It won't really help. What you might pick up because recoil is dampened you will most likely loose in the transition from plate to plate and the pistol will now also be harder to stop since it weighs more and momentum likes to keep moving.

 

i don't shoot plates, but the rod does help me with muzzle flip, especially when shooting one-handed.

 

Mike,
I run full length tungsten guide rods in my Wilson Classic guns for target use but use a standard full length guide rod in my Protector for self defense. The tungsten rods add some stabilizing weight to the front end but may slow your gun movement down for action shooting as posted by bdavis.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

I have used these rods for years in my IPSC Limited guns. This is the best way to dampen recoil withouut modifying the gun because you are adding weight at the muzzle, just where you need it. I don't feel that the weight slows me down at all, but that is a judgement you must make for yourself. One aded advantage is that this mod can be easily undone.

 

They do have a tendency to break. My son and I have had three tungsten rods break on us, two at very inopportune times. I no longer fully trust them in my competition guns, and would never consider using one in a defensive pistol.

 

I preferred a heavy gun on "sweeps" like a plate rack or a row of poppers. A light gun seemed more appropriate when you were moving the gun through larger arcs of movement. I miss my lightweight 5" .45...that thing was sweet.
Of course, a lot of this is personnal preferrence.

 

break a tungsten guide rod??? is that possible? How can you break a tungsten guide rod? when it's just guiding the spring?

 

break a tungsten guide rod??? is that possible? How can you break a tungsten guide rod? when it's just guiding the spring?

I had an STI Edge in which I experienced a broken Tungsten guide rod.

So yes, it is possible. How? I have no idea, i'm not a metallurgist. It left me baffled as well as the local gunsmith.

A quick search on Tungsten might provide a clue, but I still have no idea why it happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungsten

"Tungsten can be cut with a hacksaw when it is very pure (it is brittle and hard to work when impure) and is otherwise worked by forging, drawing, extruding, or sintering."

 

If you check the forum a brianenos.com, where the gunracers hang out, you'll find many accounts of broken tungsten rods. I don't know if it's a certain brand of rod, or any tungsten rod installed in a certain brand of gun, but broken rods are not unusual in the S_I hi-cap guns.

 

If you check the forum a brianenos.com, where the gunracers hang out, you'll find many accounts of broken tungsten rods. I don't know if it's a certain brand of rod, or any tungsten rod installed in a certain brand of gun, but broken rods are not unusual in the S_I hi-cap guns.

oh...gun racers...I like that term.

I think it depends on who (or where) you get your tungsten guiderod from and make sure its properly fitted once you do. I ran all of last year with a Dawson Tungsten guiderod until replacing it this year with a steel one to lighten up the front of the gun. I bought the gun last year from Dawson Precision and had them install the rod. When I asked them if it was an STI tungsten guiderod, they said "no, STI's break. We use our own".

True to their word...it didn't break. Mind you, I only shot a year with it (well technically half a year...I waited until after the Area 1 Championship last year before making the switch to the Edge in Limited)...but put quite a few rounds during that 6 month period.

When running the tunsten rod, the gun had very little muzzle flip...but I found that I was over driving the gun on target transitions (this may have well been not due to the tungsten guide rod but rather switching from a 1911 that had most of its weight center balanced to a 2011 which had most of its weight out front). I'm pretty sure that after a while shooting, my mind would figure things out and learn how to "break" the gun while transitioning.....but I decided that with the bull barrel, full profile slide and full dust cover of the Edge, I could afford to give up the tungsten lighten things up a little.


Dawson STi Edge...gunracer!

 

They do have a tendency to break. My son and I have had three tungsten rods break on us, two at very inopportune times. I no longer fully trust them in my competition guns, and would never consider using one in a defensive pistol.

I have heard this before but my experience has been to the contrary. I have tungsten guide rods with over 40,000 rounds with no failures. I think they are susceptible to cracking because tungsten is so hard as to be brittle. The MFR might be important as some may be better made than others. This bothers me because I have had my tungsten guide rods so long I forgot who made them.

 

break a tungsten guide rod??? is that possible? How can you break a tungsten guide rod? when it's just guiding the spring?

The rod isn't just guiding the spring, the base gets slammed by the slide in full recoil on each shot. This shock might cause the rather brittle tungsten to crack.

 

The tungsten rod also slows my draw from the holster. I'm thinking a 1911 with a rail or long dustcover like the Edge is the better way to go. Myself I'm thinking of getting a Springfield MC Operator for Single Stack and use a regular steel rod to stay under 43ozs. That and a Heinie Magwell would be my choice as the S&A might add to much weight especially below my hand where the pistol would pivot on recoil. Does that last thought make sense to anyone?

 

Tungsten rods break easier than carbon or stainless. Especially if they are made with the male end tungsten. SV quit making them that way and make the male end carbon steel. I have yet to break one of these (knock on wood)

 

Tungsten rods

I shoot PPC competitively and plates for fun, so a breakage wouldn't cost me any money BUT, I certainly don't want a failure of any kind. I was thinking of the Wilson rod, which is a one piece design. Wonder how they hold up?

 

Mike,
I have Wilson tungsten full length guide rods in three 1911's with somewhere around 4000-5000 rounds fired so far with no problems.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

The tungsten rod also slows my draw from the holster. I'm thinking a 1911 with a rail or long dustcover like the Edge is the better way to go. Myself I'm thinking of getting a Springfield MC Operator for Single Stack and use a regular steel rod to stay under 43ozs. That and a Heinie Magwell would be my choice as the S&A might add to much weight especially below my hand where the pistol would pivot on recoil. Does that last thought make sense to anyone?

A tungsten guide rod doesn't weigh ebough to have this affect.

 

We have broken two EGW and one Wilson tungsten guide rods. Fortunately, I buy my stuff from Brownells and keep receipts, so it hasn't cost me anything (except frustration). In one instance a big piece of the guide rod flew out the front of the gun with such force that it penetrated the IPSC target I was engaging at the time.

 

We have broken two EGW and one Wilson tungsten guide rods. Fortunately, I buy my stuff from Brownells and keep receipts, so it hasn't cost me anything (except frustration). In one instance a big piece of the guide rod flew out the front of the gun with such force that it penetrated the IPSC target I was engaging at the time.

How did they score the hit?

 

I have broken two in my STI Edge, one at the USPSA Area One and the second one at the USPSA Nationals. The gun continued to run both times, it just felt different. I think they do dampen recoil for me a little, but
I have chosen to go with a lighter gun with a steel guide rod. Never had a problem with steel.

 

How did they score the hit?

:rofl:

 

i never thought a guide rod would break. was contemplating on buying the dawson precision tungsten guide rod on my single stack.. but this topic has given me 2nd thoughts.