Guide rod

[bigted]

I have a Springfield 1911 model A1. It has a guide rod that has a full length screw together rod and I don't like the fact that without an alen wrench ... I can not field strip it.

Question ... Can I shoot this pistol with the front section of the guide rod removed?

I don't see any problems doing this but wanted to ask first.

[flyingmonkey35]

Yes you can. But I'd pick up a new guide rod that's all one piece for about 25 bucks on Amazon.

[bigted]

What advantage is the full length rod?

[Skipper]

What advantage is the full length rod?

John Browning didn't think it was needed. To paraphrase Jeff Cooper, "solution to a nonexistant problem"

[lefty o]

there's plusses and minus's to a fl guide rod. they do smooth things out and make things more consistant, but are more difficult for take down. a GI setup does work just fine, and are easy to work with. as a side note, always have to laugh when people start saying browning didnt do it, so it must be great. browning didnt seem to think more than a nub and tiny slot were needed for sights either, but ya never hear anyone complain about improved sights. lol basically if you like it, use it, if not dont.

[C. Latch]

There is -0- advantage to the FLGR setup in a properly built 1911.

Unless you like the extra ounce of weight. I actually put a tungsten FLGR in one of my 1911s for that very reason - to get more weight - but otherwise, it helps nothing.

A good recoil spring guide, such as the one Ed Brown makes, is available for $15. Add a USGI type plug and never look back.

[John 242]

Some feel that a full length guide rod smooths out the movement of the slide. Include me in that group. Others feel that they are a solution to a nonexistent problem, which is true to some extent. The standard guide and plug work fine.

You have a two piece guide rod. I prefer a one piece. Just a personal preference. I don't like messing with two piece rods. My buddy loves them. Suum cuique pulchrum est.

Some will claim that a one piece rod makes the gun harder to disassemble. Maybe a tiny bit, but not to any great extent. The one advantage to a one piece rod, although a minor one, is that you can remove the side assembly, and reinstall it, without disassembling the slide. Simply pull the slide stop and slide the whole thing off the frame. The spring and plug stay captured.

The 1911 evolved largely because of US Army demands.

The .38 cal 1902 begat the 1905 pistols chambered in the Browning/Colt developed .45 ACP, because the US Army demanded a .45 cal pistol. The model of 1905 competed against the Luger, the Savage and several other guns in pistol trials of 1906. The 1905 became what is generally referred to as the model of 1907. That gun continued to compete against the Savage in Army testing and was heavily modified in 1909.

A major change happened when the US Army demanded the removal of the slide block key and dual link system. Browning responded by developing the single link design we know today. The gun was again modified in 1910. In particular the grip angle was changed (84 to 74 degrees) along with a thumb safety being added, again due to Army demands. These were the major changes. There were many smaller ones that came from field testing and user input.

The 1910, in its final form, was adopted as the Model of 1911.

John Browning, with Colt's backing, bent over backwards to develop a pistol that the US Army would adopt. The 1911 is a far cry from the original 1902 pistol.

The point is that the pistol was heavily modified because that's what the end user, the US Army, demanded.

If you truly want to be a purist, you need to find a Colt/Browning 1902 in .38 Colt to carry around.

The M2 HMG followed a similar path.

[bigted]

interesting. thanks for the input. I went out and removed the front section of the rod and found little difference in the smooth-ness of the slide movement ... [altho to be honest ... it was just a tiny bit smoother with the front section installed.

to further the experiment ... I slightly ground a bevel in the rearmost section of the rod and polished it smooth for as little [scraping] on a sharp edge and found no real difference this side of shooting it with marking blue on the spring to see where ... if any ... the rub may happen.

all in all I think I will try this both ways at the range to test it out ... maybe I will have a new OEM rod [short colt style] and a solid end cap to try out as well just for comparison sake. I like the old arrangement better as I need no tools to field strip it other then my fingers.

I do a lot of load development and fun stuff and it requires me to clean between groups of ammo so hence the personal desire to field strip it without need of any tools.

nother question about the solid long rods ... do they come out of the rear of the slide and over the link toggle as the short Colt style ones do? and if so then why cant I just shorten my forward section to do the same and get a solid spring cap for my pistol?

[lefty o]

to shorten a 1 piece guide rod short enough to work with a solid plug, it owuld be close to the length of a GI part, otherwise it would try to poke through the plug.

[John 242]

I do a lot of load development and fun stuff and it requires me to clean between groups of ammo so hence the personal desire to field strip it without need of any tools.

nother question about the solid long rods ... do they come out of the rear of the slide and over the link toggle as the short Colt style ones do? and if so then why cant I just shorten my forward section to do the same and get a solid spring cap for my pistol?

You don't need tools to disassemble a pistol with a one piece rod, unless your bushing is very tight. I use the bottom of a magazine to push the recoil plug down and get the bushing turning. You could push the plug down with your fingers, but the top edge is a little sharp and I am a sissy.

One piece rods rods are removed from the slide like the GI guide rod. The recoil spring is removed and the one piece guide rod is lifted out.

If you don't like the two piece rod and are unsure about a one piece, I suppose you could try the one piece and the turn it down to the length of a GI plug. Never thought of that.

[Jim_P]

There is another famous John Browning pistol design which does not use either a link or a guide rod, and came shortly after the 1911 and is ALSO still in production called the Browning Hi-Power.
The man was a weapon design genius.

[David2011]

Yes, but there is a lug on the bottom of the High Power barrel that does the same thing as the link in the 1911; just fewer parts. There's also a stub guide rod just like the original 1911 design.

Count me in as another that believes the FLGR makes the 1911 run smoother. I don't think I would have ever gotten my light load 1911 to run reliably without a FLGR. With 200 gr SWC @ under 650 fps it works every time with negligible recoil. I built it for steel plate matches.

David