TWO QUESTIONS: Best FL Guide rod and 10 MM Converssion?

[dleong]

Quote:I'm scratching my head on this one. I've never seen or heard of a 97B shipped with a full length plastic guide rod and I can see no way that the half-length plastic rod (itself) would prevent the slide from moving back.

The factory "stubby" guide rod of the 97B sticks through the hole at the front of the recoil spring housing (#63) only when the slide is retracted fully. If the plastic guide rod is bent, it could potentially not line up with the hole and "hang up" inside the hole, thereby preventing the slide from retracting fully.


DL

[fritze01]

After we disassembled the gun and found the bent guide rod and straigthened it out the gun then functioned.

The next morning I checked it again to make sure the guide rod did not have a set bend in it, it still worked but the rod was again bent.

Please don't get me wrong and think I am attacking CZ at all.

I love CZ products.

Looking at these forums and all the nice photos of them makes me want to pick up a 97B, but with one of Jacks FLGR, natch.

I am also not exactly new to the business, I worked for Olympic Arms for 8 years, 7 years as a CNC machinist-1 year in sales (still cannot get the stink offa me from that one year).

Been in the business now about 17 years, not a long time, but I'm not exactly a newbie either.

I have seen "many out of spec" parts, everybody has a bad day once inawhile.

*****************************

If this part were made of a stronger/stiffer material maybe it would not bend.

From what I have been reading the CZ plastic guide rods dont seem to be the most robust of parts.

The one I saw had a diameter much smaller than the internal diameter of the spring, lots of slop. Most guide rod springs fit tighter on the guide rod.

Its like I told my customer and something I used to say at olympic arms all the time, "Hey its not like someones life depends on  what we do here".

Parachutes have to open, brakes have to stop you.

Although in this case the customer would have never been able to load the gun as the slide would not move fully back.

[viking442]

Don't think anyone feels like you were attacking CZ.

Just offering up some more information in case it was a different problem or maybe even a combination of the two. I've never seen or heard of a half-length guide rod stopping the slide but I have heard and even experienced the bushing problem.  However... just because we've never heard of something doesn't mean it is impossible or didn't/doesn't occur.  It is an anecdotal indicator of probability.

If the barrel bushing is even a "little" too tight on the 97B it can produce the same problem you described...  slide not going all the way back.  This situation, I think,  is easier to get into with the older style bushing (vs. what many call the star bushing --- or new style bushing).  My gun has the older style bushing.

A plastic guide rod that likes to stay bent could be chamfered a little more to ensure that it will self-center into the hole on the front of the slide.  This little fix of course depends on the severity of the bend.

All that said, most know from my previous posts here, I absolutely dislike plastic guide rods.  They introduce too many reliability problems. This is just one more example to add to the list.  

[Old Coastie]

"I used a caliper on the guide rod and it was .190 thick in the shaft, .390 at the head, 3.000 long on the flat (not including the protrusion on end).

The head was .080 thick flat to flat."

Just for fun I got my 97B plastic guide rod out (I made my own FLGR) and took the same measurements as you.

The shaft on mine varied from .258" at the head end to .250" at the other end. The head was .380" wide by .109" thick. My guide rod is only 1.756" long.

Mine functioned fine at the range but I made a replacement anyway. Interesting that your plastic rod is so much longer than mine. My pistol is a '98.

Good shooting,

Mike

[fritze01]

We got the new guide rod in and the customer picked it up.

So far I have not had a chance to talk to him to see how it worked out.

I took measurements and will get a print up asap been real busy lately.




I must have measured wrong on the two still missing dimensions, the numbers I wrote down were way off so I did not include them.

I will update them when I see the guide rod again.

[Blankwaffe]

I got the jackash guide rod and its been perfect.Highly recommend it too.

[crt360]

fritze01, the drawing you posted looks like the guide rod for the 75B .40.  This is what CZ sold me when I asked for a full length 97B rod.  Mine functioned with it, but it does not fill the hole in the recoil spring bushing, nor does it stick far enough through the hole.  After a few hundred rounds it appeared to cause wear around the inside of the hole in the bushing.  If for some reason the tip of the rod sat a hair short of the hole it looks like it could prevent the slide from retracting.  I quickly replaced it with a custom stainless rod, similar to the JackAsh rod, that fits and functions perfectly.

Some of the old plastic rods (like mine) were very short.  They didn't function as well with heaver springs, but seemed to be fine with the stock spring.  You might try just cutting down the problem plastic rod and rounding the end.

[Thren68]

Couple of months back, I went to one of the local shops to see if they had a 97b that I could check for feel and fit.  They had two, brand new in the case.

Pulled the first one out and the slide wouldn't open all the way.  The salesman checked it, agreed with me then he disassembled it and sure enough it's stock plastic guide rod had bent to the point to impede function.  After straightening it by hand, it worked fine.

Seems to be a slight problem somewhere affecting at least a small number of the 97b's.

[BRASMAN]

Yep plastic guide rods stink in my opinion. Here is another example of a garbage plastic guide rod.
www.ar15.com/forums/topic...=4&t=20615