1911 guide rods

J

Joe Portale

New member
I am thinking of tweaking my 1911 Springfield and was wondering if the full length guide rods work. Also, can anyone comment on the Dwyer (SP?) Group Grabber.

Thanks

------------------
Joe Portale
Sonoran Sidewinder
Tucson, Arizona territory
 
Try installing a match barrel with matching link, NM bushing, These item would give you good lockup and repeatability.
 
Im not sure if the full guide rods really do anything for a pistol. But the group gripper is designed to make up for a poorly fitted link. If you have the link fitted and the bushing correct as well you should have that tight lockup. Ive used the group gripper and it does work. The full lenth guide rod, the kind that is reported to reduce recoil, that might be different...I installed one of those rods with mercury and aluminum balls in it and the flange that goes against the link, was taking a severe beating, so i went back to the stock set up and no problems...I dont like the shock buffs for a self defense style pistol and that would have helped reduce or end the destruction of the rod...fubsy.
 
Joe, I agree with metro25 IF your present barrel needs to be replaced and you go with a Gunsmith Fit barrel and bushing. A drop-in may help a little but I haven't seen much of that. Drop-in match grade parts are oxymorons. Anything that aids in consistency will enhance the accruacy of the 1911. The full length guide rod with Group Gripper does this in two way. The rod itself keeps the recoil spring from kinking and binding allowing the pistol to funtion more smoothly. The gripper part, a leaf spring in the rear of the rod and a stepped link insure that the rear of the barrel will lock up the same way every time. Combine this with a properly fit bushing and you'll have an accurate pistol. These two parts installed will run you about $100. Compare that to the price of a match grade barrel and having it installed. There's no contest. I have customers who go both ways so I get to see a lot of results and I can only say that if not in a machine rest you really just can't tell the difference in the two. Or at least I haven't met anyone who shoots that well yet. George
 
Thanks for the info guys. How does one check for proper bushing fit? I can't wiggle the barrel when the slide is all the way forward. Nor does there seem to be any excessive play when the slide is locked up. I don't see any unusual wear along the barrel or bushing.
The barrel on this gun is pristine, so I never considered replacing it. I'm just looking for a way to tighten up my groups.



------------------
Joe Portale
Sonoran Sidewinder
Tucson, Arizona territory
 
Joe, measure the outside diameter of the barrel at the muzzle and the inside diameter of the bushing, side to side not top to bottom. There should be about .002" difference in the two. If your bushing can be turned easily without a bushing wrench it is not tight enough in the slide. I should qualify those statements by adding for the best accuracy. George
 
George and the gang,

Thanks for the input. I mic'd my barrel and bushing and found that the bushing ID is about .004 larger than the barrel. I built enough engines to know that that is a lot of space. Also, I can turn the bushing in the slide, with barrel in and spring out, simply by shacking it. I assume that fit is way out of tolerance also. I'm off to the gunsmith to have a match bushing installed.

Thanks again.

------------------
Joe Portale
Sonoran Sidewinder
Tucson, Arizona territory
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top