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Lambo2936

Glock 19 Gen4 Guide rods; Tungsten vs Stainless vs OEM

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Hey folks! So as some of you know i recently purchased a second hand Glock 19 Gen4. Turns out it was an even better deal than i thought, and came with some cool bs and random odds and ends. Anyhow, included was one of those fancy, overpriced Tungsten Guide rods. Thing is still in the package and barely used, if at all; the thing looks brand spankin new. The Original is still in the HG for now, but im not sure if i want to keep that there or install the tungsten one. For now, i have a surefire x300 on there (not ultra, the older model), so its perfectly balanced when loaded. I dont really want to add more weight to the front unless i take off the light (not sure if im going to keep it on), but i want to replace the original plastic crap with something a bit stronger. Any suggestions? Should i sell/trade the tungsten for the stainless one? Will the original plastic one be ok? Is there any real benefit to upgrading other than the fact that it wont snap in half as quickly? I see tons of people saying it helps a ton with recoil and barrel flip and some say its total BS. Let me know what you think!
I Already have the thing, so ill probably test it out for myself when i get to a range. We'll see.

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BS. Sell it and buy ammo.

 

Keep the OEM one in there. Swap in a new one every 3000 - 5000 rounds.

 

From what I know, tungsten is more brittle than the plastic used in OEM guide rods and has a tendency to shear. It also has a shorter service life between preventative maintenance replacement. For this reason, Tungsten guide rods are recommended only for competition guns and not for guns intended for social functions.

 

By the way, the OEM recoil spring assembly on a Gen 4 Glock should be a two piece design of steel manufacture, not plastic:

6E0AA6FA-2035-429E-A7D9-622AFD071386_zps

 

Gen 3 and earlier Glocks have a plastic one piece guide rod in the recoil spring assembly. Make sure you have the right parts. Also, make sure you have a gen 4 gun if that what you paid for.

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Yeah i could be wrong. I read they were plastic, and its hard to see what its actually made of. The firearm is most definitely a Gen 4. It does look like whats pictured; It IS partially plastic, though. The piece you can see from the front (if you were trying to shoot yourself in the eye) is plastic. Not familiar with the names of the individual small components...

The springs are steel and i believe the plate that butts up against the barrel was steel, but i believe that was it. I'll have to play with it some more.

 

There was actually a single thing that i thought was funny about the Handgun that i noticed when looking online..

The writing on the slide is in WHITE, versus the typical black engraving/etching i see everywhere online.
It is a blue label Glock, is that why? There is writing on the manual that was inside that stated that the HG was sold sometime in 2015 at Bullet hole, i believe. I'll double check when im home.
Its definitely gen 4, has the back straps and all that fun stuff.

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The original plastic is fine. The only guide rod I've ever seen break was on a 26 when the gun was being put together wrong. Thats out of a couple of hundred 17s, 19s, and 26s over a period of over 10 years. That was maybe 70% 19s. We never replaced the guide rods and never had any issues. My 26 has the guide it left the factory with about 20 years ago. The gun has to have 30,000 rds+ through it. No problems.

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OK, ill probably sell the tungsten one on AR15.com or eBay..

Regarding the white lettering, i googled it and it looks like people color them in. Looks REALLY clean, i was sure it was a factory thing and couldnt find anything about it earlier; thought i might have been slipped a fake or some crap.... LMAO

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I know very little about glock and I'm sure the new ones are much better but ask Manawing (he moved to TX bur is still here on occasion) about how he likes Gen 1 glock plastic guide rods. It broke on him while he was shooting back at the guy that was shooting at him. He's a former cop.

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So I'll break with popular opinion ... somewhat

 

On SOME guns a tungsten guide rod can be nice, in the right hands. Its purpose if to add a bit of weight under barrel to keep the muzzle down a bit more during fast firing. The reason a reason some people try to push the rules when it comes to adding weight to a competition gun, up to and including attaching a flashlight to the gun and filling its battery compartment with lead shot. 

 

However, for most people adding a tiny bit of weight to the front does nothing. Certainly with G19 length gun the extra weight of the tungsten rod will never be noticed. If this was a 34 or 35, maybe you could tell the difference in how fast the gun settles back on target, in the hands of a really fast shooter and with a timer to record the splits.

 

Personally I don't like captured springs, and I tend to throw them out of my guns so then I need a guide rod, but I use steel ones because the juice isn't worth the squeeze when it comes to tungsten. Or at least not to me, as I can't tell the difference.

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The stainless ones are still like 60 vs 80.

That said, the WEIGHT difference is certainly noticeable. I swapped them out for a bit and with no mag in it was crazy front heavy, like having a flasglight up there.

I could see it definitely making a difference for a pro, but realistically for someone like me i dont think it makes a difference. Im going to try and sell it and find a stronger guide rod that isnt so heavy. If i cant ill just buy one to put on hand

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The stainless ones are still like 60 vs 80.

That said, the WEIGHT difference is certainly noticeable. I swapped them out for a bit and with no mag in it was crazy front heavy, like having a flasglight up there.

I could see it definitely making a difference for a pro, but realistically for someone like me i dont think it makes a difference. Im going to try and sell it and find a stronger guide rod that isnt so heavy. If i cant ill just buy one to put on hand

 

Your 2 sentences are contradictory, are you talking about buying another aftermarket? - your first sentence was right.  Stop trying to mess with the gun and just go use it.  If you sell that fancy crap you'll have another 200 rounds of ammo.  New RSA's from Glock are a whopping $12 - buy a spare and after a few thousand rounds swap it out, if you feel the original is "worn out".

