Posted: 8/24/2015 12:50:43 PM EDT
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I have owned 5 1911's, none had a guide rod. My newest, a COLT light weight commander XSE with the firing pin stop has a full length guide rod. I read the guide rod is good, it's bad, ok so whats the deal. If it's good why??? if it's bad Why, if it makes no difference why did colt install one when the others didn't.
Thanks mac |
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Pros/ Can keep guide rod spring from getting kinked. Provides more weight in the front end to mitigate muzzle flip Cons/ Does not improve accuracy as some will claim Makes the pistol more difficult to take down, either by the use of a tool or having to use the slide stop disassembly method. If two pieces it can unscrew and tie the pistol up and render it useless, or the opposite which I saw in a handgun class, the shooters two piece rod unscrewed and shot about ten feet past the firing line, quite embarrassing for the shooter. My personal take is they are a solution in search of a problem. Just my .02 |
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Um guide rods have always been part of the 1911 design? All I know is my SA Range Officer is a tack driver and 100% reliable so I'm not changing a thing about it.
P.S. Bull barrel designs (only ones I know of without guide rods) are ugly and weird looking to me. |
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I used a pair on a switch top 1911.
.38 Super or .45 ACP Both ramped barrels A full length guide rod allows the whole slide and spring to be slid off as one unit. Hang the slide stop in the barrel link. Unload. Slide the other caliber upper on and insert the slide stop. Ready to go with the appropriate magazine. Under one minute from boom to crack and back again. |
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Quoted:
Um guide rods have always been part of the 1911 design? All I know is my SA Range Officer is a tack driver and 100% reliable so I'm not changing a thing about it. P.S. Bull barrel designs (only ones I know of without guide rods) are ugly and weird looking to me. Nope. Guide rods were not part of Browning's 1911. They came into being during the late '70s or early '80s. Guide rods if properly fitted are good. |
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Ever see a spring get kinked in a 1911? Doesn't happen in the wild... Quoted:
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Pros/ Can keep guide rod spring from getting linked. Ever see a spring get kinked in a 1911? Doesn't happen in the wild... Of course it is sort of hard to see exactly how the spring is behaving inside the slide during an actual cycle. Especially at high speed. An educated guess is that by the time the spring is compressed enough for this to possibly happen a lot of it is on the plug anyway. For sports like Bullseye that put an absolute premium on things being the same shot after shot it could help if 'legal,' Many a Bullseye shooter has struggled with the first shot loaded by cycling the slide by hand being 'out of group' compared to the rest. 50 yards one handed is still a lot of work to establish the skill required. |
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Ever see a spring get kinked in a 1911? Quoted:
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Pros/ Can keep guide rod spring from getting linked. Ever see a spring get kinked in a 1911? There is only about 1.5 turns on the spring that is not supported by the rod from the back and the guide from the front when the gun is in battery. Not much of an opportunity for the spring to discombobulate itself. |
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I just bought a para long slide and after spending hours tinkering on it, it will now function.
One of the things I fixed was the guide rod. It's a 6" long slide and had a regular full lenth guide rod in it. 
Drilled and tapped the short rod, turned an extention then trimmed the diameter. And I trimmed it flush with the slide so I won't need tools to take it down, If the weather is shitty tomarrow and I can't go shooting, then my two springers are getting the guide rod trimmed so I won't need tools to take them down. I'll use red permanent thread locker once they are short enough. My Kimber also has a guide rod while my RIA double stack and Rem R1 enhanced do not. Doesn't seem to matter in function so far or I can't tell the difference. 
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With the regular gi set up, if you have a stubborn jam or need to one hand rack you can place the lower tip of the muzzle against a firm object and push the slide to the rear. Not possible with a full Length It is as I have done it. You just have to capture the edge of the slide only. |
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Ever see a spring get kinked in a 1911? Doesn't happen in the wild... Quoted:
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Pros/ Can keep guide rod spring from getting linked. Ever see a spring get kinked in a 1911? Doesn't happen in the wild... Untrue Was issued a guard pistol in 1979 (USMC .45- God alone knows how old it was. I don't think the Marines bought any new pistols after either WWII or Korea) had a spring with a noticeable bend halfway down. When I bought my Delta Elite (1991) the FLGR was the thing so I went with it, first a Wilson Combat and now an STI (both two-piece). It's just piece of mind that it may help the gun cycle more smoothly. Never having had a FTF, FTE or any other issue I can at least say it doesn't hurt. Oh, I also use the much-loathed Shok Buffs too, again without any problems whatsoever! |