Fact or Fiction? Does a heavy guide rod reduce recoil or muzzle flip?

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kgwalsh12

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Hello All,

I have seen a lot of talk about the benefits of adding weight to your pistol by installing a Tungsten guide rod for example, but on the other hand I have also seen a lot of talk about it being a waste of time.
Could someone shed some light on this topic.
 
All weight forward of the trigger aids in muzzle jump.....by either marginal or very noticeable difference.

I haven't swapped guide rods but used few pistols with compensator on them and makes world of difference.
 
More weight on a non-moving part of the gun - more inertia, so a bit less muzzle flip, but heavier gun is also a bit harder to move (draw, swing from target to target, etc).
 
Does it reduce flip, yeah, a bit, and it softens recoil a bit. Does it make a difference to your scores? Not really.
 
I have one on my Open gun. In terms of feel, it depends on the gun and the person shooting it. I don't have any problem driving the extra weight around. But 9/10ths of my body mass resides in my arms so maybe I have an advantage. For me it seems to take some of the sting out of the tendinitis. Your mileage may vary.
 
euxx said:
More weight on a non-moving part of the gun - more inertia, so a bit less muzzle flip, but heavier gun is also a bit harder to move (draw, swing from target to target, etc).
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Freedom Ventures said:
Euxx nailed it.

Newton's laws apply to guns too.
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So your #### won't fall off without one. With one, you may notice a better feel, or not. It's like the 124 vs 147 debate. In the end, it's all subjective and you'll need to try to know if it's for you.
 
Canuck223 said:
In the end, it's all subjective and you'll need to try to know if it's for you.
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Nothing subjective about it. But yes, you have to try it and see how your sights return to the target (you also don't want your gun to dive down below) and how fast you can swing the gun within allowed 180. The latter can be dealt by with some exercise, as Rob already mentioned. :D
 
I have tried all possible guide rods. Regular steel, tungsten and plastic.
It is the shooter who masters the gun, not a gun which masters the shooter.
All those gadget at each time 'helped' my ego. I was telling myself I have the best for that pistol, the best for me ans so on...
I think most important is how that guide rod works in the gun, what kind of slide spring you have, are you using buffs or not, how slide runs.
Try to learn how to use a pistol before any serious modification, and educate yourself. Faster you learn, less money you spend.
 
It's also worth noting that hard-core aficionados of the 1911 platform view the very idea of a full length guide rod of any flavour as an abomination of the worlds most perfect design.

As they say in the culinary arts though; "Season to taste."
 
Yes it reduces muzzle flip, I had one in my old Para.

Now assuming you shoot standard class......the full length dust cover on many guns(a la STI Edge) does the same thing - adds non moving mass at the front of the gun to keep muzzle flip down. I would note that this style is extremely popular in standard. The Edge haas a polymer frame to keep total weight down but it is a nose heavy gun when you first transition to one.

If you have a 'short' dust cover gun a tungsten guide rod will give you the added weight of a 'long' dust cover gun - if you want to try it it's realtively cheap and you can always take it out if you don't like it.

My 2c is that you don't need it in a long dust cover gun - but you might want to try it in a short dust cover gun.

Of course if you want to get really gamey add one to a long dust cover gun and then lighten the front of the slide off until you are at the same total weight. At the end of the day it's all about your personal preference.
 
It can give an advantage if you get targets that are magnetized and thereby the properties of the tungsten and its attraction to magnets would make it quicker to come onto target. Simple laws of physics.:p
 
all kidding aside,..it would dampen the recoil a bit,...but then you need to fire enough rounds to get in sync with the timing.
 
I put a mercury filled full length guide rod into my Norc Commander.
Haven't tried it out yet, but in theory it should help more than static weight.
 
I swapped plastic guide rod for stainless in my Shadow but didn't see a difference. Mind you, I'm totally new to competition so no surprise there.

However, I do notice the difference between firing my Shadow - stainless rod or not - and my Jericho 941. The extra weight of Jericho makes it easier for me. Then again, we all have to drop the training wheels at some point, so training, training, .... ;)
 
aridan said:
Yes and no. I hear some conflicting opinions on this. Since the stainless guide rod is a CZ part, some argue this still makes it Production-legal. However, I do keep my plastic rod close by. :D
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This specific question has been asked and answered on the IPSC World forum and steel guiderods ARE NOT allowed in the Shadow in PD.

Sorry...been there done that....have 2 steel guide rods sitting in a drawer...:redface:

John
 
John in B.C. said:
This specific question has been asked and answered on the IPSC World forum and steel guiderods ARE NOT allowed in the Shadow in PD.

Sorry...been there done that....have 2 steel guide rods sitting in a drawer...:redface:

John
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Final answer? :D

Oh well, like I said, I didn't really feel the difference, being the noob I am.
 
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