[Dr. Marneaus]

I'm going to be putting a heavier recoil spring in my 1911, and figured i might as well do a full length guide rod as well.

I know that a 1 piece vs. a 2 piece guide rod affects dissasssembly, but i'm not sure HOW it affects it. My understanding is that the 2 part ones need to be unscrewed from the front of the pistol, then come apart like normal?

What makes having a 1 part one more difficult to disassemble? wouldnt you just remove the slide like normal? I'm a little confused in the difference....

[canebrake]

Originally Posted by Dr. Marneaus

I'm going to be putting a heavier recoil spring in my 1911, and figured i might as well do a full length guide rod as well.

I know that a 1 piece vs. a 2 piece guide rod affects dissasssembly, but i'm not sure HOW it affects it. My understanding is that the 2 part ones need to be unscrewed from the front of the pistol, then come apart like normal?

What makes having a 1 part one more difficult to disassemble? wouldnt you just remove the slide like normal? I'm a little confused in the difference....

Before I talk about full length GRs I'm curious why you're changing the recoil spring pressure.

Are you having cycle time issues?

Please tell me you're NOT using a recoil buffer.

Why are you going with a full length guide rod?

I have an old engineering axiom that I live by, "Never change a running assembly with a perceived improvement."

Is your gun a ‘true’ 1911 pattern pistol? (Make?)

Is it a 5” Government?

I have the four different 1911 guide rod designs, the original M1911A1 shorty, a 5” full length, a 5” two piece and the compact double spring assembly.

I prefer the original shorty but won’t and can’t change it on some because the ‘system engineered’ parts work!

The two-piece, in my case, must be taken apart because the barrel has a compensator.

[Dr. Marneaus]

I've had severe failure to feed problems in the past with my Springfield 1911A1 GI style pistol.

Lubricating the pistol helped aleviate most of this problem, as did some polishing and whatnot. However repaired it may seem, it still is in the back of my head. I'd like a heavier recoil spring to give it a lil more oomph and to handle some heavier loads along with +p.

My "FTF problems" thread down at the bottom of this page explains it all fully.

[Dr. Marneaus]

So, no one knows about the difference in dissassembly of a 1911 with 1 piece vs. 2 piece guide rods?

[canebrake]

Doc, I think the reason no one is answering your question (my reason) is not understanding the where you are and where you want to go.

Let me state the assumptions; If these are wrong please correct.

• You have a Springfield 1911A1 GI
• It has a GI "shorty" guide rod now.
• You are going to change to a FLGR. (Reason?)
• Your dilemma is whether to go with the 1 piece vs. 2 piece FLGR.
• To make this decision, you are asking about the difference in disassembly of the two.

I think I can answer this question with the following graphics.
I will not get into the pros and cons of FLGRs!

I have no idea of the design on all available FLGRs but will give you an idea of two I have experience.

The Colt XSE w/1piece and the Springfield Loaded w/2 piece.

The Colt: v



The Springfield Loaded: v



The Colt FLGR is ~ 4mm shorter than the SA 2 piece sitting deeper in the hollow spring plug (same length as the slide) allowing the plug to be depressed and the barrel bushing to be unlocked for disassembly. v



The SA FLGR is sitting flush with the hollow spring plug (extends forward of the slide) preventing the barrel bushing from being unlocked for disassembly until the wrench is used to remove the outer half. v



I prefer the one piece because it's what I have, and it requires no additional tools for disassembly.


I hope this helps. If not, ask again!

[Dr. Marneaus]

Perfect, that's exactly what I wanted to know. I appreciate the help.