Posted: 12/28/2015 7:02:22 PM EDT
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My CCW is a full size Rock Island Armory 1911. After a quick range outing I stuffed it back in the bag and headed home. Pulled it out of the safe a day later to clean it and noticed that there was a piece of stainless steel sticking out of the barrel bushing that wasn't there before. I tore it down and discovered that the guide rode was a 2-piece and the 2 pieces had come unthreaded. My other 1911s have a 1 piece guide rod and a plug at the bushing end.
I'm thinking this could be a major inconvenience at the wrong time, but it must cost more to have a 2 piece guide rod what with the extra machining for the threads and labor to put the pieces together. Can someone explain why there are 1 piece and 2 piece guide rods and if one is better than the other? FWIW I ordered a new 1 piece and closed end plug for my own peace of mind but am wondering if I missed something. Thanks! |
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All of my 1911's and 2011 have guide rods. My Gold cup has a 1 piece rod and the others are 2 piece. The 2 piece are easier to work with when tearing the gun down. The 1 piece is a bit of a pain in that respect. The 2 piece rods have a tendency to loosen so you have to watch that. IMO guide rods do help with spring life. Also I've never seen a kinked spring with fitted with a guide rod. I have seen a spring in a .45 that set unused for years that was so kinked you couldn't cycle the slide normally.
With all that said, since it's a carry gun, I would get a standard plug and rod so you can cycle the slide 1 handed. |
| If you don't have a bull barrel and reverse plug just swap over to a GI plug and guide rod. If it uses a bull barrel then you are kind of limited in what you can use. In that case, confirm it will still work with your field strip method and try to find a one piece full length guide rod. |
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A 1 piece full length guide rod is great at taking the whole top end off in one piece. Great if you have a 22 cal (or another cal) top end for a 1911. Also you can get a tungsten one piece guide rod to add some extra weight up front to help with recoil management.
a full length one piece or gi setup is not worth my time to change, but a 2 piece full length rod I will change out. |
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Quoted:
My CCW is a full size Rock Island Armory 1911. After a quick range outing I stuffed it back in the bag and headed home. Pulled it out of the safe a day later to clean it and noticed that there was a piece of stainless steel sticking out of the barrel bushing that wasn't there before. I tore it down and discovered that the guide rode was a 2-piece and the 2 pieces had come unthreaded. My other 1911s have a 1 piece guide rod and a plug at the bushing end. I'm thinking this could be a major inconvenience at the wrong time, but it must cost more to have a 2 piece guide rod what with the extra machining for the threads and labor to put the pieces together. Can someone explain why there are 1 piece and 2 piece guide rods and if one is better than the other? FWIW I ordered a new 1 piece and closed end plug for my own peace of mind but am wondering if I missed something. Thanks! If the end of the 2 piece guide rod unscrews and leaves in the middle of a gunfight - how are you any worse off than with the original G.I. guide rod? The spring isn't going anywhere...... |
mill or carefully drill out the ridge at the rear of the slide's spring tunnel, so the spring plug can come out the rear... assemble...lock slide back, and indicate and then drill a small hole in the one piece rod vertical just in front of the bushing... with slide locked back, insert a small paperclip sized "L" shaped wire... release the slide stop, and remove slide... the captured spring-guide- and plug can be removed....to re assemble, load barrel and captured assembly, attach slide, lock the slide open, and the clip will fall out... other than changing springs, this assembly went 60,000+ rounds in a USPSA competition .45 without a problem
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Devil's Advocate here...
My half dozen or so Colt 1911's are split. Some came one piece, some came two piece. Makes no difference to me so I leave them all the way they came. Good maintenance and the mild Locktite means that I've never had a two piece come loose. So... meh. |
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Quoted:
Devil's Advocate here... My half dozen or so Colt 1911's are split. Some came one piece, some came two piece. Makes no difference to me so I leave them all the way they came. Good maintenance and the mild Locktite means that I've never had a two piece come loose. So... meh. Just a pain to have to have an allen with you to take the pistol down. |