New Classic Custom.......HELP

[Gunner220]

My lovely wife gave me a Classic Custom for Christmas and all the paperwork finally cleared today. I field stripped and lubricated the pistol anticipaing a shoot tomorrow. The last 2 hours have been spent dealing with trying to reinstall the recoil spring assembly. Getting it in place is hard enough and when I do it kicks the barrel link up. I'm pretty much at my wits end and my arthritic thumbs are screaming at me. Anybody Ed Brown owners using this 2 piece guide rod assembly have any suggestions??

[shootist87122]

...trying to reinstall the recoil spring assembly. Getting it in place is hard enough and when I do it kicks the barrel link up.

Are you trying to completely install the recoil spring, plug and guide rod before you have the slide on the frame and the slide release installed through the barrel link? If so, I think that's your problem.

[dnovo]

I think Shootist may be correct on this. It takes a bit of patience. I had the same issues, and then let it sit for a hour, came back, and got it back together. Ah, the joys of stripping down a 1911! I have to admit that doing the same job on Browning's last creation, my Novak-built Hi Power, is a whole lot easier. Persist, it will all work out in the end. Dave

[John]

My lovely wife gave me a Classic Custom for Christmas and all the paperwork finally cleared today. I field stripped and lubricated the pistol anticipaing a shoot tomorrow. The last 2 hours have been spent dealing with trying to reinstall the recoil spring assembly. Getting it in place is hard enough and when I do it kicks the barrel link up. I'm pretty much at my wits end and my arthritic thumbs are screaming at me. Anybody Ed Brown owners using this 2 piece guide rod assembly have any suggestions??
Unscrew the front part of the guide rod and install the rest as in a normal 1911. Then after the pistol is completely assembled, insert the front part of the guide rod through the recoil spring plug and screw the part in place. Tighten it as hard as you can.

[dnovo]

I echo El Commandante's comments, but the "Tighten it as hard as you can" should be within reason. I am still, despite my advanced age, fairly strong. I got a bit overenthusiastic while tightening the allen head opening on a hard chromed guide rod and rounded that sucker out. Had to drill it out and then pay for a replacement part. Tight is good, King Kong is bad. ("I'm fuzzy on this good/bad thing, can you explain why crossing the streams is bad?") Dave

[Gunner220]

With the recoil plug in place, as it has to be, it is impossible to install as a normal 1911. The recoil spring can't pass by the plug and must remain in the slide. Directions say to "cram" the spring in place, place the slide on the frame then reinstall the slide stop and the front piece of the guide rod. My left thumb pad is one big blood blister after messing with this thing last night. I'm going to call Ed Brown tomorrow as I've scratched the slide when the spring repeatedly kinked during install attempts. I am no stranger to 1911s owning my first one over 30 years ago. I can detail strip them without any difficulty but this has me stumped. I can't try much today cause my thumbs are so screwed up but any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond.


Unscrew the front part of the guide rod and install the rest as in a normal 1911. Then after the pistol is completely assembled, insert the front part of the guide rod through the recoil spring plug and screw the part in place. Tighten it as hard as you can.

[shootist87122]

Ouch. A bushing wrench is required on the long guide rods and I suppose that EB does not bother to ship one with the gun. I only use the one piece rods btw, but the two piece are "supposed" to be easier.

Till you get it figured out, you might borrow a short guide rod and standard recoil spring plug from another gun so you could at least go shoot it.

[Gunner220]

Yeah I thought of cannibalizing one of my colts. I have a bushing wrench but the issue seems to be that the recoil plug installs from inside the slide then the spring butts against it. The bushing and plug are locked in place when you are ATTEMPTING to install the recoil spring. Appreciate the OUCH sympathy. I never intended this gun to be a safe queen but scratches before I've even fired it that just bothers me.

Love the SpellCheck on this site!!



Ouch. A bushing wrench is required on the long guide rods and I suppose that EB does not bother to ship one with the gun. I only use the one piece rods btw, but the two piece are "supposed" to be easier.

Till you get it figured out, you might borrow a short guide rod and standard recoil spring plug from another gun so you could at least go shoot it.

[dnovo]

I forgot that Ed doesn't supply a bushing wrench. He supplies a pistol rug, Les ships in a cardboard box but sends a wrench. Wilson does both, although the wrenches are plastic. Come on guys, the extra coin for these items won't break you, we spend enough buying the guns so why not supply these needed 'extras?'

BTW, I find that the Brownells aluminum bushing wrench works better than the plastic ones that come with the guns. You may want to get one. Good luck dealing with Brown on the problem. Let us know what they tell you. Dave

[Gunner220]

Thanks man, I picked up one of the Brownells wrenches last week. I'll let you know what Brown tells me tomorrow.

[Gunner220]

I finally talked with Ed Brown today and John's post yesterday was totally correct. It was done as any other 1911. I had it assembled, bad thumbs and all in 5 minutes. The directions from Brown which I tried to follow made things much more difficult, at least for me. In the process of trying to assemble the recoil spring into the slide it kept kinking and caused some scratching on the slide so I decided to send it back to EB for polishing.
UPS REFUSED to pick up the slide, saying they would not ship ANY hangun part except from a dealer or UPS Center. I went through 2 supervisors with no satisfaction. FedX picked it up 10 minutes ago with no hassle.

Thank you all for your help. You gave me the answer I just didn't listen. I spend a lot of time at WarRifles which is where I found you all. Come by and check it out!
http://www.warrifles.com/forums/index.php

[dogdollar]

I was a little confused by the instructions for reassembly in the Ed Brown "Manual" myself, so the first thing I did was call and see why I couldn't just put it together like any other 1911. I was told that was an "acceptable method" also. My God, why would you want to put all of the slide components, including the spring, together before putting the slide on ?

[Gunner220]

I have no idea why their book is written with the directions as they are. It's nearly impossible to do it their way. Treating it like any other 1911 makes it a snap.

As a side note after firing the first 100 rounds through the gun the front sight roll pin worked it's way up and out so the slide had to be returned to Brown. Service was fast. I hope that doesn't happen again.

[Joni Lynn]

Gunner, I also have arthritis in my hands and I got a Dawson Precision tool-less full length guide rod. The only time I have to mess with a spring mow is if I'm changing it out for another.

[Gammon]

I was a little confused by the instructions for reassembly in the Ed Brown "Manual" myself, so the first thing I did was call and see why I couldn't just put it together like any other 1911. I was told that was an "acceptable method" also. My God, why would you want to put all of the slide components, including the spring, together before putting the slide on ?
I believe that is referred to as the "match" assembly/disassembly method. When you assemble/disassemble a pistol in this manner it is easier on the barrel bushing which is a tight fit on a match gun. The match method allows you to remove the slide from the pistol as a unit, remove the spring and guide, and then remove the barrel bushing when the barrel is out of battery and the bushing is at mid point in the barrel where there is more play and less pressure on the bushing. I believe this method is used to preserve the tight bushing/barrel/slide fit. The idea is to avoid turning the bushing while it is at its tightest position, when the slide and barrel are in battery.Its not all that hard to do if you have three hands or ten years or so of practice.

[Gunner220]

Gunner, I also have arthritis in my hands and I got a Dawson Precision tool-less full length guide rod. The only time I have to mess with a spring mow is if I'm changing it out for another.


Thanks Joni I'l have to check them out.