I tried to join these forums to get some help and advice, took this long to finally join these forums. There is no contact info or anything on this site. I managed to find a link that led to the "owners" or who ever they are and after a week someone there was able to help me get signed in and post.
I purchased 2 from the Glock store years back. Both eventually failed. I went back to oem, except the 3 glocks I use lasermax guide rods in, fwiw.
The factory RSA's are the best option. The only time to deviate from the factory RSA is if you are tuning a competition gun for specific custom loads. My personal process is to swap the factory RSA out every 5k rounds. I have never had one fail. At 5k I am sure there is plenty of life left. It is very cheap insurance.
There is probably life left in them, but I change every 5K(ish) as well and can always feel the difference from old to new. The other springs in my Glock are changed every 15K(ish) as well. Many say don't bother until one fails, but I have never had one fail and don't plan to. Failure usually comes at about the worst imaginable time, or does for me. $10 every few years isn't going to break the bank.
Maybe a cheap type of stainless steel being used. I have used NDZ rods in all my Glocks and P80s and never had a problem. Great customer service 110% of the time also! NEXT TIME TAKE PICS.
An update. I received a package from GlockStore today, thinking it was my "damaged" recoil spring. When I opened it what I found was a brand spanking new one. This was not expected and I feel a bit better about the whole experience. I still think customer support was a little lax. We'll see what the future hold...
So far it's like new even with nearly the same amount of dry fire practice. I think the first was a defect. I just need to get some ammo and see how it is after get some rounds through it.