Has anyone used a tungsten guide rod. I bought one for my P229 .40/.357 Sig. I haven't gotten to shoot it yet, so I was curious if anyone else has. If so was there any noticeable difference in recoil or muzzle flip?

I have one in a Glock 19. I cant say I really noticed any difference

I have purchased and used many stainless steel guide rods for a variety of firearms to included the P229 40/357. I didn't notice any difference at all! Truthfully, I didn't expect any reduction in muzzle flip or recoil, I just wanted to replace a plastic or hollow tube with something solid. Subsequently, I have found that I should have just saved my money as it really serves no technical improvement over a plastic or hollow tube. Mentally, it just makes me feel good to have a solid steel rod over a piece of plastic or hollow aluminum.......In closing, some will say that the extra ounce that the solid guide rod weights will dampen recoil and or muzzle flip. I have to roll my eyes on those type of statements and perceptions. It just ain't so Joe.

Although the standard solid P229 rod isn’t tungsten, it doesn’t weigh an ounce more than the hollow metal rod, only about 2/3 ounce more.

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If so was there any noticeable difference in recoil or muzzle flip?

YES! It's called the placebo effect-it's your imagination.

Gotcha, I figured that was probably the case. It does look cool though!!

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Originally posted by Skate:
Has anyone used a tungsten guide rod. I bought one for my P229 .40/.357 Sig. I haven't gotten to shoot it yet, so I was curious if anyone else has. If so was there any noticeable difference in recoil or muzzle flip?

Buy or borrow a timer, think for a little what would make a reasonable test, and see if you can find the difference. That's what I did when I tested a tungsten rod in my 1911, and steel rods in my other guns.

A solid Tungsten guide rod weighs around 3 oz. Most of the ones sold as tungsten rods are actually stainless rods with a tungsten core and are not as heavy. In the hands of a good shooter the extra weight does make a difference in testing done with a timer.

Mine is a tungsten core that weighs 2oz. I'm going to test it this weekend. I have 3 229's, one stock with an SRT and a hollow rod. The one with the tungsten rod, also has an SRT, and a Legion. I can configure them all with as .357 Sig and use the same ammo.

If you're trying to reduce the muzzle flip on a P229, you can change the ammo that you are shooting. For me, .357 does not exhibit any muzzle flip at all. For .40, the 165 grain is pretty jumpy, whereas the 180 grain shoots like a .45 ACP.

Recoil and muzzle flip are very subjective. IMO, good fundamentals are more important. Run comparison tests yourself and get back to us.

The primary thing a Tungsten GR does is slightly change the balance of the pistol. May or may not be an improvement, depending on the shooter. Even with balance, my experience has been it takes a longer barrel, like a P226 length pistol to notice the difference with carbon steel GR's.

I have a Wilson Pro (Cmdr) with a FL Tungsten GR (WC). The purpose was to equal the general feel and weight of my 1911 GM. All I can say is I like the feel of the gun with that GR. Subjectively speaking.

With a melting point nearly 2 1/2 times higher than steel, they work darn near flawless if you plan on converting your gun into full auto and doing a subsequent meltdown test for a YouTube vid. If that's not on your docket, save your money if you haven't been suckered into buying one already.

Back in the mid 1980s during my IPSC days, I went through 2 or 3 of them.
They are brittle and I would never use one in my carry guns.

Honestly I've been laid up recovering from a hip replacement and had too much time on my hands. I stumbled across these guide rods surfing the net and thought I'd give it a try. I've also installed Gray Guns spring kits in 2 of my guns, and 3 SRT kits. Then I bought a set of Arkansas stones and did some polishing on a few pieces.

I've bought 6 guns in the last 2 months, and lots of other stuff from Amazon. My wife suspended my internet purchasing privileges, and is ready for me to get back to work!!

I'm shooting tomorrow, so I'll post my results after that.

I made a tungsten guide rod my 320 RX and it definitely reduced muzzle rise and the sight settles back on target better for me. It's physics, it lowers the center of gravity and adds mass at the muzzle. Is it worth the extra cost, I'm not sure. It's not a huge difference but it's noticeable. I made mine out of high strength tungsten and it was $90 in material cost for two rods. At production quantities I can't see them selling for less than $40 or so.

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Originally posted by isthatasiginyourpocket:
I made a tungsten guide rod my 320 RX and it definitely reduced muzzle rise and the sight settles back on target better for me. It's physics, it lowers the center of gravity and adds mass at the muzzle. Is it worth the extra cost, I'm not sure. It's not a huge difference but it's noticeable. I made mine out of high strength tungsten and it was $90 in material cost for two rods. At production quantities I can't see them selling for less than $40 or so.

All else remaining equal, lowering the center of gravity would increase muzzle flip.
Moving the center of gravity forward, which the tungsten rod would also do, would tend to decrease it.
Overall it would likely be a wash.

I've had one in my P229/9 for years. I like the way it balances it out.

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Originally posted by Jupiter:
Back in the mid 1980s during my IPSC days, I went through 2 or 3 of them.
They are brittle and I would never use one in my carry guns.

This. I use one in a bullseye 1911, but I've seen several break in matches so for me it's a no-no for anything but a range toy.

I finally made it to the range. I can definitely tell a difference in the weight between them. I can't say for sure that the extra weight reduced muzzle flip, because I didn't feel like I had a problem with that on any of them. I do think the extra weight soaked up a little of the felt recoil. It could be in my head, and they all felt very similar. It wasn't enough of a difference that I'll be buying one for all of my guns, but I'm not disappointed either.

The alloy Sigs seem to soak up the recoil pretty well but I wish someone would make a reliable P320 Compact steel and/or tungsten core guide rod. The Sig party line is that bore axis doesn't matter but it actually does if you don't have enough weight to keep the muzzle flat. I can always add a rail light but that's not always practical.