Hello everyone.  I am a 1911 newbie and thought I would ask the Hive mind about this one.  I recently purchased a SA TRP used in great shape and I am loving the thing, but have 2 questions about the recoil spring and guide rod.  

1.  I am replacing the stock recoil spring (due to unknown round count on the spring) with a Wolff 18.5#.  Which way should the spring go on the guide rod?  With the more open end of the spring toward the back of the rod or toward the guide rod plug at the muzzle end?

2.  The guide rod on this thing is NOT factory, and I am wondering what it is as there are no brand markings on it.  It is a FLGR, but is 2 piece and does not require a allen wrench to remove.  You do not have to unscrew it to remove it as the front of the guide rod can be pushed in to turn the barrel bushing and strip the gun.  the back of the guide rod has a very stiff spring inside of it that lets the front half of the guide rod push into it.  This also acts as a type of recoil buffer system because the diameter of the guide rod is tapered.  After the slide has moved rearward fully (far enough to lock the slide open) if you keep pushing it back the larger diameter portion of the front half of the guide rod engages the guide rod plug and will not slide through it.  This allows the front half of the guide rod to press back into the the rear part of the guide rod under the heavy spring tension of the internal spring approxately 1/4".  I hope I am explaining that clearly.  I have searched online and cannot find a similar looking unit and I cant post a pic.  Does anybody have any idea what this thing is?  I think I will be happy with it as it allows a FLGR without the hassle of needing a tool for takedown and seems to have a built in recoil system to help absorb/eliminate slide/frame bashing as well.  But who makes this thing?

Thanks in advance for helping a 1911 noob!

JSIG,

1.  The "open" end of the recoil spring goes towards the muzzle end. Are you going to use a buffer? If you are, check your recoil spring length with the slide in full recoil so the spring coils are not stacking and binding. There are a few ways to check this out.

2.  Sounds like you have a Springco guide rod. With the Springco, you can go down in recoil spring weight. By changing the recoil spring weight, it affects the feel of recoil. I am using an 11lb recoil spring on the .40 STI and guys have gone down to a 9lb spring on theirs. I use a shock buff. I know you probably have a .45 but the recoil spring weight works with them too. If you go too light, you might experience failure to feed. Just experiment and see.

or, go to brianenos.com forums for more advice in the 1911 world

HI5-0

hanks for the reply.  You are right, I am using a .45 and no shock buff or any other type of buffer other than what seems to be built into the guide rod system.  I will check out sprinco and see if that is what this guide rod looks like.

OK.  I checked out sprinco and STI, this thing is not one of those.  Also, this guide rods small spring to prevent frame bashing is INTERNAL not external like the others.  You cant see it at all.  It is inside the base of the guide rod.  THe guide rod itself is also not flat on its base but has a projected area on it made to sit against the barrel lug and link pin area.  I have never seen anything like it and cant seem to identify it.  

Quoted: OK.  I checked out sprinco and STI, this thing is not one of those.  Also, this guide rods small spring to prevent frame bashing is INTERNAL not external like the others.  You cant see it at all.  It is inside the base of the guide rod.  THe guide rod itself is also not flat on its base but has a projected area on it made to sit against the barrel lug and link pin area.  I have never seen anything like it and cant seem to identify it.

I'd bet that is a Group Gripper from Ed Brown? They used to sell something like that that was supposed to increase accuracy. See if you can find a pic of the group gripper and compare.

Thanks, fixntime. but I looked at the ED Browns and Wilson Combats and neither of them make a guide rod assembly like this, I cannot figure out what this thing IS!!

I had a strange recoil reducer that came with my 1911 clone. I since got rid of it, but does yours have a slot for the "guide rod" to come out the front plug. The guide rod would look more like a machined piece of metal with flats on both sides with a conical point on the front? I do have a pic, but don't have a way to host it at the moment. It was called an Accusystem. I tried to find info. for it on the internet, but wasn't able to. I hope this helps.

Quoted: I had a strange recoil reducer that came with my 1911 clone. I since got rid of it, but does yours have a slot for the "guide rod" to come out the front plug. The guide rod would look more like a machined piece of metal with flats on both sides with a conical point on the front? I do have a pic, but don't have a way to host it at the moment. It was called an Accusystem. I tried to find info. for it on the internet, but wasn't able to. I hope this helps.

Yes, the plug is open in the center allowing the guide rod to feed through it as the slide recoils, but there are no machined flats at all.  I wish i could post a pic of this thing, its driving me nuts trying to ID it.  On the other hand, it seems to work fine.  I just ran another 100 rounds through it today after installing a 18.5# recoil spring and a 26 # (my SA has the ILS system) mainspring.  Both Wolff.  Nothing but flawless function so far.  I ran a few Speer GD 230gr and Winchester 230gr hollowpoints as well.  The TRP seems to feed them just as well as the FMJ.  Brass is hitting the ground about 4 feet away in a tight area so feeding/ejection seems great with this system and the Wolff springs.  I just wish I could identify the damn guide rod system.