure would like to know how and why. Well, I'm not a guide-rod fit expert, but I know a few. They key is Tungsten is far more brittle than steel and won't stand for any sort of beating or stress that a steel rod would shrug off. While they do drop right in, they really are gunsmith-fit parts. I'm not sure how you can know if it's fit correctly without checking with a smith though. I'll ask next time I'm near one and see if they'll fess up to any secrets. There's some magic to making tungsten rods that don't break easily-- they all look the same in the catalog, but some brands break a lot more than others. I had atleast 4 STI guiderods break. I'm done with them. I know STI couldn't stop the breakage thats why they no longer produce them. They said they couldn't fix it. Hence the 'Recoil Master'. STI had too many warrantee returns on the guide rods-- a lot of people thought you could just drop them in and they'd be fine. Metal's strong, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_pinto Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 Oklahoma L10/Productions Sectionals last year!! Only had about 500 rounds on an EGW that was fitted. Second stage, going good, then oh oh. But instead of it going down range, the head got lodged between my slide and barrel. Luckily I had about 3/4 of the stage completed so the 6 FTE's didn't hurt as bad as it could have. Put the spare steel one in and have never looked back. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 2 months ago while shooting a local math. After stage 1 I noticed my gun sounding 'Springy' , but ran well.. Finished the match and even won overall and my Limited division... Put the gun away as i shot single stack the next two matches, went to clean it and no Tungsten guide rod... only the rear portion was intact. I bought the tungsten rod at Area II this past fall from Brazos. I went back to steel and frankly, i can't notice any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Pistolero Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I use a 6 inch two piece tungsten rod in my A/P gun. It has a 5 inch slide so I have to be able to take the rod apart. I broke 3 EGW rods in no time (6 months). The rods were breaking where the rod screws into the end. I ordered two more from EGW and it seems that they have changed the thickness of the rod where it's threaded. That was last year. I'm still using the fourth rod. I pinched the end of the rod in a vise so that it remains tight while shooting. I use a shock buff and I also increased my recoil spring weight by two pounds. I have several one piece five inch rods that I use in my other guns and have yet to break one. I just thought that it had something to do with the two piece rods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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