Quote Originally Posted by 4given View Post
I could swear that the two USED Glock 17's I bought in the early 1980's did not have captured recoil springs like this Gen 3. I remember them as having some sort of metalic guide rod and round wire spring. I have always thought they were Gen 1 but who knows? Now that I am in my 60's my "remember" function is flawed ....
That's partially correct. The Gen 1's did not have a captured recoil spring, but the guide rod was still polymer. As far as I'm aware, I believe the production Gen 1's all still had the flat wire recoil spring. I can confirm from personal experience. I did own a legit, mythical, Gen 1 G19 (it has since been sold). It had a non-captured, flat wire recoil spring and the guide rod was polymer. Here's a pic (sans serial numbers, it was AN5xx) when I replaced the factory internals.

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