Alllen Bundy
Member
The prevailing wisdom on the internet is that the P365 return spring assembly and guide rod is NOT user serviceable. But do you think that stopped me? Of course not!
The P365 guide rod as well as the P365XL guide rod are turned on a lathe, but the turned surface is NOT polished and the guide rods are rough! If you don't believe me, retract the slide and examine the end of guide rod that is exposed. That rough surface is going to wear off leaving crud inside the return spring assembly and the inside of the spring coils will also be worn in the process. The rough guide rod also creates unnecessary friction that will make it more difficult for the slide to return to battery, as well as creating more noise while you rack the slide.
To gain sufficient access to the ends of the guide rod so that I could disassembly it, I put the P365 return spring assembly into the spring compressor that I made.
One end of the guide rod has two holes in the end for a spanner to fit into. But I didn't have the necessary spanner so I put a piece of leather over the end of the guide rod and clamped it in a Vice Grip. The other end of the guide rod has four flats on it that you can put a wrench over to turn it. I was surprised by how easy it was to unscrew the end cap.
There appeared to be the remains of high strength red Loctite on the threads of the end cap.
The internal threads of the guide rod looked like they were covered with an oily preservative. It doesn't appear that they bothered to clean the threads before applying Loctite and assembling the guide rod. Whether it was because of the oily substance on the threads or the fact that the threaded surfaces appeared to be oxide coated, I don't believe that the red Loctite cured properly. Or it could also be that they pre-applied a thread locker to the end cap threads.
I began sanding with 400 grit wet or dry silicon carbide sandpaper. It removed the oxide coating and made the lathe turning marks very apparent.
I wet sanded the guide rod down to a shiny 1,500 grit finish.
I solvent cleaned the spring assembly while it was still in the spring compressor. I cleaned the internal threads of the guide rod and the external threads of the end cap with 99.99% isopropyl alcohol. I screwed in the end cap most of the way, leaving about 3 threads exposed. I added a drop of medium strength Loctite 243, which contains it's own primer, and then screwed the end cap closed. I lubed the return spring assembly with Mil Comm TW25B synthetic grease with teflon.
My P365 now racks just a bit more smoothly and a bit more quietly. I've eliminated one more source of resistance that could contribute to a malfunction in a worst case situation.
The P365 guide rod as well as the P365XL guide rod are turned on a lathe, but the turned surface is NOT polished and the guide rods are rough! If you don't believe me, retract the slide and examine the end of guide rod that is exposed. That rough surface is going to wear off leaving crud inside the return spring assembly and the inside of the spring coils will also be worn in the process. The rough guide rod also creates unnecessary friction that will make it more difficult for the slide to return to battery, as well as creating more noise while you rack the slide.
To gain sufficient access to the ends of the guide rod so that I could disassembly it, I put the P365 return spring assembly into the spring compressor that I made.
One end of the guide rod has two holes in the end for a spanner to fit into. But I didn't have the necessary spanner so I put a piece of leather over the end of the guide rod and clamped it in a Vice Grip. The other end of the guide rod has four flats on it that you can put a wrench over to turn it. I was surprised by how easy it was to unscrew the end cap.
There appeared to be the remains of high strength red Loctite on the threads of the end cap.
The internal threads of the guide rod looked like they were covered with an oily preservative. It doesn't appear that they bothered to clean the threads before applying Loctite and assembling the guide rod. Whether it was because of the oily substance on the threads or the fact that the threaded surfaces appeared to be oxide coated, I don't believe that the red Loctite cured properly. Or it could also be that they pre-applied a thread locker to the end cap threads.
I began sanding with 400 grit wet or dry silicon carbide sandpaper. It removed the oxide coating and made the lathe turning marks very apparent.
I wet sanded the guide rod down to a shiny 1,500 grit finish.
I solvent cleaned the spring assembly while it was still in the spring compressor. I cleaned the internal threads of the guide rod and the external threads of the end cap with 99.99% isopropyl alcohol. I screwed in the end cap most of the way, leaving about 3 threads exposed. I added a drop of medium strength Loctite 243, which contains it's own primer, and then screwed the end cap closed. I lubed the return spring assembly with Mil Comm TW25B synthetic grease with teflon.
My P365 now racks just a bit more smoothly and a bit more quietly. I've eliminated one more source of resistance that could contribute to a malfunction in a worst case situation.
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