I have a bunch of recoil spring plugs with the little internal tang. I have one new Wilson that has no tang. In my mind, this one would offer smoother compression of the spring, due to the absence of the tang, but, I have thought wrong before when it comes to the 1911.
The tang is so the spring and plug will sort of lock together and stay together when accidentally launched. No idea how much, if any, the tang impairs smoothness.
Its a good idea, in theory. I was working on my build the other night and the mil-spec plug I have from C&S (properly twisted onto the recoil spring I might add) "got away" from me when I was removing the barrel bushing (with a wrench). Well, that little tab didn't keep it with the spring and it launched to parts unknown. I ended up finding it three days later.
My opinion is that if it is less smooth it's not enough to make a difference.
I have a Colt recoil spring plug with the tang in my dark days Colt, but the only recoil spring that would ever screw into the tang was the original recoil spring that came with the gun. Why is this?
I feel a bit sheepish bringing this up, but recoil springs usually have one end open and the other end closed. I'm sure the closed end won't screw into the plug's tab.
I'm aware of that, the open end won't screw onto the recoil spring plug. Why not?
No idea why the open end won't screw on, unless it's because the end of the coil's bent inward a bit and can't get behind the tab? Or maybe that plug (and its tab) and the spring were hand-fitted with such exacting precision and close tolerances that no other recoil spring will work?
Do Wolff or ISMI use different diameter wire for their recoil springs than Colt did during the dark days? I've had this problem with brand spankin' new springs.
I tried bending the tab inwards with a punch but I wasn't willin' to get rough enough with it to make it bend.
Maybe a .45 case would make a better plug?
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Do Wolff or ISMI use different diameter wire for their recoil springs than
Colt did during the dark days? I've had this problem with brand spankin' new
springs.
I tried bending the tab inwards with a punch but I wasn't willin' to get rough enough with it to make it bend.
Yes... OEM Colt recoil springs(per JMB's original specs.) used a smaller dia. wire.
Tuner can fill you in on the details or Neimi... they both have all the original spec's committed to memory.
That kinda what I figgered. Of course I coulda just measured the silly things myself, I've got all three brands in the parts box.
What do you suppose would be a good way of bending the tab inward enough so that the larger wire size springs will screw into the recoil spring plug?
I have a SS Colt plug and it accepts my 14, 15 and 16lb Wolff Recoil Springs without modification...
After reading that a fired .45 ACP casing makes a serviceable plug, I decided that I just HAD to have one. It works, but one must "mod" the casing a bit so it'll fit within the ears of the bushing. In keeping with the "field expedient" nature of the project, I whipped out the Gerber Multi-Plier and filed on the casing's rim until a good fit was achieved; I was surprised by how much brass I had to take off. The Mickey Mouse plug works, and it's still rolling around in my range box, but I'll stick with the OEM part unless it gets launched down a rabbit hole somewhere.
Moral of the story: THERE AIN'T NO DROP-IN PARTS FOR THE 1911!
A friend of mine - Roland Chubbuck, a fine human being - told a story about launching and losing the recoil spring and plug from a 1911 he was stripping while in Army Basic Training...he was trying to remove said assembly when it decided to remove itself. He was working near a window, and knew the parts must have gone out that window. He went outside and searched, to no avail. One of his buddies suggested he launch another spring/plug assembly, while the buddy watched it's path; surely, the second one would come down in the same place as the first, right? They tried it. Spring #2 splashed down in a puddle of rainwater. They dashed outside, drug the puddle with their fingers, and came up with both assemblies. If only their sergeant hadn't caught them, it would have been a perfect solution. Seems he didn't appreciate their "thinking outside the box", since the idea is to not launch the taxpayers' property in the first place.
I can just drop an old .45 case right in all three of my pistols without modification. The bushing rides on the flat head of the case. I even fired 250 rounds with the casing just to be sure it could be used in an emergency with some degree of reliability.
