Quote:
|
the steel is harder on the slide stop also from what I read...
|
The folks who tell you that really don't understand what's going on. The slide stop gets battered when the slide slams forward, not during recoil -- so when there's damage, it's because (1) some of the openings on the frame, where the slide stop slides through, are out of spec (so that the force of the barrel lug isn't hitting the slide stop squarely/properly, and focusing the full force into one small area),
and/or (2) a too-heavy recoil spring is being used. With a heavier recoil spring, more force is stored and is released as the slide comes back and is "STOPPED." (That's why it's called a slide
stop!)
Note: you generally can't damage the frame by using a light recoil spring. Spent casings may be ejected farther than you like, etc., but there not likely to be damage; the experience of recoil will be different, too.
I've known of folks who demonstrate this by firing guns without recoil springs. (
1911Tuner, who participates here from time to time, has done this with .45s to make the point.) Guns with the recoil spring removed work fine; they fire and the recoil isn't terribly different, but the slide doesn't return to load the next round. The gun isn't damaged.
The designed purpose of the recoil spring is primarily to store force that returns the slide and loads the next round -- not to protect the gun or the shooter from recoil. The guide rod does holds the spring in position while it is installed; with many guns, the slide itself captures and retains the recoil spring once it is installed, and the slide would compress the spring, regardless. In most guns, all that's really needed is a "base plate" attached to the spring that will position the spring properly against the frame.
In a CZ, the guide rod rests half of its base against the receiver stop, a flat, semi-circular area on the frame. THat is the "base plate" mentioned above. When the guide rod is steel and used in an alloy-framed gun, the receiver stop can be damaged. ("Can be" but not necessarily "will be"; many folks have used steel guide rods in alloy guns for years without noticeable problems.) Steel against steel has not been a problem, and that's what the original CZs used. It's still used in some models. (With the alloy compact guns, the guide rod tilts MORE than is the case with the full-size guns, so there's more metal/metal movement.) That seems to be why CZ went to plastic; it wasn't introduced until they started building alloy-framed guns, and I
guess they decided to use plastic with most, if not all, of their guns.)
.