railroader said:
I would have to agree with don't mess with the plastic guide rods. I have owned CZs over the past 15 years with zero problems with the stock rods.
What performance improvement is likely from the use of a steel guide rod? I can think of none. 1) The bullet leaves the barrel when the slide has moved just a scant fraction of an inch, so it has no role in that part of the firing cycle. 2) It seems to have little or no effect on lockup, which is critical to accuracy. and 3) it's unlikely to affect reliability. If anyone disputes these three points, please offer us some proofs, test results, etc. I may be wrong and you may be right, but the evidence I've seen shows no differences between steel and plastic guide rods.
Some years ago when I was a moderator on the CZ Forum, I talked with the head gunsmith at CZ (Mike Easgleshield) about guide rods. At the time, that any frame damage -- which was likely from using a steel guide rod in an alloy frame -- would NOT be covered by the CZ warranty.
At the time, CZ would NOT knowingly sell a steel guide rod (available as an option for the steel-framed Compact [safety, not decocker]) to a alloy-framed compact owner.
This has been discussed time and again on forums like this and on the various CZ forums, but I have yet to see a definitive answer. CZ has been relatively quiet, and folks who have asked them seem to get different answers.
I've owned several Compacts over the years (compacts with steel frames) and never had a problem with the plastic guide rods -- nor with any other CZ model that used a plastic guide rod. The front of the plastic guide rods DO bend a lot, and if they weren't bending, they'd be rubbing on the opening at the front of the slide The part inside the gun continues to function as it should -- helping to keep the recoil spring in position.
Note: Some years back, SIG switched from metal to plastic guide rods and there was a major outcry from SIG owners and potential buyers, and SIG reverted to metal ... for a while. Plastic is now the SIG standard. Even the top-end X-Five guns have large plastic components in those multi-part assemblies.
Folks who know guns and the materials used in them tell us that 1) guide rods are NOT high-stress parts, 2) the plastics used typically have higher lubricity (smoother, slicker, less friction, etc.), and most of the concern is based on unwarranted concern about reliability.
(Some folks, back in the day, used brass hinge bolts from door hinges - cut to length - in place of the plastic factory compact gun hinge; that might make sense if the brass used in the hinges is softer than the alloy used in the frame. I don't know about their relative hardness.)
If plastic is an issue for you, do what you want, but I'd argue that there's more likelihood of damage from steel than plastic in an alloy or polymer-framed gun.
