LC9 EXCESSIVE guide rod wear - 330rds

[Red Rhino]

New to the forum, but Ruger fan for some time.

I recently purchased a new LC9, and have since put a total 330 of rounds of 147gr winchester FMJ silver box through it over the course of a month.

The guide rod has been wearing significantly over this time period. It is as though the recoil spring is grinding it away. The wear is about a half inch long, along the long axis, and is getting deeper with each successive use.

Ruger was quick to respond and is sending me a new guide rod, but I have a feeling that it will do this again. My friend has the same model and his guide rod is already starting to show wear.

It starts out looking like witness marks from the recoil spring, but over time starts to get a choppy look to it.

I'd post pics but I don't know how.

Anyone else having this problem?

Thanks

 

[cruzerlou]

First Welcome to the forum .
I don't have LC9 but I have seen this before .Most times it comes from a steady diet of +p ammo in a gun not rated for them kind of like a
S&W M-19 fed a steady diet of full house 125gr .357 mags .Even though it's a .357 mag but it's much better suited to .38+P's less recoil,muzzle flash,quicker follow up shots and much less ware and tear on the gun .I have a Walther PPS thats +P rated but the manual says not to feed it +P's only ,shoot stsndsrd volosity. ammo for pratice and +P's for carry .My guide rod is fine and I've put 50 or so of my carry rounds through it every couole months or so [124gr Speer Bonded Unicore +P's at 1200 fps]just so I know what to expect in terms of recoil and no problems .
I saw a friends Klar/ Kel-Tec [can't remember which one] chew it's self up with +P's .It may be that the 147's are generating too much recoil for the gun .
Does the owners manual say anything about heavy or +P rounds?check it out ,thats the only thing I can think of that might be doing this .
Good Luck ,
Lou

 

[HIP SHOT]

The guide rod is plastic. As I shot mine I kept close watch on it and other parts. The guide rod did wear but stopped. I'm at about 700 rounds and it seems fine.

Somebody will most likely come up with a metal replacement.

The manual states the LC9 can shoot +P ammo but on a limited basis.


Hip Shot

 

[RichBMW]

The guide rod is plastic. The LCP guide rod is steel. I guess they went with plastic to keep the weight down on the 9mm. I bet you'll soon see steel guide rods available from the after-market.

 

[Red Rhino]

Thanks for the welcome!

The 147's I've been using are standard pressure. The manual does state that a steady diet of +P will shorten the life of the weapon, so I have steered clear of using them. I'm new to the small pistol genre so I plan on putting alot of time in at the range to get proficient.

On the good side, the pistol has been very accurate and reliable in function. My best free-standing 5-shot group has been 0.75". No FTL's, FTF's, or FTE's.

I have access to a precision machine shop and was thinking about making my own guide rod out of 2024 Aluminum or a 300 series SS. It is about as simple a design as you could ask for, so it should be easy to duplicate.

Thoughts?

 

[RichBMW]

Make some extras and you may be able to sell them.

 

[Boge]

Glocks do the same thing. IMO it is a non-issue.

 

[Red Rhino]

I'm not sure I'd call it a non-issue given the relatively short time in which the wear occurred.

Like I said, Ruger has been very responsive, but it just seems like something like this would have been seen in testing. 147 fmj standard pressure 9mm ammo is common.

Perhaps it is just a fluke...

 

[Cholo]

:shock:

 

[Boge]

Correction: that is more than I thought that you had alluded to!! :shock: Mine does not look like that after a few hundred rounds!! A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[HIP SHOT]

I wonder if the guide rod hole in the front of the slide has a burr in the inside. Or maybe the inner spring has the last coil bent inward.

I think Ruger needs to take a look at it otherwise.

Hip Shot

 

[oregon73]

That does NOT look good. My LC9 has less than 50 rounds through it but I'll take a closer look and see if I can see any wear. Your gun might need to go back to Ruger, unfortunately. Your call, of course, but that looks bad.

Rob

 

[buckshotshorty]

I have an LC9 with about 400 rounds through it, and my guide rod looks similar to yours, maybe a little less wear. I emailed Ruger at their website "tell the boss" or something similar, suggesting a steel guide rod, because the plastic ones are rather flimsy. He emailed me back that the guns were thoroughly tested and after firing many thousands of rounds the guide rods withstood the pounding. They did send me a replacement though.

