1911 guide rod question

[davidb]

Hey all, sorry if this has been asked before but i searched and couldnt find much.

Are the guide rod and recoil plugs the same size for 9mm and .45 1911s?

I though they were based on googling and bought a wilson gi guide rod and ed brown plug to replace a 9mm FLGR but am 2nd guessing my purchase.

Thanks for any help in advance,
David

[82lightfighter]

Just eyeballing the one in my 9mm 1911 and the one in my .45, they look identical.

[trigger945]

If we are talking about government sized 1911's (5" barrel), then the guide rods and recoil spring plugs are the same for 1911's chambered in 9mm and .45 ACP. The recoil spring weights, however, are not - just an FYI.

Those are the first two things I replace on any 1911 I acquire if it has a full-length guide rod. The GI guide rods and recoil spring plugs I have on my 9mm, .45 ACP and 10mm 1911's are the same - all from Wilson Combat.

Hope this helps.

[davidb]

Thanks for the help! Its a 5" pt1911 9mm, forgot to specify in my OP

trigger945 - Just wondering did any of the wilson guide rods you've used need fitting? I ordered a SS "bulletproof" one and it sounded like its not oversized and pretty much drop in from the reviews

[Icypu]

Most 1911 guiderods will fit other calibers. Some exceptions being for things like recoil masters or DPM dual springs.

[davidb]

well got home and the parts were here, the guide rod is a little too wide and hits the slide rails on my ria 45 so im guessing it will need fitting

[trigger945]

^^^That surprises me actually. The GI guide rods I mentioned above were WC bulletproof ones and they were drop in for my 1911's. I have used that WC GI guide rod on many of my 1911's and on a friend's RIA without a need to fit them. The were truly drop in.

Sorry to hear yours wasn't. Are you certain it was too wide and hitting the rails? Were you not able to re-assemble? Did you leave the recoil spring "connected" to the guide rod during re-assembly?

Maybe expand more on the issue to see if we can help.

Good luck!

[bug_eyedmonster]

guide rods and spring plugs aren't always drop in. I've had a few fitted because of similar issues. I recently decided to convert my Recoil Master on one of my STI models to a standard guide rod, and it's a huge PITA. OP, maybe post some pictures?


Jerry

[davidb]

i'll get some pics when i get home. i checked it on the barrel without the slide at first to see how it fit at the link area and that looked good but when i went to reassemble it hit on the slide where the slide meets the frame/rails.

i field strip/reassemble by taking the slide off as one unit, with the stock gi guide rod i can insert the spring/guide rod and cup it in my hand while i put the slide on the frame

[davidb]

alright sorry for the extremely long lag on replying i havent been able to get around to messing with the guide rod until recently

the guide rod was still a little oversized for the taurus i was putting it in, less so than when i tried on my ria. i took off some material with my dremel and then tried my best to get it smooth and got it pretty close to the size of the flgr that came with the gun (its a tiny bit smaller and has a tiny more side to side play when sitting on the barrel in the slide). the finish isnt perfect on the edges so im hoping that doesnt cause any problems.

it seems to not snag on the slide rails and seems to move in the frame pretty well.

heres some pics (sorry for the crappy camera phone pics, im trying to find my better camera. also i didnt know exactly what to take pics of, but if any more pics are needed just let me know what of )



front of guide, i tried to get everything as even and keep the original shape of the part



side view showing where the finish is messed up a little



pic of where it wasnt fitting before, was hitting slide rails and would not sit on the barrel like this before.

the main concern i have is when racking the slide without ammo it sometimes feels slightly hung up returning to battery, it did this a little with the flgr so i dont know if the guide rod is the issue there (gun only has 150 rnds so far so it may just be a little smoothing out through use possibly). also while reassembling putting the slide on as a whole the new guide rod kind of slips sometimes and jams up causing me to take the slide back off and re try, not sure if its the part not fitting right or just the slanted front of the new guide rod...just doesnt happen on my ria when reassembling the same way.

[davidb]

alright i got some better pics, i havent gotten to shoot it with the gi guide rod, and would like a little feedback on if it looks like the rod fits fine and will be good to shoot






side view




thanks for any help