I just purchased a Colt MK IV Series 70 Gold Cup/National Match .45 This gun is original except for an Ed Brown full length guide rod. I would like to replace the factory Colt spring and guide. Do the full length guide rod setups work better than the Colt original? Thanks, Jim

I have the same gun, mine is all original with the exception of an extended BoMar rib sight. Since it functions fine, I have not tried the full length guide rod so the responses that you get will be most informative.

The Full-Length Guide Rod aids in extraction and feeding. It extracts money from your pocket and feeds it into somebody else's.

Do the full length guide rod setups work better than the Colt original? Thanks, Jim

No. The only thing I can see that they reliably do is make field stripping more difficult.

The Full-Length Guide Rod aids in extraction and feeding. It extracts money from your pocket and feeds it into somebody else's.
I haven't heard THAT one . . . That's REALLY funny! :D

Millions of 1911s functioned perfectly without full length guide rods. I've never tried one in my old Remington-Rand. The only good thing I can see about them is that they add a little muzzle weight. The change in balance is a matter of personal preference. If it suits you, fine. If it doesn't, you're better off stock.

Bye
Jack

I've head several arguments for full-length guide rods, but the only one I could possibly go along with was that they add weight to the front of the gun. But, if anyone can feel a difference that tiny bit of weight makes in shooting, they are more observant than I am.

There is one other thing they are good for, but it's pretty specialized. They might help if you had a switch-top gun- that is, one frame with several upper halves set-up for different calibers. A full-length guide rod would sort of hold the top end all together when seperated from the gun.
I guess that's a common thing in some European countries, where you are limited to the number of guns you can own.
But since it isn't the case here, switch-top guns are pretty uncommon.

The Full-Length Guide Rod aids in extraction and feeding. It extracts money from your pocket and feeds it into somebody else's.

Turner, I want you to know that I'll give you credit for every time I use that one!

Dan

Was shooting a full length guide rod 1911 (actually, it was a Clark Bullseye gun). At some point, the full length rod broke and fell off the gun in recoil.

I never notiiced...the target never noticed...I quit using them.

Glad ya'll liked that. :cool:

You hear talk of how they keep the recoil spring from kinking...but a little closer look at how the standard system works will show that it can't kink.

The spring compresses on both ends and in the middle at the same rate. As it compresses, the coils close up over the rod as the plug moves over it. The spring is nearly encapsulated, and captive on both the OD and the ID. Any deflection or "kinking" would have occurred with that particular spring regardless of the type of guide rod.

Thanks guys! I read a rather complex article today that was a little above my understanding but the gunsmith who wrote it had the same opinion;"The only good purpose the full length rod might serve is a little extra weight which isn't worth the difficulty in disassembly"! I enjoyed reading your views and I loved learning about the Extraction and Feeding benefits of the "Full Lenghth Guide Rod"!!!!! Thanks again, Jim

Glad ya'll liked that. :cool:

You hear talk of how they keep the recoil spring from kinking...but a little closer look at how the standard system works will show that it can't kink.

The spring compresses on both ends and in the middle at the same rate. As it compresses, the coils close up over the rod as the plug moves over it. The spring is nearly encapsulated, and captive on both the OD and the ID. Any deflection or "kinking" would have occurred with that particular spring regardless of the type of guide rod.

Once again, I'm with Tuner. That's always been my argument against the "kinking". There isn't but about a quarter inch of "unsupported" spring in there with the slide forward. If a gun can kink springs in that space, a guide rod won't help it.

And I like the extaction and feeding thing too. Can't wait to steal it.