Xdm tungsten guide rod experiment

brianong18 · Oct 3, 2012

I know tungsten guide rods are available but they are pricey. I wanted to try something else out. I bought some tungsten powder. I plan on filling the guide rod with the powder and sealing both ends of the rod with some JB weld. Anyone try filling the rod with tungsten or lead? I've seen posts about it on other forums. I figured I'd give it a shot. Replacement hollow guide rods are cheap enough to get if I mess up or don't like it. Anyone have any other recommendations on how to seal the ends of the rod? This is for a .40 Xdm 4.5 by the way. Trying to tame the muzzle flip down some to try to get back on target quicker.

atblis · Oct 3, 2012

Could just get a TIG electrode and put it inside. Green is the non-radioactive one IIRC.

brianong18 · Oct 3, 2012

atblis said:
Could just get a TIG electrode and put it inside. Green is the non-radioactive one IIRC.

I've seen it done on another forum. The guy put 4 small tungsten welding rods in the guide rod and soldered them in place. I figured using the powder would make the most out of the space inside the guide rod to maximize the weight gain.

zaphod07 · Oct 3, 2012

Following this progress

frdfandc · Oct 3, 2012

I initially looked at the tungsten for my XDm, but got sticker shock. So I saved some bux, not as heavy, but went with a solid stainless steel.

brianong18 · Oct 3, 2012

frdfandc said:
I initially looked at the tungsten for my XDm, but got sticker shock. So I saved some bux, not as heavy, but went with a solid stainless steel.

I know right? $80 for a tungten rod vs $20 for a SS rod. This endeavor will cost me $10 with extra powder for another guide rod.

zombiehunter · Oct 4, 2012

Do we like the tungsten rod? My dad is thinking of doing it to his xdm. I mean is it noticeable?

brianong18 · Oct 4, 2012

Seems to do some good from reading on other forums. Going to do it tom. Anyone have any other ideas on how to seal the guide rod?

retrorichard · Oct 4, 2012

I have a springfield xd40 service (4") barrel. It was snappy as hell. I got the hougue grips and that helped. I then got a tungsten rod and a flashlight (streamlight trs-2) at the same time and it shoots like a dream. If you ever wanna try it out in Rockville, let me know.

frdfandc · Oct 4, 2012

zombiehunter said:
Do we like the tungsten rod? My dad is thinking of doing it to his xdm. I mean is it noticeable?

The Tungsten rod increased the weight over the nose to help with muzzle flip. Since my XDm is chambered in .40, it was a little snappy. Putting in a solid SS guide rod helped quite a bit with taming the muzzle flip. Much easier now to get the front sight back onto the target. The Tungsten rod is heavier than the SS one, but is also 4x as expensive.

I've been thinking of taking the OEM hollow guide rod and filling it with lead and see how much heavier it would be over the SS one. If it doesn't change, I can always heat up the OEM one and pour out the lead.

brianong18 · Oct 4, 2012

frdfandc said:
I've been thinking of taking the OEM hollow guide rod and filling it with lead and see how much heavier it would be over the SS one. If it doesn't change, I can always heat up the OEM one and pour out the lead.

Link Here you go.

brianong18 · Oct 5, 2012

It has begun. Sealed the smaller guide rod end with JB Weld. Letting it harden then it's time to fill the rod up with tungsten powder and seal it up with more JB Weld. Wish me luck.

john_bud · Oct 9, 2012

brianong18 said:
I've seen it done on another forum. The guy put 4 small tungsten welding rods in the guide rod and soldered them in place. I figured using the powder would make the most out of the space inside the guide rod to maximize the weight gain.

I think I may know that guy.... :innocent0

For me, the extra nose weight has made the gun easier to shoot well. I would for sure recommend it if you have the time to do it. FYI - it only works with 4 rods for the 9mm &40. The .45 has a smaller diameter. I might have some of the tungsten rod left, not sure. I could check for you if you would like (pm me)

brianong18 · Oct 10, 2012

john_bud said:
I think I may know that guy....

For me, the extra nose weight has made the gun easier to shoot well. I would for sure recommend it if you have the time to do it. FYI - it only works with 4 rods for the 9mm &40. The .45 has a smaller diameter. I might have some of the tungsten rod left, not sure. I could check for you if you would like (pm me)

Tried it with the tungsten powder. Filled the guide rod with it and sealed both ends with JB Weld. It seemed to help get back on target. Did some testing on Monday. Rapid fire shots at 25' were all within a 6" circle. Not too bad for me considering it's .40 and I usually do slow fire. Seems to be worth the few bucks it costs to do so far. Need to do some more shooting though.

john_bud · Oct 10, 2012

brianong18 said:
Tried it with the tungsten powder. Filled the guide rod with it and sealed both ends with JB Weld. It seemed to help get back on target. Did some testing on Monday. Rapid fire shots at 25' were all within a 6" circle. Not too bad for me considering it's .40 and I usually do slow fire. Seems to be worth the few bucks it costs to do so far. Need to do some more shooting though.

Good deal!

Xdm tungsten guide rod experiment

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