Reviews Stainless Steel Guide Rods for Glock Gen 4

My starting time idea when these arrived was" "OOooooo, Shiny!". Packed in two piddling bags with demure labeling were ii new Glock Gen 4 Guide Rods by Lone Wolf Distributors. These were their latest release of in-house upgrades for the Glock platform.

Ii standard Glock guide-rods with their corresponding Alone Wolf counterparts.

Lone Wolf has been specializing in Glock parts, expanding rapidly, making a name for themselves starting with conversion barrels and expanding to total AR-15 9mm kits and even their own frame, the TimberWolf.

Standard guide rod in a 19/23 and the Lone Wolf guide rod in a G34/35

Lone Wolf offered to send 2 of their latest guide-rods to TFB and as one of the resident Glock shooters, I was given the option of guide rods. Lone Wolf was kind enough to send two of their loftier-shine models, i for the G17/G34 and G19.

Are they a worthy upgrade or just some other "me-as well" product in a solid aftermarket? Read below to find out.

Specs & Marketing (Courtesy of Lonely Wolf)

WHY PAY MORE?
Why pay $55-threescore for a competitors Gen4 guide rod assembly that doesn't fifty-fifty permit you to remove the springs hands? Our LWD version is half the price and more user friendly. Why pay more?

LWD S/Due south Guide Rod Assembly's are a complete drop in unit for Gen4 Glocks.

Special features include:

• Solid stainless steel guide rod
• Precision CNC machined to accept a removable Allen head tip, for easy spring changes.
• 17-7 stainless steel recoil spring.
  
• Leap weight calibrated to factory weights.
• 75% heavier compared to OEM part. (1.4oz vs .8 oz)
  
• These combined features brand the Lonely Wolf Guide Rod Associates the nigh durable, longest lasting system bachelor today.
• Available as a highly polished version for only $10 more. High smooth choice provides a smoother, quieter operation. The best Gen4 guide rod available for only $39.95!
  

Experienced shooters realize plastic guide rods tin can scrap, crack or break resulting in feeding or ejection failures and guide rod flex can contribute to accurateness issues. The Lone Wolf Guide Rod Associates addresses all of these issues and will provide you a life time of reliable service.

Shooting with the Guide Rod

Installation was a a breeze, slightly easier than a stock guide rod. Lone Wolf looks to keep the stainless rod simply a hair shorter although I did non have calipers to verify. Once installed, the slide mounts to the frame easily and apace.

Installed in my carry gun. I unremarkably run the G23 with a Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel.

Immediately I noticed 2 things, the slide was smoother (although not easier) to manipulate and the standard "grating" sound that typifies a standard Glock was gone. The loftier-polish guide-rod was smoother to the touch, simply true to their advert, the spring rate was still the same. It is really a weird awareness to me, to take a Glock really feel good.

Bright on the front of the gun. Makes it an instant 2-tone.

I did observe ii other things on the rod. The first is how obvious it is on the forepart of the handgun, looking down the muzzle. With rails-lights above my work area, the polish was then good it would reverberate light like a watch crystal or a flashlight. The second was that it stuck out a minor corporeality further than the standard guide rod. Might let some extra debris inside, but information technology would be pocket-sized.

Heading to the range, I had high expectations of a significantly superior shooting feel. After the first two magazines on my bear gun, I really did not find much of a divergence. The gun just shot like a Glock. Switching to the G34/35, I was pleasantly surprised to feel just a bear on less recoil at the shot'southward break. I would attribute information technology to lower friction beyond the guide rod assuasive unlock to occur faster.

The rod itself did not really change the total pulse, just made it slightly more pleasant. I would say its like a road trip that you can go the same speed versus always stopping and going. You always go to the same identify, just 1 is more enjoyable.

Notation the polish and how information technology affects the camera's choice-up of low-cal. Nice.

Functioning of the ii handguns was Glock'southward usual monotonous reliability. The thing but kept shooting everything I could load from steel case, to +P, to typical 115 grain RN. Across the 500 rounds I had with me, nary a hiccup.

In one case back-dwelling, I took the handguns autonomously and converted them back to the stock rods. The stainless steel showed picayune signs of wear versus the marring that the stamped stock rods show afterwards firing many rounds. That said, both of the stock rods accept multiple thousands of rounds on them.

All-in-all, I was pleased.

The Skillful:

• Easy installation. Does not deform under firing like the stock
• Noticeably smoother operation of the action.
• Cuts down on leap "grating" dissonance
• Looks to be the same reliability of the stock spring.

The Notable:

• Price is fair at $29 (matte) -$39 (high polish), but no departure in reliability of the handgun.
• Sticks out from the end of the handgun more than the stock guide rod.
• The high smooth finish is just that, brilliant, clean, merely noticeably reflects light under certain weather on a carry gun.
• Allen-cardinal screws allow disassembly to "modify springs". From my perspective, this is not desirable. Trying to get one back together is a deport and I don't like the possibility of it coming apart during spirited shooting. I recommend shooters use ruby-red loc-tite to keep it together.

Please, Lone Wolf, offering a QPQ rod! The springs would not need it (they are hidden in the gun).

The Bad:

• No markings on the base plate to identify which springs or handgun the rod is for.
• I would similar to run across a QPQ or Black Oxide finished version which cuts down on the high gloss for a few dollars more than.

• 

  Note no markings. Disappointing.

Bottom Line:

The guide rod is an upgrade to the Glock just as the JP Enterprises silent capture spring is to an AR-15. Is information technology needed for a flawlessly functional firearm? Nope. Is it a good purchase for someone looking to eek every ounce of functioning out of their handgun? Absolutely.

My competition Glock, fully equipped for next year. Previously equipped with a Lone Wolf 35-9mm conversion barrel that has performed well to date.

Piece of cake to run into the loftier-gloss cease on both the rod and butt.

This is a "squeamish to have" function and it will indeed be very squeamish to have and shoot. Later shooting with the Lone Wolf guide rod in my competition handgun, it will be permanently installed and I plan on buying a second for the guns redundancy clone.

Gallery:

watterscomple1992.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/01/12/lightning-review-stainless-gen-4-glock-guide-rods-lonewolf-distributors/

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