It's never too late to ask questions in order to gain understanding. And the only such question which are "stupid" are the ones that were NOT asked...
1911 TRP CC - Full length guide rod odd behavior
- Thread starter EmberTRPCC
- Start date
@EmberTRPCC : If you decide to go with option 3 and succeed in locating a suitable FLGR, you do NOT have to create the nice pretty little "slotted" relief cut. Rather, you can carefully secure the guide rod in a padded vise and use a suitable file to cut a relief angle across the breadth of the FLGR rear face. Given that your GI guide rod appears to have NO relief cut (but it IS flat with no "button" protrusion), I'd speculate that a FLGR with NO relief cut MIGHT fit "as is", or at most, only require a very minimal removal of material in order to fit.
Out of my own personal 'smithing file collection, I'd probably reach for a 6" swiss cut file that is about 3/8" to 1/2" wide. Cut with a side-to-side motion, taking care to check fitment every two or three file strokes. When cutting an angled relief, the clearances will change VERY quickly and you don't want to remove too much material and wind up in the same boat as at the present.
My alter-ego, Captain Obvious, said to remind you be certain to remove the material from the side of the guide rod face that rests nearest the barrel (top side), not the other side which rests nearest the bottom of the spring tunnel.
If all this blather is unclear, let me know and I can post a pic which should help clarify.
Out of my own personal 'smithing file collection, I'd probably reach for a 6" swiss cut file that is about 3/8" to 1/2" wide. Cut with a side-to-side motion, taking care to check fitment every two or three file strokes. When cutting an angled relief, the clearances will change VERY quickly and you don't want to remove too much material and wind up in the same boat as at the present.
My alter-ego, Captain Obvious, said to remind you be certain to remove the material from the side of the guide rod face that rests nearest the barrel (top side), not the other side which rests nearest the bottom of the spring tunnel.
If all this blather is unclear, let me know and I can post a pic which should help clarify.
Annihilator
Hellion
100%
in over 40 years of messing around replacing 1911 parts, they all need some kind of fitting as RedGoat stated, no matter if it states drop in, once and I mean once in a blue moon a part may drop in, but don’t bet on it. But the guide rod is an easy do.
@EmberTRPCC - - I'm having one of those "Duh!" moments, after a good night's sleep. There is a FOURTH option to fix your FLGR without having to buy anything else. Looking at the photo which you posted where the rear face of your GI guide rod is shown along with the rear face of your new FLGR, I can see that the rear face of the GI guide rod is essentially flat, with NO button protrusion, no relief cut. Just flat. If you're willing to put in a little file time, you should be able to file the rear face of your new full length guide rod down to have a similarly flat surface, or at least remove material from the "button" protrusion until the "slack" is removed from the system. Put the FLGR in a padded vise, file off a little material, taking care file in nice even, flat strokes. After a few strokes, try it in the gun for fit. I'd go ahead and fully assemble to gun each time, just to be sure that everything is aligned properly. Once the "slack" is gone, you're done filing. I'd then go ahead and polish the rear face of the FLGR with some very fine grit wet/dry sandpaper or a dremmel polishing wheel if you have it, just to remove any roughness left behind from the filing. You also might want to make certain to "break" and polish any sharp edges remaining around the face so that they don't "chew" on the FLGR seat area or other areas where it makes contact.