Damaged Glock guide rod.

[phantom_890]

I have a Glock 26 I bought brand new in October. I was cleaning it today and noticed that the front of the recoil rod was chipped. I was wondering if this has ever happened to anybody else who carries a Glock and what kind of aftermarket rods you used to replace it. The pic below isnt an actual pic of my pistol but it looks much like that except that it is a slightly smaller section that is missing.

http://www.topglock.com/images/recassbroken.JPG

[phantom_890]

Wow I so posted this in the revolvers section instead of the Semiauto forum.

[odessastraight]

Have no fear, sir. One of the hard charging moderators will move it for you in just about a heart-beat. Maybe you posting it in the revolver page was one of those "Freudian" kinda slip things. Maybe deep down you realize just how superior the 'ol revolver really is...huh?

[DPris]

I've personally seen a big enough section of the rear flange break off on a Glock to disable the pistol. I've talked to a guy who used to work on Glocks extensively, he said he'd seen a lot of the guide rods chip.
For that reason, I will not carry a Glock with a factory plastic rod in it.
Denis

[ShipWreck]

I had a G26 for 8 years before I got a P99 compact instead... Never had an issue w/ that. Call Glock and tell them - I bet they'll send U a free one. If it happens again, THEN U may need to send the gun in.

[DPris]

The one I saw happened right in front of me one night just as we were about to hit the street. Weapons inspection at roll call, on re-assembly the guy standing in line ahead of me let his slide go forward, it sheared off a section of the flange, tied up the gun completely, a second pistol had to be issued before the guy could go on the road, and his gun had to be broken down by an armorer the next day to get it running again.
The guy I talked to about that issue later on was a professional Glock man who'd worked on a couple thousand of the pistols for one of the first aftermarket Glock parts & service concerns. He said he'd seen occasional broken flanges and shavings from that plastic rod quite often. He was a Glock fan himself, but didn't have a problem realizing that the rod can be an issue.
Glock will almost certainly send a replacement for the rod/assembly, but...
The question though, depending on how you use your pistol, may be whether it's you or your surviving kin who gets the new rod.
This is NOT to bash Glocks, NOT to start an argument, NOT to say Glocks are a poor design (I have four), and NOT to say this will happen with every Glock. Nor have I ever heard of such a parts failure occuring during a defensive gunfight.
I just don't trust a plastic guide rod in any make of pistol I may hang my life on, and won't. The Glocks I may use for serious purposes all have aftermarket steel rods installed.
Odds are in your favor if you do use the factory assembly, and it's certainly an individual choice. :)
Denis

[Ausserordeutlich]

I use steel guide rods in my Glocks. Haven't had one break yet.

[fattsgalore]

Replacement springs and rod are pretty cheap. I hope this isn't your only weapon. I hate being without a firearm.
And while your at it replacing the rod try one of DPM's recoil reducing rods.( not gonna lie, I just want someone to try it so i can get one) Some times that damage is due to either normal stress or the rod not being seated properly. Lets be honest, it's just plastic.(so is the Glock sort of)
Good luck regardless!

[varoadking]

http://www.gunsprings.com/SemiAuto/GlockNF.html#GuideRods

[ShipWreck]

Do they even make a steel guiderod for the Glock 26? Its one of those 2 piece deals - not a standard one.

[fastbolt]

I use the standard factory captive recoil spring assemblies in my Glocks and SW99's.

I make sure, however, that I inspect them each time I clean the pistols after range training.

I also make sure that when I reinstall the recoil spring assemblies after cleaning that I properly position the rod's plastic front 'cap' within the slide's hole, and the rod's rear 'base' fully within the barrel lug's notch, when reassembling my pistols and before hand-cycling the slide.

I had one of our folks bring me a G22 with a broken recoil guide rod. When I asked the fellow about his maintenance practices I learned that he claimed to be unaware of the importance of fully seating the rear base of the guide rod fully within the barrel lug's notch during reassembly. The base of the rod in his G22 had snapped off during reassembly and hand-cycling. This isn't an uncommon user-related issue of which to be aware when using/issuing Glock pistols. Proper repositioning & installation of recoil spring assemblies is important.

I've had a single instance of a double recoil spring assembly exhibiting a deformation of one of the rolled edges of the large, outer tube in an assembly being used in a G26. I noticed it during a normal after-range cleaning & inspection. No functioning issues had occurred before I noticed it. I replaced it because of the deformation. Sometimes things happen.

[Ausserordeutlich]

I use Wolff steel, two-piece guide rods in a G30 and G26.