I think what you did was remove the rim so the taper of the case would self- center on the bushing, right?
10851, righto. Otherwise, the bushing tended to twist out of position.
Sooo... If you run out of ammo are you going to turn the bushing and begin using the recoil spring to start launchin' empty casings at the bad guy?
LOL!!!
I just wondered if it would work, so I tried 50 rounds... then 100... and it kept working. I was impressed...
Use an Automatic Center Punch. Its also useful doing other stuff like removing MSH pin, link pin, etc. And its cheaper than growing that third hand.
That tab is a tough lil' hombre, do you think I'm goin' to need some sort of mandrel inside the recoil spring plug to keep from damaging the body of the plug?
Hmmmmm.... Why not order a Wilson? They have no tab. Or, use one for a two- piece guide rod instead.
I dunno. It worked for me. The Auto Center Punch is kinda handy and well worth a spot in your traveling tool box.
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Hmmmmm... Why not order a Wilson? They have no tab. Or, use one for a two-
piece guide rod instead.
I prefer the GI guide rod and I've got two 1911's, my dark days Colt with the tab in the recoil spring plug and the build I'm almost thru with that has an EGW recoil spring plug without the tab. The EGW plug is a nice piece but I wish it had the tab cause despite 20 years of practice field strippin' 1911's I still sometimes have to move EVERYTHING stored under the bench to find that lil' monster. If I could get the tab fixed on the Colt that's one less recoil spring plug to have to search for.
I imagine it would be possible to enhance or even create the tab with a hammer and a center punch, just as long as the plug was supported from the inside by a hardwood dowel, or a brass or aluminum rod. The support piece would have to have a channel plowed in it along the axis of the tab- otherwise, once the tab is punched, the tab would hold the support captive.
I am looking for a SS stock-style recoil spring plug without the tab for a Governement Model. Did you say that EGW makes one????
They sure do. The one I used is lengthened slightly to match the thick flange bushing they manufacture but they also make one to match the standard bushing.
http://egw-guns.com/store/index.php...products_id=412
Btw: Excellent quality parts!
Would that be the stainless steel without hole, #1548? I want one that is checkered too, Government length.
HMMM... not sure if it's checkered, mine wasn't, I checkered it myself to match the front strap and the MSH. Also it's a little shorter than the GM.
EGW cateres to the professional smif's, their parts are often uncheckered and a little oversize in particular places cause the pros like 'em that way.
Have you tried looking at Brownell's web site?
Ed Brown Gov't length SS spring plug is checkered.
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Ed Brown Gov't length SS spring plug is checkered.
No tab, right?
Not the last one I bought. But the last Colt stainless GI recoil plug didn't have the tab either. Brownells says the new Colt parts are tabbed. The EB plug is a nice one and is about 1/2 what the Colt part is though.
Look in the Ed Brown standard parts list to get the GI stainless plug. The EB stainless plugs listed in the 1911 catalog with the other manufacturers plugs are only for the commander size.
Argghhhh!
I gotta find a stainless one without a tab!
Here is the Ed Brown GI plug:
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=...Spring_Plug__SS
Same thing as seen on the Ed Brown web site
http://www.edbrown.com/cgi-bin/html...416287010408996
I just need to confirm the absence of the tang...
The last one (E B) I bought was tangless... but call Brownells tech support to verify. They will look at the part and confirm the configuration.
Robert... the Ed Brown SS plug DOES NOT have the tang for sure.
I read somewhere that a recoil spring will rotate when compressed since it is really a torsion spring. Any thoughts on this? I do know from personal experience that the spring and plug seldom stay together if launched during field stripping.
Yes, coil springs do want to rotate. It's not unheard of for them to even be seated on roller bearings.
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Robert... the Ed Brown SS plug DOES NOT have the tang for sure.
I can confirm this. I just bought a new stainless recoil spring plug and barrel bushing from Ed Brown about 2 weeks ago. No tang on the plug. And they look really cool on my blued 1911a1.