 

Have you shot your G19 yet?  Its probably one of the least recoil, muzzle flip/barrel rise 9mm handguns on the market - high bore axis on Glocks helps a ton but its just a well balanced gun in general.  Its a real smooth yet soft shooter.

 

Maybe I could understand it on the Gen 3 and older models - but honestly the Gen 4's do not need them in the least.  If you are a competition shooter and you feel you "need" one of these in a Gen4, you actually have to go back to the single spring design from the older models.

 

In regards to anything being different on the Blue Labels, the answer is no.  My Blue Label G26 looks the same as the retail White Label version.

 

 

Lastly, not sure when your G19 was made - but you can call Glock and ask, based on your serial number, you may get a new RSA since the early Gen 4's had too strong of a spring I think and didn't cycle lighter ammo as well.  Here is a link - based on the Glock Store picture, the G19 spring is marked "0 4 3" now -

https://us.glock.com/customer-service/recoil-spring-exchange

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The original plastic is fine. The only guide rod I've ever seen break was on a 26 when the gun was being put together wrong. Thats out of a couple of hundred 17s, 19s, and 26s over a period of over 10 years. That was maybe 70% 19s. We never replaced the guide rods and never had any issues. My 26 has the guide it left the factory with about 20 years ago. The gun has to have 30,000 rds+ through it. No problems.

I had one break on what I believe was a police trade in. No idea the round count or any abuse it may have suffered. The polymer end sheared off, and it was replaced with a Jager Products guide rod.

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From a reliability standpoint, the OEM steel guide rod assembly for a Gen 4 will be the most reliable and longest lasting of everything that you have mentioned.  For a self-defense gun, there is absolutely ZERO reason to go with anything else.

As mentioned above, pick-up a spare and replace every few thousand rounds. As a matter of fact, it's a good idea to replace all springs/pins on an SD gun every year or two. Luckily, on a Glock, it doesn't cost much to do.

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I really question the need to replace pins and springs on a regular basis. I've been shooting nearly 50 years and have never done this. The only gun I know that benefited from a recoil spring change is the S&W 6906. The agency I worked for told us to do this every 3000 rds after the guns had about 7-8000 rounds through them.

 

My Colt Commander bought in 1974 never had anything replaced until after over 25 years and maybe 30,000 plus rounds. That's when the hammer started to fall to half cock. The only parts replaced were the sear, extractor, recoil spring guide and springs. No problems other than falling to half cock but thought the other parts should be replaced as long as it was being rebuilt.

 

I've never replaced springs and pins on any gun routinely. I think the periodically changing spring thing was invented by spring manufacturers. More damage has been done to guns by routinely taking them completely apart than by shooting.

 

Yes, parts can break on a brand new gun. If it makes you feel better go ahead and do it.

 

I've been carrying a gun for over 40 years and been an instructor for about the same time. What could I know?

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To be clear, i meant i was going to try and sell the fancy one and pick up an extra original one to have on hand.

That said, i shot the g19 today. Shot with the surefire x300 on and with and without the tungsten rod, without the light, and without the light but with the fancy rod..

With the light and heavy one in, it was too front heavy.. without either, it felt back heavy. I like having it in if the light is off, or if the light is on then the original one in. Why? Just because of the weight. Did it make me a tacticool shooter? No, but it did help keep the firearm balanced when a loaded mag was in.

I dont think it necessarily helped with recoil and such as much as just keeping the handgun level. Im not sure what its intended purpose is and i wouldnt drop 80 bucks on one, but i have it so itll be in there if i remove the light.

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Im going to keep both. Right now the original one is in because its my go to HD gun and has the weapon light on it. At the range ill remove the light and put in the heavier rod. Seemed more comfortable to shoot that way. Obviously ill put a few mags thru with the light just to make sure i am competent if i need to use it that way, though.

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Lambo, you are putting waaaay to much thought into this bro.

 

Just go shoot the gun. Unless you are talking about shaving .10s of a second off of your split times, I doubt you are seeing much of a difference with and without the extra couple of ounces under the muzzle.

 

I have a lot of time behind a G23, with and without the light. I have even more time behind a G35, with and without a light, with and without a tungsten guide rod, with a light and a tungsten guidedrod. You may feel a difference when holding the gun, but the actual felt difference in handling when shooting is very slight. Any gains you make you will likely need a timer to find.

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Small aside: 0.10 sec is kinda huge actually, if you can shave that much then do it. I know people who spend a lot of money and time to shave a fifth of that. Not really all that relevant to most people, but the difference between .25 and .15 splits is pretty significant. it is 4 shots in a second vs 6.

 

Again, irrelevant for most people and cases, but 0.10 is quite a bit and you are not going to get that from a tungsten guiderod anyway.

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Lambo, you are putting waaaay to much thought into this bro.

 

Just go shoot the gun. Unless you are talking about shaving .10s of a second off of your split times, I doubt you are seeing much of a difference with and without the extra couple of ounces under the muzzle.

 

I have a lot of time behind a G23, with and without the light. I have even more time behind a G35, with and without a light, with and without a tungsten guide rod, with a light and a tungsten guidedrod. You may feel a difference when holding the gun, but the actual felt difference in handling when shooting is very slight. Any gains you make you will likely need a timer to find.

 

^^^this x100

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I didnt say it makes me shoot more accurately; it makes the gun feel more balanced when lining up for the first shot. When actually putting rounds down range, i very seriously doubt it does anything, as i am far from a professional shooter.

That said, i am most definitely overthinking it, however i tend to do that quite often.

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