[fsmitka]

I put a stainless steel one in my model 19 works great I don't think it was over $20 can't remember where I bought it , they are on the net should be easy to find,,,,well worth the money.............FS

[Jason_G]

I'm glad someone made this post. I'm not a Glock owner, but a very good friend of mine just bought one. I'll have to mention to him to get a steel guide rod. To be honest, I really can't imagine anyone putting a plastic one in a pistol. Some parts are conducive to using plastics (frames, followers in magazines, even floor plates), but the guide rod should be made of steel.
Thanks for posting this.

Jason

[Jason_G]

before you do that, dont you think GLOCK engineers decided on plastic for a reason ?
Engineers sometimes make mistakes. Even the ones at Glock. If you think that recurrent broken guide rods and jamming pistols are desirable design traits, and that the engineers who decided it was a good idea are perfect, then go ahead. I hope your's isn't the next to break. If it is, I sincerely hope it doesn't happen when you need the weapon the most.

Best wishes,
Jason

[ShipWreck]

I'm sorry - but I think the polymer guiderods are fine. In fact, they tend to be more reliable, as U don't need lubrication on the plastic.

We do not see a rash of broken guiderods in any of the guns out now, and the majority of them are using plastic guiderods now.

[tango3065]

If you do some research on Glock talk or talk to a Glock armorer or will see that the plate breaks because when the gun was last put back together from a field strip the guide rod was put back into the wrong slot. A Glock barrel has to slots, a upper and a lower , the upper slot is is just for reassembly and as soon as the gun is racked the guide rod drops down to the lower slot and stays there until the gun is Field stripped. This is the reason why when you field strip a Glock that the guide rod is not in the same slot as it was when you reassembled it last.

Also you won't even notice that it broke till you field strip it again because it won't render the gun useless and it can still be used thousands of times in this condition. I have even seen someone shoot a complete IDPA match and knew the guide rod base was broke ;) . (try that with another gun)

BTW as for a plastic guide rod being replaced with a metal will work but it is not necessary, Chuck Taylor put over 100,000 rounds through a G17 and never replaced one single part.

http://www.volny.cz/glock/html/tested.htm

[Jason_G]

the plate breaks because when the gun was last put back together from a field strip the guide rod was put back into the wrong slot. A Glock barrel has to slots, a upper and a lower , the upper slot is is just for reassembly and as soon as the gun is racked the guide rod drops down to the lower slot and stays there until the gun is Field stripped.
Thanks, I'll make sure to relay that info to my friend.

Jason

[tango3065]

Tell your friend not to beat himself up I almost done it myself till I reread the Glock manual one more time before I reassembled a Glock for the first time.

[copper_top]

Hi all after reviewing the thread here about guide rods, I've got a question or better yet a concern, I just purchased a glock 17 last year and haven't shot much of it yet but probably 300 rounds through it. Have not done any modification to it whatsoever, and basically bought this gun for home protection, i don't know when the break period for it would be but plan on shooting it at least another 300 to 600 rounds before having it put away for home protection. I'm wondering if i should change out the guide rod anyways to avoid any problems or leave it the way it is? If i should change it there was another problem because looking on topglock.com they have 2 styles available, stainless steel rod or tunsten rod captive or non captive??? what does that mean captive or non captive? I'm sorry i'm not much of a tech person when it comes to gunsmith, just want something that'll work if i ever needed it.

[fattsgalore]

Don't let this thread lower your confidence in your gun cause it's not warranted.

When you do store your piece make sure it's not cocked so you won't put permanent stress on the firing pin spring and remove two rounds from the magazine for the same purpose.

And it's just good habit to shot your weapon once and a while just to keep up skill and to make sure it still works. You'd be surprised to see what happens with those sock drawer guns that never get used when you need it it may not work. Food for thought.

[ShipWreck]

Coppertop - leave the guiderod as is. U are worrying un-necessarily. It is fine.

[Ausserordeutlich]

When a Glock two-piece guide rod breaks, it can disable the pistol. Had that happen on a G30. The speculation about the steel guide rod's wearing on the plastic "slot" in the frame is just that...speculation, not an observation based on empirical testing.

[DPris]

