Went for the 22 bucks and replaced the plastic guide rod on my M9 with a steel one, it came with a spring so I replaced that too I notice a littl bit of weight difference but other than that no real change to the dynamics of the gun.Any thoughts ???????

Only because you asked, my thoughts are that you’ve wasted $22.00.  The military accepted the change to a polymer guide rod because it’s better, not because it’s cheaper.  The polymer guide rod needs no lubrication so it doesn’t attract dirt.  It’s grooved, which provides structural strength and gives any dirt and debris that might accumulate someplace to go without slowing down cycling of the slide.  The polymer guide rod is flexible and will not stay bent like the steel one will if dropped, which can tie up the pistol.  Keep in mind that the most likely time for a pistol to be dropped in a fight is during a mag change, with the slide locked back and the guide rod exposed.  If my Berettas came with steel rods I’d change them to polymer before the first trip to the range.  Sorry, but you asked.

Yep, I've swapped all my steel guide rods for polymer ones as well.

I just read this point a few days ago.  Makes a lot of sense.  I changed mine to steel and may go back to the polymer.  One, however, isn't a go-to gun, so not terribly worried about it.  Very interesting though!

 

Only polymer guide rod I've ever broken was on a Gen. 1 S&W Sigma (ugh, yes)...  On a Sig or Beretta you are fine with a poly rod...

The first thing I replaced on M9 was that POS polymer guide rod.
I still have to dump that garbage from my CZs and PX4.

Not trying to hijack this thread...

Plastic/Polymer guide rods  seem to be common with lots of other firearms
One could assume the same logic would apply to other firearms?

Yep. I'm sure it's a non issue. That said, I run a Wilson Combat guide rod on my 92 Brigadier.

I use Wilson's steel guide rod,it looks a lot better to me and the extra weight helps slightly reduce muzzle flip.

The M9s I carried in Iraq had metal guide rods and I never had an issue with them. I don't see a 5 foot drop bending 4140 heat-treated steel. If you get in a lot of shoot outs on top of buildings it may be problematic.

Good post.  Thanks guys, learned something new to think about.

I put a SS guide rod in my 96A1 just to allow me to run a 16lb spring in it. Shoot a lot of hot 40 S&W. The poly factory rod I removed had a ben in it but runs fine.

I think in a well designed and constructed pistol/guide rod we are talking about the >1% difference in longevity/performance. The correct polymer and design can seem indestructible. I can tell you first hand that in Afghanistan there were several S&W 9mm pistols with broken guide rods that caused them to be unservicable. Maybe it was the type of polymer, maybe the design, or maybe both played into that.

I am sure some of you are familiar with the 1,000 round glock G19 torture test in which the plastic guide rod melted off. I've taken some high round count classes and never got close to melting a guide rod.

My go to Beretta runs a Wilson Combat fluted Guide rod.

I have personally seen far more problems with plastic guide rods than metal ones. That's my first hand experience. BTW, both my normal concealed carry guns run plastic guide rods (Gen3 G19, XDs 3.3).

The polymer explanation is making a lot of sense and I may just put mines back.

Didn't think about the lubrication.