1911 Lock-Up

W

Waitone

New member
Kimber SS Classic with a two piece guide rod.

At the range today the thing locked up. Slide is locked out of battery. Guide rod appears to have lengthened past the bushing.

Slide will not push into battery.

Slide will not retract.

Thumb safety will not engage because slide is slightly to the rear.

Gun will not fire.

I managed to screw the guide rod in a short way but not far enough to put the gun into battery.

Now what? Do I need to head off to a smithy his his magical touch?

Two piece guide rods have me thinking of the simplicity of a revolver. :o :mad:
 
Let me merely say what I have said before: Full length (and two-piece) guide rods do nothing but aid in extraction - the extraction of money from your pocket and insertion into the pocket of the guide rod maker. This one seems to have done a bit more, and not good.

I can't really give you an answer to the problem without seeing the gun, but if the chamber is loaded, you should remove the firing pin to prevent an accident. It might be possible to cut off the barrel bushing skirt with a Dremel cutter so you can get the guide rod out, or you might just have to use a block of wood and a big mallet to hammer the slide open. If the chamber is empty, I would consider sending it back to Kimber just as it is and let them fix it, but please don't think of shipping a loaded gun.

Jim
 
Problem resolved.

Cheap brass bent going into chamber and jambed the works. Chamber is ok.

Guide rod is still history.

thanks one and all
 
My Kimber full size SS gun came with a one piece guide rod, and I've had no problems with it. I wouldn't have one of the two piece rods if they were free, too many stories about them coming apart at the wrong time. :)

The only downside I see to the one piece rod is a bit of weight, and you need a bushing wrench to strip the gun. The weight is in the right place, and doesn't bother me. Since the bushing is tight enough that I need a bushing wrench anyway, that's a moot point.
 
johnwill,

Ed Brown has a 1911 reference book, which he sells on CD. On this CD he shows how the professional 'smiths disassemble the 1911 without a bushing wrench. You can get it from www.edbrown.com or Brownells. Doing it his way, you don't have the flying parts coming at you, if you have a strong recoil spring.
Even then, a lot of the bushings are still so tight, a wrench is required to remove the bushing and barrel.
If you want, I can also show you how to make that one piece rod a captive spring holder. I did this on my Kimber Polymer (one piece) and the Custom CMC I built (two piece frame saver from Cominolli).
 
Never thought about a captive spring, sounds like an interesting idea. Can you post it here, I'll bet a few people are at least curious. :)
 
Captive Guide Rod Modification

This works for either a one piece or two piece FLGR, but first you must determine if your slide needs to be modified. I am currently working on customizing a Norinco 1911A1 copy and the slide had to be modified for the captive spring mod. This involves grinding away the ridge that stops the recoil spring plug from falling thru the slide. With the 1911 disassembled (field stripped), insert only the recoil spring plug in the front of the slide. If it does not fall thru, you will see the ridge that needs to be removed. If it falls thru, you're ready to modify the FLGR. Most of the Kimbers, CMCs, and possibly Wilsons will allow the plug to fall thru.

To modify the FLGR measure approximately 1 5/8" from the tip (front) of the guide rod and drill a 1/16" hole thru the guide rod. Reassemble the pistol and lock the slide back. Cut off about 3/8" to 1/2" of a paper clip and using needle nose pliers, bend it at 90 degrees about 1/8" from one end. Insert the longest portion of the paper clip in the 1/16" hole and ease the slide forward. Now you can continue to move the slide to the disassembly notch and remove the slide lock pin as your normally do. Remove the slide and turn upside down. Lock the barrel in its normal position and rotate the barrel link toward the rear of the slide. You can now remove the FLGR (captive) with the spring in place. To reassemble, reverse the procedure. It is much easier to remove a fitted barrel bushing, if you can slide it back on the barrel before turning the bushing. Sure, there will be times that you want to clean the recoil spring, but this will save wear and tear on the bushing for normal cleaning.

This can be viewed at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/g2130

Choose the Norinco album. One of the pictures details the captive FLGR (mine is two piece) and the paper clip (mine is part of a staple from a pre-hung door).

You can also view the other pics, if you want.
 
do you mean the gun would be altered to fire with the guide rod pinned back? or is this a way to take down a tight bushing?
yeah and Jim I guess I'll be a newbie till they quit making guns:D
I like the 2 piece FLGRs cause they make the spring come back uncrunched and in a straight line, I had a AMT government model that on 1st shot gun was stuck back after recoil, had to pound slide forward, got a FLGR and a heavy recoil spring 20 lb? and
gun shot every time, A FIRST for a AMT!!!I strong arm the 2 piece
rods,their cheap, never had one come apart after lots of rd,s
and George I've seen some of your guns with FLGRs, if I'm wrong I'm sorry, if I'm right why do you put them in?and I have had my fill of beer for today. 7 day stretch, and good afternoon:D
 
I had Nowlin's put this type of guide rod on my gun, but I have switched to one of their recoil reduction guide rods.

But the hole is great, epecially if you have a hard fitted barrel and bushing that requires the use of a wrench.
 
zot...this is simply for ease of takedown and to avoid bushing wear. It also prevents those holes in the ceiling when the guide plug goes ballistic!
 
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