 

[Red Rhino]

I took the chance to have a look at the slide and check it and the springs for burrs. I didn't see anything outstanding, but I went ahead and did some deburring and smoothing anyway.

I'll update when the new guide rod arrives and I get a chance to evaluate the problem anew.

Thanks for the replies!

Be Safe

 

[cruzerlou]

Granted 147grs are standard pressure rounds ,but by their very nautre of being a heavy round is a small pistol may acclrate nudue ware on the gun just because the round being such a heavy round it does generate more recoil forces than a lighter round does.

Wincester devloped the 147 gr Hydroshok as a heavy subsonic round for the S.E.A.L.'s to use in there MP5SD's as a super accurate round out to 100+ yards for taking out sentries with one head shot .The post is there to help that heavy bullet expand at extended ranges at lower volicities .Studies have shown that this dosn't always work,if fact a jackted handgun bullet [not a magnum ] only expaned about 60% of the time .most of the new bullets have a much better recoed of expanding across their volositily range .One unexped benafit of this was that because to is sunsonic it's uber quite out of the H&K MP5SD .The MP5 uses a delayed blowback roller action and it's way overbuild for the 9 MM and even though the 147 gr is a satandard pressuer round it does generate more recoil forceses than lighter bullets .In smaller guns this could in theroy cause more ware and tear on the gun .In a full sized duty gun this may not be a problem but in light weight guns phyichs comes into play and by the very nature of the heavy bullet will produce more ware.
Lou

 

[Mike J]

I don't know about the LC9 but I have seen some pic.'s of guns over on the Kel Tec forum that people had changed out the stock plastic guide rod for a metal one. The hole in the front of the slide the guide rod goes through got chewed up. You might possibly mess up your slide instead of just chewing up a plastic guide rod that is easily replaced. I do not know if Ruger would take care of the damage for free if that happened. If the same thing happens to the replacement guide rod they are sending you I believe I would ask for a shipping label & send it in.

 

[Red Rhino]

Valid points, both (heavy ammo, and potential slide wear).

I got a good deal on the 147gr rounds, so I'll have to burn through this before I look into going lighter. Cursed gun shows and their inexpensive ammo...

Perhaps I'll just burn through this stuff with my old P85mkII. That thing is a tank.

Thanks to all for the good info. I'll post back when I have new info.

Be safe.

 

[cruzerlou]

I looked and don't see any kind of wear on my reciol spring guide rod in my Glock or Walther PPS [Althouhg I don't feed it a steady diet of +P ammo ,it's rated for +P but Walther recomends that you only shoot it as a carry round .I do however put 50 or so down the pipe every couple of months just to shoot up the old stuff.
As to why the Rugers are doing this I haven't a clue I think a steel guide rod is in order ,it would only add an ounce or two of weight and you'll never noitce to when carring it and may even tame recoil a bit .

Both my Glock G-22 [.40 S&W] and Walther PPS 9 MM have plastic guide rods with duel recoil sprimgs .In my Glock I shoot the hot stuff Remingtion green and white box180gr FMJ's for pratice I get a 50 rd box from our police supply store for $14.00 .[Now before y'all go off on me I shoot Winchester white box 115gr FMJ's for pratice in my PPS but have had 0 -zero problems with this ammo] it's cheap AROUND $22.00 and since we have to buy our own pratice ammo and our own duty ammo if we shoot our issue ammo up I have to get what I afford .

My carry/ duty rounds are Georiga Arms Speer Bonded Unicore 124gr +P's in my PPS and Georiga Arms Speer Bonded Unicore 180gr +P's in my Glock .We're only issued 50 duty rounds and year and 50 pratice rounds and year to qualfiy with through the Sheriff's Office but I don't like to carry it more than 2 months so I buy the Gorgia Arms +P's as my duty load .

