Am looking for a bit of added weight to the front of my 34, and figured a good way to do that was to install a tungsten guide rod.  I like the way the gun balances and feels with the added weight of my TLR-1 light installed.  Was planning on sticking with the 17 lb recoil spring, and have done no internal modifications to the gun.  Has anyone done this, and if so were there any issues?  Am shooting factory ammo for now, but will be reloading 9mm soon.

I frequently shoot my 34 with my wx150 on the rail.  Stock springs, no trouble so far.  My reloads are pretty weak too and it still cycled reliably.  I know nothing about the tungsten guide rod.

I fell for the hype and used a tungsten guide rod on my G23.

After 3000 to 4000 rounds the rod broke in half where the end disk is connected to the main rod.

Stock guide rod is fine. If you must go with a steel one, go the stainless route. Tungsten just seems to be to fragile over time.

Thanks for the input.  I would be royally pissed if the guide rod broke after 3-4k rounds.  The stainless is much cheaper, so I think I will go that route.

Stainless steel is durable and a good alternative to the stock rod, especially when changing spring weights.  The tungsten rod is just a way of separating gullible souls from their greenbacks.