Guide Rods…

Let’s face it. Manufacturers are using molded plastic guide rods as a cost cutting measure. Plastic guide rods offer “adequate” performance and durability for their intended purpose for most shooters. Statistically, they hold up well. Replacing the plastic rod with a B~T rod is a surefire way to eliminate this weak link while improving the recoil characteristics of your gun.

Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference, especially for the person holding the pistol.

A stainless guide rod will NEVER break, melt, chip, crack, warp, flex or anything else that guide rods aren’t supposed to do.

A top notch stainless guide rod from B~T WILL cycle more smoothly, add weight under the muzzle, and give you peace of mind that your pistol will function reliably without breakage.

$16.00 for a Steyr spring?

$16.00 may seem a little high for a spring so let’s rationalize it in several ways…

1) the M and M-A1 aren’t even in current distribution in the US. which means…

2) Steyr isn’t producing or exporting recoil assemblies from Austria in any great quantity.

3) BT removes the spring from the factory plastic rod, meaning that part of the $16.00 went to covering the cost of the rod and the cost of putting the spring on the rod.

4) If you decide to experiment with an alternate spring, you’ll likely pay $8 + $5-$10 in shipping just getting the spring to your door anyway.

THEN, you get to figure out how many coils to clip to make it both travel fully rearward AND solidly lock the slide into battery.

THEN you’ll likely spend $20 on ammo so you can drive to the range and test to see if it works. If it doesn’t?… back to square one.

Knowing this, $16.00 starts to look like a deal for a drop-in reliable part.

Some people just have to tinker with their pistols to get them the way they like them. If you’re one of those who likes the thought of taking on a little project in the pursuit of personalized Steyr perfection, B~T offers guide rods that use Glock sized springs for your Steyr M/M-A1 Series. A close match would be an 18 pound G19 spring

17-4 P.H. H1150

17-4P.H. H-1150 is the BEST material for your guide rod.

Background: Not all Stainless Steels are created equally.   There are three types of stainless steel alloys in common usage.  The 300 series or austenitic commonly used in flatware and fasteners is highly corrosion resistant but not very strong or hard.  The 400 series of stainless including martensitic and ferritic commonly used in knives, razor blades and firearm parts are tougher and harder than the 300 series.   The downside is due to additional carbon, 400 series alloys are LESS corrosion resistant than 300 series.  The third type are the Precipitation Hardening alloys. These alloys combine the excellent corrosion resistance of 300 series with the ability to be hardened, the best of the other two series combined!

Precipitation Hardening:

Steels are typically heat treated by bringing them to a certain temperature and quenching them in a manner that retains a hard or tough grain structure.

Copper alloys and some 300 series stainless can become hardened by working them either by bending, hammering or otherwise forming the material.

Precipitation Hardening alloys rely on low amounts of heat over a matter of hours to allow the alloying elements to precipitate into the grain structure in a way that increases the metal’s hardness.

The H-1150 temper brings 17-4 P.H. up to 34 Rockwell C scale.

Bottom Line: 17-4 P.H. H-1150 is the ideal material for your STA-TITE guide rod because its hardness resists the spring’s attempts to scratch it while not being “glass hard” or brittle. It also ensures that small threads have plenty of strength to withstand repeated dis-assembly/re-assembly without stripping or galling as can occur with softer stainless alloys. If the cosmetic black oxide treatment is scratched, the stainless will continue to resist corrosion better than any 400 series stainless or alloy steel.