I can get a 100 rd pack for OF 9 mm124GR+P's for $37.50 , 100rd pk of.40 S&W for $47.50 and for my off duty gun my Kimber custom T.L.E.II .45 ACP a 100rd pk for $51.50 all of these Speer Bonded Unicore bullets .All of these are new manafacture ammo NO RELOADS and there .45 ACP FMJ's 100rd pk for my pratice ammo for the .45 a 100rd pk of New Manfucture for $40.50 fromG.A. .

With the pratice rounds being so cheap I can shoot a lot more ,not nearly as much as I would like to but I shoot a lot more than most other Deputies do.

The Speer Bonded Unicore is a devastating bullet and I get 100 rounds of it for what you would pay for a 20 rd box at a gun shop .Sometimes if I'm lucky I can find a 100 valupak of WWB .45ACP at wally world myabe 10 bucks cheaper that what I pay for Georgia Arms but that stuff is hard to find

.I know sone of y'all think WWB is junk ammo but I've never had a problem with it althougt I must admit I havent bought any in a while , I have quite a stock pile of 9 MM &.45ACP so last week I did buy a 50 rd box of WWB .40S&W FMJ's at wally world ,but after looking each round over they look fine .

I looked and don't see any kind of wear on my reciol spring guide rods in my Glock or Walther PPS ether [Althouhg I don't feed it a steady diet of +P ammo my Walther is rated for +P but on a limited basis. .
Lou
.

 

[RichBMW]

About 200 rounds thru my LC9 to date and no wear on the guide rod at all.

 

[LuckenbachTexas]

That picture...Oh dang!

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I don't know about the LC9 but I have seen some pic.'s of guns over on the Kel Tec forum that people had changed out the stock plastic guide rod for a metal one. The hole in the front of the slide the guide rod goes through got chewed up. You might possibly mess up your slide instead of just chewing up a plastic guide rod that is easily replaced.....

Ding, Ding, Ding, we have a winner!!!!

Plastic guide rods are not a bad thing at all.
If a pistol uses a lug instead of a swinging link, a plastic guide rod will flex when cycling and not damage the slide.
If the guide rod is steel, especially on a shorter barreled gun, the guide rod could damage the slide after awhile.
Another thing about a metal guide rod that could be an issue earlier is because it is less likely to flex, it could force itself off the barrel lug and in doing so jam the pistol.

...and please don't tell me that a steel guide rod makes a pistol more accurate due to it's stiffness. That's like saying jumping in the water makes you a halibut.

 

[GeorgeP]

I have about 400 rounds through my LC9 and do not show any wear of the guide rod. I shoot only 115 FMJ with a mag of 124 Gold Dots from time to time.

 

[Lateck]

Just checked my LC9 and there is some signs of wear....
I'll keep an eye on it.
I have maybe 200 rounds of mixed ammo through it.

Lateck,

 

[Red Rhino]

I received my replacement guide rod from Ruger today and it is now installed. we'll see if this new one works better now that i've done some light deburing and cleaning. I also put a light film of tetra grease on the rod as well.

I'll post back after I get some rounds through her.

 

[welder]

Just pulled mine apart to check. 300 rds. plus and no signs of wear at all. None.

 

[OpsMgr]

That is one UGLY pic. :shock: My LC9 is at 500+ rounds and the guide rod shows no wear. Also, only 50 rounds of 147 gr have been shot thru mine...

 

[Red Rhino]

Took the LC9 back out to the range after the subtle deburing and the addition of the new guide rod provided by Ruger. One note, I did add a very light coat of Tetra gun grease on the guide rod. I only had enough time to put 50 rounds down range, but everything went fine, and there was no discernable wear on the guide rod.

I'll post back if there are any changes.

be safe

 

[ConcealCarry]

I don't have this problem yet, but I will have a fix in about 10 days. I will have some stainless guide rods completed then and will be offering them for a small price.

 

[ADP3]

Why not pick up a couple of extra ones and save a fresh one for carry and dedicate one for the range? That way you won't have to worry about a part failure when you're carrying. I carry a variety of "Range" parts and mags in my shooting kit. They are the ones that see the most use. The "Carry" parts get tested and then reserved for defense/hunting applications instead of range use.

Best Regards,
ADP3

 

[revhigh]

...and please don't tell me that a steel guide rod makes a pistol more accurate due to it's stiffness. That's like saying jumping in the water makes you a halibut.

LOL !!



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