Plastic Striker Spring Guide

[Flieger]

I replaced a striker spring from Wolff, their #5 and my heart sunk when I saw that the guide/rod was plastic. Everyone uses plastic now for recoil springs, but a striker?
Does anyone make a replacement made out of good old steel?

[LorenzoB]

I feel your pain. When I changed out my striker springs, I thought the same thing. But it doesn't do anything but guide the spring. There is no side load on it. I did think of making one out of aluminum or steel, but I doubt many would buy it. I'm not convinced it would be worth it.

[kerby9mm]

Plastic? There are tons of Plastic Frame guns / I don't own one.

[ripley16]

If the current part serves the function with no problem, then I don't see the point.

[muggsy]

I know the feeling. Imagine my shock when I discovered that the entire frame of my CM9 was plastic! You could have knocked me over with a feather. I don't know what to make of it. The next thing you know the automobile will replace the horse for every day transportation. Oh the shame of it. :)

[kerby9mm]

Are toys made out of plastic yet? Can they make lighter frames out of scandium/aluminum/ titanium instead of steel? I wonder if plastic is just a lot cheaper so the profit margin is sky high.

[getsome]

Just one word, Plastic.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHGCvJjat1E

[jocko]

I believe you are correct about the "value" of making a metal replacement for the original plastic part. Our very own CJB has already performed the experiment.

Rather than order a replacement, CJB made a striker spring guide rod out of stainless steel to replace his original guide rod after it took flight, never to be found again, during a slide tear down. He reported no improvement in performance other than the satisfaction of knowing he had a stainless part in place of the original plastic.

Here's the thread: http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11249

kahr could have made a steel striker guide rod, but the lkastic works IMO ust as good, and certain ly far lessin cost. I have yet to readof one actualy breakin. More are lost do to dissassembly then anyhting and a metal one will fly probably just as far to. Certainly no chance of rust with that part being polymer. again some make tomuch t do about polymer. There are we all knows differentquality gradesof polymers to, no difference than cheap steel vs, good steel. Just sayin

[Flieger]

Since plastic is AOK, I just shot off an email to Kahr and told them to can the SS guide rod.
The reason you buy an MK or K is because your not a big fan of Plastic, but I'm guessing you already knew that.

Gosh, plastic people can get so sarcastic and defensive. Must be someting in the water (from plastic bottles).

Happy Thanksgiving All!

[muggsy]

kahr could have made a steel striker guide rod, but the lkastic works IMO ust as good, and certain ly far lessin cost. I have yet to readof one actualy breakin. More are lost do to dissassembly then anyhting and a metal one will fly probably just as far to. Certainly no chance of rust with that part being polymer. again some make tomuch t do about polymer. There are we all knows differentquality gradesof polymers to, no difference than cheap steel vs, good steel. Just sayin

It took me two days to find my striker spring guide rod the first time I took my CM9 a part. That little bugger took off for parts unknown at light speed. :)

[Flieger]

It took me two days to find my striker spring guide rod the first time I took my CM9 a part. That little bugger took off for parts unknown at light speed. :)


I figured something like that would happen. I generally am the one that does it. Down on your knees with a flashlight.
This time I used a large size baggie.

[greywolf224]

Old thread but I have not been able to find a stainless let alone all metal Striker Spring guide for my K-40.
I have an issue with having any plastic in an all metal gun. OCD, maybe. Yeah I know the magazine has plastic, and that will be my next bone of contention to deal with.

Anyhow I made a spring guide out of a stainless roof nail. I consider myself an extreme novice at metal working but I dont let that stop me. I just stoned the ring shanks off the nail and reduced the diameter of the head to fit the slide back and now I can sleep better at night. Wish sleeping pills work.

[finpro]

Here is the stainless steel striker guide you have been seeking: https://gallowayprecision.com/kahr/stainless-steel-striker-guide-for-kahr-cm9-pm9-cw9-and-cw40/ (https://gallowayprecision.com/kahr/cw9-and-cw40/)
While I think $15 is steep for basically a stainless nail or screw, I too dislike the idea of plastic internal gun parts. Beyond tearing them up when disassembling slides, I have never had a problem with the plastic spring guide, except for their unscheduled departures across the room. When I lost one recently, as an experiment, I replaced it with a round head screw of the proper width after shortening the length. The round screw head fits nicely into the slide back and seems to function normally in a pencil test, though I have not fired the gun yet. If you get the Galloway part, please let us know how it works.

[wyntrout]

Just find a nail that's close and use wire cutters to remove the extra length... pennies. The plastic works fine... not a worry.

