What's so darned good about full length guide rod?

L

Lavan

New member
Curious on this one too. My 1911 Gold Cup shoots just fine with a nasty old John Browning crude spring pushing against a spring guide. What is the advantage of having a spring riding on a rod? I can't see the slide trying to wobble itself to pieces from recoil. It is still on the rails.

???
 
I haven't found a single expert or practical shooter who has any evidence that there is a difference in performance between standard and full-length guide rods.

My 1911 has a full-lenght guide rod -- but only because I bought it that way. Its some extra work to strip the gun, and I'd rather do without. But not enough to buy a new guide rod.
 
One of the gunny monthlies did an article on this recently; they fired the same 1911 with and without full length guide rod. They found it made no difference in accuracy. Their conclusion is that the guide rod is not a major issue one way or the other.
 
I had two 1911's with these, saw no advantage, and replaced both. I field strip after every firing session, and the full length rods were too much trouble.

I could not tell any difference in accuracy or function .
 
Out of 8 or 10 1911A1 pattern guns that I've owned, a full lenght rod has help 1 as far as functioning. Why it helped that one I couldn't tell you. Before I put it in (an early Springfield Armory) it would jam a round between slide and barrel hood (pointing bullet nose straight up) about once in every 100 rounds. After the drop in it went 3500 rounds without a hitch (then was sold). I don't know why but it did help that one pistol.
 
Nothing. Guide rods don't do a thing but make money for who sells them. I've had five M1911s over the years and the one thing that never caused trouble was the spring plug. All a full length rod does is empty your wallet and make take down more difficult.
 
They aid in feeding and extraction: Feeding the gunsmith's family and extracting money from your wallet.

I don't remember who I heard that from=, but it was here on TFL.

Ledbetter
 
They can keep that spring from shooting out when you reassemble it.
 
The only actual advantage a full length guide rod can give you is less muzzle flip and possibly felt recoil due to the weight up front. Just like a full length underlug does with a revolver....I have one that was customized and has a full length guide rod, for me it does seem to track a little better. I don't think it matters enough to justify it's use for me at the same time I don't have problems with it. I always make sure my bushing is fitted finger tight on 1911's so I don't have the problem with field stripping that others seem to have. My other 1911's don't have FLGR's and I don't plan on having any others that way in the future.....
 
If they are of no use ,why do all of the 10mm delta users claim to throw away the double recoil spring and replace it with a 24# single spring with a full lgth guide rod?

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I've shot competition for several years and have found a guide rod will enable the front sight to track better. However, this is only noticeable while shooting at high rates of speed. For the real world, it makes no difference.
 
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