After doing my measurements with the included sizing card included in the kit and double checking the measurement with a digital caliper, it was exact distance from the barrel shoulder to the gas port for a pistol length op rod. After doing a dry fit to check for proper clearance through the barrel nut with op rod (rod traveled smoothly back and forth and would spend with no binding, seems like the perfect fit right off the bat). The only draw back to this point was that I needed to order a new hand guard that would fit around the gas block and provide proper clearance. Once everything was torqued down to spec, I fired 6-8 rounds while in bleed off mode around setting 20. Rifle seemed to cycle correctly and I set it of the side while waiting the new hand guard to come in (Spikes tactical BAR 2 9.3” for a AR-15 chambered in 5.56 w/ a 7.5” barrel while also using a dead air nomad 30 suppressor.

Decided to wipe down the op rod and notice it was bent and wouldn’t just drop freely out of the chamber and through the gas block.

I immediately contacted tech support about trying to get the rod being replaced under warranty. The first words out of his mouth were, “there’s no way the rod could bend.” Well I know what I was looking at and it was sure enough bent and didn’t spin freely or travel back and forward smoothly like it did previously (I did install the spring but not the bushing). After convincing him and sending him pictures through email, he then says that rods can bend from being over gassed. I retested the length of the rod installed and putting the BCG without the bolt being installed and everything looked fine. Not even the slightest wear mark on the cupped gas key of the BCG from making contact the op rod. I’m at a loss for what’s going on and still haven’t received a return email from sells to see if they’ll warranty it that I send while still on the phone with the fella.

Has anyone ran into this issue and what was the outcome?

I have not. 30k plus strong

The issues people run into on these forums are astounding. I beat the piss out of my stuff and don't have a fraction of the issues other dudes have. Interested to hear the outcome. Sup arms has always been really good to me and I hope you have a solid experience when it's all done as well

Bad treatment, it's a long skinny rod under a high load, so a lot of bending stress.

I have seen it in my own designs until I figured out the proper material/hardness combination.

It’s a scalar issue resulting from over gassing a rod wherein the gyration tensors are unequal.  That is to say the rod’s radius of gyration needs to be examined for high back pressure cans.

So far their response has been “tough shit” and won’t cover it under warranty. When I first spoke to customer service the literally said “that impossible, our rods don’t bend. Well that’s BS cause I’m holding one in my hand. Then he responds with “well they can bend if the gun is over gassed”. Well I don’t think that could have been the case since it was already in bleed off mode. He’s told me the spacing is off but they can cut me a custom and send my gun to them. His final suggestion was, “well just buy a 10” barrel and switch to a carbine length rod! They’re 20% off right now”. It’s freaking ridiculous

I have seen this in two completely different designs and manufacturers where the hardness was off and I just replaced the parts.

I'd say it is most-likely a hardness issue with that op rod. Just curious tho, do you have a set screw gas block or a clamp on gas block?

Well I had mine bent too. I had a Faxon pistol length barrel. Superlative Arms had me send my barrel in so they could turn me a couple of rods that were shorter for the barrel. According to them at the time, they told me it bent because not all pistol length are made the same. If you don't have a large enough gap between the op rod and the carrier, the likelihood of the op rod to bend is much higher with pistol length. There needs to be "some play" between the two. They turned me custom op rods and it fixed the issue.  They told me the heat treat doesn't matter as much, as H19 tool steel will take the impact. I also believe the heat treat they use is not qpq, but it's a gas nitride.

I believe the owner is the one who fixed it for me.  This issue stopped when I got my new rods.

Remember that there is a reason why there needs to be a slight gap between the op rod and the carrier when installed at default position the more overgassed and the shorter the distance, the more necessary that gap is. Keep in mind, the length of the custom op rod was slightly smaller than the one on their website.