Again, it's strictly an individual choice.
Glock uses a plastic guide rod (as do other makers) because it's cheap, and for no other reason. It is very simply not the best material for the job. It IS an inexpensive method of producing a part that does hold up in its intended function 99+% of the time, which is good enough for Glock's engineers.
A busted rod can tie up the gun, as I said I saw happen. Periodic inspections will do nothing to prevent a sudden guide rod failure.
They do not routinely break.
They are more susceptible to wear than a steel or tungsten rod, as the original poster's photo shows.
The Glock factory rod/spring assembly is captive, with the spring "captured" at both ends & generally not separable by the normal user. A non-captive assembly does not have the spring captured at both ends, and the user can easily slide the spring off to separate the two for cleaning and spring replacement.
If the rod on the captive assembly goes bad, you have to buy a complete new assembly from Glock to replace it. Same to periodically replace the recoil spring with a high round count.
Wolff makes a non-captive steel rod with removable spring for the 26. The 26 I occasionally carry has it installed. My two 17s have them, the other 26 will when I get around to it. Those rods will never chip, bend, shave, or break a flange, and I can buy replacement springs for them as needed without buying an entire assembly. They're also easier to clean while disassembled than the factory's captive assembly. The downside is that they're not as easy to just pop back in on reassembly as the factory unit. That's a trade I'm happy to make.
As I said, they don't all go bad, they don't all break, they don't all cause a problem.
A matter of individual choice. I've given the reasons for mine. If you're happy, be happy.
Denis

[Jason_G]

Again, it's strictly an individual choice.
Glock uses a plastic guide rod (as do other makers) because it's cheap, and for no other reason. It is very simply not the best material for the job. It IS an inexpensive method of producing a part that does hold up in its intended function 99+% of the time, which is good enough for Glock's engineers.
A busted rod can tie up the gun, as I said I saw happen. Periodic inspections will do nothing to prevent a sudden guide rod failure.
They do not routinely break.
They are more susceptible to wear than a steel or tungsten rod, as the original poster's photo shows.
The Glock factory rod/spring assembly is captive, with the spring "captured" at both ends & generally not separable by the normal user. A non-captive assembly does not have the spring captured at both ends, and the user can easily slide the spring off to separate the two for cleaning and spring replacement.
If the rod on the captive assembly goes bad, you have to buy a complete new assembly from Glock to replace it. Same to periodically replace the recoil spring with a high round count.
Wolff makes a non-captive steel rod with removable spring for the 26. The 26 I occasionally carry has it installed. My two 17s have them, the other 26 will when I get around to it. Those rods will never chip, bend, shave, or break a flange, and I can buy replacement springs for them as needed without buying an entire assembly. They're also easier to clean while disassembled than the factory's captive assembly. The downside is that they're not as easy to just pop back in on reassembly as the factory unit. That's a trade I'm happy to make.
As I said, they don't all go bad, they don't all break, they don't all cause a problem.
A matter of individual choice. I've given the reasons for mine. If you're happy, be happy.
Denis
You pretty much summed up everything that I was thinking.

Jason

[ShipWreck]

Well, in Iraq, I have heard that the ploymer guiderods with the grooves is actually less susceptable to jamming due to sand than the regular round cylender guiderods. Of course, Beretta is selling their 92's with the plastic parts to save money - but in the war zone, that guiderod is also serving an added benefit.

Polymer guiderods also have less need for lubrication.

Anyway, we could debate this all day ong. Ultimately, do what U want. The majority of Glocks owners keep their stock guiderods. And, some of these record setting Glocks w/ humongous round counts shot thru them had the stock guiderod.

When I got my 1st Glock in 1993, I too bought a metal guiderod replacement, mainly at the suggestion of someone who was a guns mith. Since then, there are many more polymer guns being made. And, I also know a lot more about guns now than I did then. I am comfortable with the stock rod myself.

[Ausserordeutlich]

I didn't originally buy a steel guide rod for a Glock because I was concerned about the durability of the plastic. I bought it because I wanted to change recoil spring weights for the different loads that I was shooting. Durability is just one of the fringe benefits of going with the steel guide rods. And yes, I know how brilliant the engineers are at Glock, but I also know that their brilliance was/is channeled towards marketing uniform parts (they don't want dumbasses changing recoil springs, then claiming "defective design", if the pistol fails in an emergency). The first Glock guides rods were non-captured, and I believe they were steel. They didn't change design because of failure of the early guide rods; they changed design because they started making pistols in calibers other than 9mm.

Oh, yeah, with any luck at all, I'll never have to use one of my Glocks in the Iraqi desert! ;)

[MikeGoob]

Just a question, with a 'non captured' aftermarket rod, you put it into the gun with nothing covering the spring--The slide alone keeps the spring on the rod?

[45reloader]

WOLFF :cool:

[DPris]

Slide alone keeps the spring on the rod. That's they way they used to was. :)
Denis

[phantom_890]

So I called Glock and they sent me a replacement guiderod assembly for free they where very friendly and helpful and the part arrived in about 6 days. I am also going to purchase a wolff replacement guiderod and springs and keep the stock piece I was sent as a back up.

[ECLIPSE45ACP]

6000+ rounds through my 17, no issues whatsoever...:o

[HappyGunner]

On my G23 was that non-metal guide rod spring Assy. Bought a stainless one online. Only $20 http://glockparts.com/