Munkey Butt;1827098 I am merely looking for a reliablility stand point. [/QUOTE said:
Everything out there is completely reliable until it fails to do what the manufacturer said it was supposed to do, in the order it is supposed to do those things. It is possible to improve reliability - to a certain degree. A lot of that, IMHO, depends on knowing both the manufacturer's specs, the overall history of their product (in terms of reliability) and your personal maintenance/care program.
I've seen folks who installed full-length guide rods because the recoil spring got so short it started falling off the half-length OEM guiderod. :banghead: If only they knew that recoil springs need to be at least a certain length to operate properly and should be replaced when they get out of spec. That's the wrong reason to replace the guide rod.
There are certain folks whos combination of dexterity (or lack thereof) and strength (or lack thereof) may cause them to run into a problem reassembling a pistol with a strong recoil spring and a half-length guide rod. I've seen it happen! Swapping for a full-length guide rod made it possible for them to get all the parts back together and working. It "improved" reliability.
There is IMHO nothing wrong with making something "better" or "prettier" as long as you started out with something that was reliable to begin with and it remains reliable in spite of any addition/upgrade. Think of how your company handles computer upgrades - some places see immediate improvement and increased productivity, and other places need weeks to recover from every upgrade. One is doing it right and the other is not.
stay safe.