I realize after re-reading that I hadn't made one thing clear: I replaced the Wolff 15# recoil spring (which only had some 500 rounds logged on it since its installation) in my SIG GSR with a BH Spring Solutions' 16# after testing both; I found the BH Spring Solution 16# provided greater consistency withing th 4'-8' guideline; basic pattern with it was empty cases ejecting 6'.Originally Posted by JonInWA
Best, Jon
It seem to me that EDC users of the 1911 are generally against FLGRs. Why is that?
Does the FLGR provide either a net positive or negative? What is it?
Many people do not like FLGRs because JMB did not design the 1911 with one and because tools are needed for takedown. Strictly speaking, the FLGR is not needed with a bushing barrel but is needed with a bull barrel due to no mechanism to retain the spring plug. Most modern designs use a FLGR (Glock, HK, etc.), so there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the FLGR. The net positive is a bit more non-reciprocating weight in a bushing barrel and the only way to make a 1911 work with a bull barrel. In some competition guns, non-reciprocating weight is added by using a tungsten FLGR. That practice is waning due to the tendency of the pricey tungsten FLGR to fracture and the adoption of comps and slide lightening to accomplish the goal of minimal muzzle rise.
I just don't see any positive on an EDC 1911 and don't appreciate needing a tool for disassembly.
I recently had my first go 'round with taking down a 1911 with a FLGR and I didn't care for it. I had to make a tool (easy enough, I bent some thin metal rods until I had the angle right) and it's a bit of a fiddly process until you get your technique down. Not something I'd want to have to do in the field, at a class or even just on the range. It's a bull barrel so I don't have a choice but any bushing barrel that comes to live here with a FLGR will get a GI setup swapped in.
The other thing is a FLGR prevents one handed/using a ledge to clear a malfunction or rack the slide. Vickers mentions it somewhere in the Delta video posted above and IIRC @vcdgrips mentioned having to use a barricade clear a malfunction in a class.
Maybe an overblown concern but certainly something I'll take into account if/when I start carrying a 1911.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
I prefer the standard GI rod. Most 1911 folks are traditionalists and a full length guide rod is not traditional.
True if you're using the muzzle end to rack the slide. However, if you're using the rear sight to rack the slide, it makes no difference what kind of guide rod you have.
Sorry, I kind of left that part out...duh....
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
In addition to points mentioned already, the final motivation necessary for me to order a GI setup replacement was a point made by Vickers and Yam that a GI system lets you disassemble without unnecessary wear on the barrel/bushing fit. Their disassembly method involves removing the guide rod and spring from the slide before touching the bushing, then pushing the barrel forward so the busing can be rotated for removal while in contact with a different part of the barrel and not under spring tension, and it can stay on the barrel.
My Springfield Loaded came with a two-piece guide rod that needed an allen wrench to take apart. Promptly put in GI recoil parts and never looked back. I like the simplicity of the design.
Full length guide rods are a pain in the ass which provide no practical benefit to me. If I purchase a gun with one it will soon be swapped out for a GI guide rod and plug.
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