Does a full length guide rod improve accuracy in a Colt NM 1911?

[JimB..]

Good luck with the search, finding a nice k38 (now model 14 I think) used to be pretty easy and relatively inexpensive, but I haven’t any idea where the market currently is.

[JBinMN]

Just ordered one. Thanks! Others offered advice about picking up brass as well, so who am I to stand in the way of progress. Happy days are here again, the skies are blue...

Still going to get the .38, but going to keep the 1911 out for good now. I shoot over dirt at the range, but it looks like the Brass Wizard works best on harder surfaces, so I'll have to put out a drop cloth or such to land the brass on. I tried a brass catcher once, and HATED it. Maybe I did not give it enough time.

I use a 9x12 ft. painters drop cloth( canvas tarp) placed on an angle behind me & to my right, middle edge at my feet. ( Although I have used those cheap plastic ones as well, I like the cloth better)
Sometimes right on the ground if it is dry out, but when it is damp out/wet ground, I just hang it up between 2 trees, or from my vehicle to a post/tree/etc. & leave 2/3rd in the air - 1/3 on the ground to catch them. Then when I am done, I just pick up the tarp so it gathers all the brass at one end & either gather & drop into a 5 gallon bucket or just grab them up & put them in some other container if I don't have the bucket.

I do not shoot at a "range" per se, but usually on state land, or private land where I have permission. I also use a few different bullet/boolit traps as well, so everything gets captured for reuse. ( 99.9% anyway).

Works for me, might for you too...

G'luck! with your shooting & purchase of the wheel gun!


( Pretty nice off hand shooting on that target ya posted too!)

[bgw45]

If I could buy anything it would be "trigger control".

[9.3X62AL]

Policing brass is a challenge for me as well. I use the drop cloth method for most of my shooting, which usually takes place "Al Fresco" in the deserts east of Indio or Barstow.

I have pistols that use recoil spring guide rods as part of their OEM equipage--pistols that use the barrel as a recoil guide rod--and some pistols that have 1911-ish rodless recoil springs. They all seem to work for me. I haven't changed out the OEM systems in any of my pistols, other than in my Walther PP x 32 ACP that was given 380 ACP springing to enable enhanced ballistics.

[Bazoo]

Slightly off subject. But a full size 1911, with an aluminum frame, sure feels nice in hand. I've never fired one however so I cant attest to recoil. I did however, have a Ciener 22 conversion kit for my 1911 a while, and I loved it. You might consider one of them, if they suit you.

[9.3X62AL]

Taking up where Bazoo left off.......I have 2 SIG-Sauer pistols that feature a full-size aluminum frame and Commander-length slide/barrel (both 4.4"). I used both for several years as on-duty and off-duty CCW arms, and their weight was reasonable. Once you remove the slide/barrel "upper half" of a SIG pistol, there isn't much weight to the receiver assembly at all. FWIW.

[charlie b]

The wife loves her light Colt Commander. I do too, but, the stock pistol is not a tack driver.

My full size 1911 was gone over by a good smith many years ago. It shoots much better than I can. It does have a full length guide rod. I like it just because it seems to make operating the slide smoother.

Father-in-law's old National Match model shoots just as well without a full length guide rod (it has the ball bearing barrel bushing). So I would say the full length rod does not aid accuracy by itself.

I can relate to the idea of shooting it like a rifle, being able to call the shots when the trigger breaks. Fun to do with pistols.

[GhostHawk]

Well I hear you on diminishing ability, age plays a factor, as do health issues.

To be honest I shot my 1911 for the first time in 2 years last weekend.

Had the neighbor boys to the range, Jean being a 14 yr Ranger with multiple tours in the sandbox and Afghanistan was wildly excited when I pulled the Springfield Armory out of the bag.

I put 5 through it, and frankly it was not as bad as I remember.

But I really enjoy every round I put through my little H&R 732 2.5 inch revolver in .32sw long.

Those are just plain fun. And It does not hurt that I am shooting tighter and more centered groups with every cylinder I fire through it.

Last week it was 6 rounds inside a 2" shoot and see stick on bullseye.

3 made one hole, and 3 made another hole just below it. Dead center split evenly between them.

I was beaming from ear to ear. Walking on air and standing proud.

Sometimes it is about what is easier. Less about the other things.

[Reverend Al]

Just my 2 cents worth BUT ... when I built my custom IPSC 1911 Colt Government way back in the early 80's I had access to a Ransom Rest so I took my newly built .45 out to the range and tried shooting several groups at 50 yards with the standard short rod and then with a full length guide rod. Using my 3 favorite "pet loads" in that .45 they all shot HALF the group size at 50 yards in the Ransom Rest (with the human error factor removed) with the full length guide rod. I've used full length guide rods in all of my 1911's ever since. Can I hold as well as a Ransom Rest at even 25 yards rather than 50 yards? No, of course not ... but I do have a great deal of CONFIDENCE in my gun with the knowledge that it shoots FAR better than I can possibly hold it shooting offhand. That works for me. Considering the very small relative cost of a good quality one piece guide rod for a 1911 these days I'd go ahead and buy one and test it for yourself in your gun and see what results you get with and without it. Then make a decision. Just sayin' ...

[Boogieman]

I have used 1911s with and without guide rods. The shorter ones ,less than 4", seem to run better with a FL rod. I think Reverend Al had the answer, CONFIDENCE, if you think the FL guide rod makes your gun shoot better it will , for YOU. In the end that's what really matters.

[7br]

Google brass retriever. They look like a wire cage on a stick. You roll the cage over the brass, the wires allow the brass to enter the cage.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[lefty o]

I have used 1911s with and without guide rods. The shorter ones ,less than 4", seem to run better with a FL rod. I think Reverend Al had the answer, CONFIDENCE, if you think the FL guide rod makes your gun shoot better it will , for YOU. In the end that's what really matters.

there is truth in that. whats between the ears is just as important as what reality really is.

[Char-Gar]

The only things positive a full length guide rod in a 1911 pistol does, is put money in the pockets of those who make them and sell them.

[oldsalt444]

I'm a bullseye pistol shooter since the 1980's, and all my 1911s have guide rods. It's common practice. The accuracy of the 1911 is based on the proper fit of the barrel to the slide, and to a lesser degree, of the slide to the frame. The guide rod doesn't contribute to mechanical accuracy, but the little extra weight up front helps you hold steadier and will help your spring to last much longer. They're worth the money IMHO. Get yourself a brass catcher and save your back. Mine is set on a camera tripod and is easily adjusted for the right height.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Jerry Miculik whose FIL was a famous 1911 gun smith named Clark, I can't remember his first name. Jerry said he was in Clark's shop one day when a customer brought in a 1911 to be worked on. He said the first thing Clark did was take out the long guide rod and throw it in the trash can. When the customer asked, why did you do that, I just bought it and Clark replied, "that's because your stupid".

[Walkingwolf]

Did the Marine shooting team use full length guide rods decades ago? They may now but when I saw them shoot they used a short guide rod.