[finpro]

I assume the Galloway product is better than a nail, but at $15 plus $6.95 for shipping, it does seem slightly decadent. That said, I have found myself replacing polymer parts with metal parts for years now. My two Old Style polymer Kahrs came with polymer magazine releases. One or more broke and were replaced by Kahr. This was once a common problem. Later, when Kahr changed to steel mag releases, I bought two to replace mine, even though I was not having trouble with those then in use. Of course, I had not had trouble with the broken ones, until they broke. The steel replacements seem to function better, seem much less likely to break and I have more confidence in them. I normally replace a polymer guide rod with a steel rod when I can. They seem to shoot better, probably due to the added weight and rigidity. In quality pistols both smaller and larger than Kahrs, polymer guide rods are often standard, but, to my knowledge, Kahrs have always used steel rods, accepting the extra weight and cost. I assume this was based on testing and sound reasoning. My several Lakeline aluminum magazine followers are significantly better than the originals. While I never suffered a follower break and I am not sure whether it is a metal versus polymer thing, they seem to feed more reliably and I feel better carrying them.
My Kahrs are defensive arms and I want them to be as robust and effective as possible. I had better stop here before I convince myself to spring for the factory made, woefully overpriced, steel striker spring guides, as well.

[wyntrout]

From experience, I like to have an assortment of the small bits that can go flying, so I buy all kinds of things like that for spares. Some are interchangeable, but some are caliber specific. I have extra extractors, springs, pins, slide lock springs and screw sets.

The only things that I couldn't find were a few extractors... lost 2 out of three that blew out from a batch of "factory" reloads that I was able to narrow down to a particular cartridge case that blew out near the bases. I had 3 Kahr 9's at the time... PM9, P9, and K9. I lost a few of the associated pins and springs, too, and had the side plate blow off of the P9, so I got a spare one for it, along with the screw.

I have spares for my Glocks, too, and those parts are usually cheaper, with lots of plastic. The striker spring guide rod is cheap, though, and I added those to my small bits collection. They can really take off trying to get the slide re-assembled.

My clothes hanger "C" clamp has slipped a few times with the spring and rod under full pressure. Those buggers can fly and bounce anywhere.

Wynn :)

[jocko]

I assume the Galloway product is better than a nail, but at $15 plus $6.95 for shipping, it does seem slightly decadent. That said, I have found myself replacing polymer parts with metal parts for years now. My two Old Style polymer Kahrs came with polymer magazine releases. One or more broke and were replaced by Kahr. This was once a common problem. Later, when Kahr changed to steel mag releases, I bought two to replace mine, even though I was not having trouble with those then in use. Of course, I had not had trouble with the broken ones, until they broke. The steel replacements seem to function better, seem much less likely to break and I have more confidence in them. I normally replace a polymer guide rod with a steel rod when I can. They seem to shoot better, probably due to the added weight and rigidity. In quality pistols both smaller and larger than Kahrs, polymer guide rods are often standard, but, to my knowledge, Kahrs have always used steel rods, accepting the extra weight and cost. I assume this was based on testing and sound reasoning. My several Lakeline aluminum magazine followers are significantly better than the originals. While I never suffered a follower break and I am not sure whether it is a metal versus polymer thing, they seem to feed more reliably and I feel better carrying them.
My Kahrs are defensive arms and I want them to be as robust and effective as possible. I had better stop here before I convince myself to spring for the factory made, woefully overpriced, steel striker spring guides, as well.

only reason i would buy that steel striker guide is so I can get my metal detector out and find it when it flies out upon assembly, other than that that polymer guide is fine and motionless. If you hgavenot lost one of these, then you have not taken the slide down. Some suggest a big plastic bag but I could not find one big enough for me and the slide to fit into. plus it was hard breathin to.. Just sayin Personally if you would go to ol jockos tips on kahrs on this forum, he will give you some tips that u really need not be taking that slide apart, but again its your call to make, not mine. I have not taken my slide apart on my K9 or PMJ9 in probably 10K rounds, and I would bet it is spiffy clean using the ol jocko cleaning method. ammo today is so muc cleaner burning etc and unless you laying in the mud, total dissassembly is not needed. How many here take their wheel guns totall apart??? Just sayin. Fokk it, if it ain't broke dont fix it...

[jg rider]

From the same site

https://gallowayprecision.com/images/slideshow/galloway-precision-kahr-tier-one-service-3.jpg

[finpro]

What's wrong with this picture? Did you hear the one about the four men turning a chair while another man holds a light bulb? I don't know what made me think of that.

[Guy Baleno]

I purchased a metal striker guide from Galloway for a cm9,cm40,cw9,cw40 for my cw380 and p380. The dimensions are the same except it was a bit longer and I had to trim it a bit, it works fine. Galloway asked for my original plastic guide so they can produce one for the cw380 and p380. So we should soon one for the CW and P 380's

[finpro]

Have you noticed any performance difference with the steel guide? I like the idea of steel internals, but if the Senior Sages of Kahrtalk have never heard of a problem, I question whether there is any need. If there is a benefit, I would want to use them.

[Guy Baleno]

Have you noticed any performance difference with the steel guide? I like the idea of steel internals, but if the Senior Sages of Kahrtalk have never heard of a problem, I question whether there is any need. If there is a benefit, I would want to use them.


I found no difference in the function of the gun.I just like all steel internals also.

[finpro]

Thanks.