LW Commander Recoil Spring Guide

[ZBill]

My used 1967 Colt LW Commander came to me with a short (1 1/2 inch or so) guide that fits into the back end of the recoil spring. I have seen a lot of traffic regarding full length recoil guides in Commanders. My question is which type of guide did my pistol come with from the factory? It functions fine as is.

Thanks Bill

 

[xring]

Sounds like you have the stock guide. I would leave it as is. It won't function any better with a FLGR. Plus it would somewhat negate the benefit of having a lightweight gun. I used to be sold on these things, but not any more. Randy

 

[1911Tuner]

WHOA!

Bill! The standard Commander stub guide is nominally 1.200 OAL. If the one in your pistol is an "Inch and a half, or so"...it may be that somebody stuck one in from a GM. If you shoot it with that guide, it'll hit the spring plug and bust the bushing...or worse. The Government Model recoil spring guide is close to 1.700 inch..which would put it in the category of an inch and a half or so...

I think you can get the standard Commander guides from Brownells in their Factory parts section.

 

[Dave Sample]

I like these guide rods in certain aplications, but I do not care for them in Commanders for some unknown reason. Perhaps I view them as carry guns only and do not think that mine is shot enough to justify one. I have extra stock parts here if you need one. Tuner is right about not using a government size recoil spring giude or bushing in a Commander. Measure it and see what you have. You cannot trust used guns because they are always sold for a reason. I think you have the best carry gun in the world, now. Perhaps a little tweaking like lowering in the port and new springs would be a good thing to do.

 

[James Bondrock]

I am not a "1911 man" (although I could be persuaded), but I see no real use for full length guide rods in a defensive handgun. Sure, when the recoil spring is out of the gun and laid next to the stock guide rod, it appears as though the spring would gyrate around like a snake on speed when the gun cycles. But when it is installed in the gun and compressed, the actual unsupported spring area is only a few coils. Inconsequential.

 

[surfinUSA]

The standard Colt guide rod has been fine for almost 100 years. The full length guide rod gives you nothing extra.

 

[Zeke Menuar]

My LW Commander came to me with a FL rod installed. It works fine and I am too cheap/lazy to change it. Like the others have stated, the stock guide rod works just fine too.

Too often folks hang junk off their 1911's just because some know-it-all hailed it as trendy or absolutly essential. Hogwash! If it ain't broke and the gun shoots fine, don't fix it.

Mini rant over.

ZM

 

[ZBill]

Thaks for the replies

My recoil spring guide measures 1.25 OAL, a tad longer than the OAL that 1911Tuner provides. Should I be concerned? It functions fine as is. Thanks for all the replies, Bill

 

[wally]

My recoil spring guide measures 1.25 OAL, a tad longer than the OAL that 1911Tuner provides. Should I be concerned?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" would seem to apply here, unless you see evidence of the extra length rubbing or hitting something.

--wally.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I have a 1972 Combat Commander That I bought new that has the factory guide rod and still works fine,so does my 1941 gov. for that matter.

 

[1911Tuner]

A Tad longer

Howdy Bill,

The 1.25 rod is okay...I checked three of mine, and the lengths vary from 1.200 to 1.238. You can check the slide travel with a witness mark with and without the recoil system just to be on the safe side if you want.

The GM guide is (nominally) a half-inch longer than the Commander's...
but those have a lot of variation too.