by Robin Taylor
One of the achilles' heels of the Glock design is its plastic guide
rod. It's not a problem akin to the plastic sights, but over time the plastic
guide rod will wear out.
It took two years of hard shooting before I started having problems with my G22 rod, so don't run out and buy a new rod if you're just a casual shooter.
Replacement stainless steel rods provide a couple of advantages. Principally, they allow you to swap out recoil spring weights to something that fits your load and/or compensator design.
Changing the recoil spring weight in a "stock" gun affects where the muzzle ends up after firing the first round. With a little tuning, it's possible to end up with the gun "recoiling" back close to center shot to shot.
Lighter springs are needed in the 9mm and 9X21 Flatliner to ensure reliable function, and if you shoot truly puffball loads in a stock G17, you may want to use a light spring there as well. (Light bullets and AA #2 powder, for example.) Using a guide rod like this lets you shoot the light spring at the range, then change it out with the stock setup for daily carry.
The last advantage to the stainless rods offered by Accu-Systems, Wolff, and a handful of others is their ability to run forever without wearing out. They aren't the easy-to-use captive design, but they will literally run forever (assuming you rotate in new springs).
I have a handful of Accu-Systems rods left in stock that I'm offering for sale at $20 apiece. This includes a lightweight spring (they don't come with marked poundage, sorry). If you would like one, e-mail me and I will ship one right out to you.
