So I picked up a used 1911-22 Black Label Compact at Christmas on a screaming deal. Like it allot. First owner put less than a hundred rounds through it and decided he wanted something with more bite. He only had it for a month. So I've put 1,200 rounds through it and the recoil spring guide has developed the small crack that people complain about. After during some research online this seems to be a hit or miss problem. I called Browning and supposedly they are mailing one out no charge that I should see this week. The gal at customer service mentioned that this problem seems to be on the decline. As soon as I get the new part it's off to the range for a good pounding and lets see what happens. Other than that it has proven very accurate and reliable, 1,200 rounds and not one jam or malfunction. So if it works out I think I'll pickup a 1911-380 Black Label Pro with night sights.
Didn't know about that recoil spring guide crack problem... Could you provide a picture of this "crack"....?
Here's a link to a thread on this board about this problem. It has a pic. http://browningowners.com/forum/index.php?threads/browning-1911-22-handgun-troubleshooting.649/
Quick update the new part came in today so that was fast considering I called Browning on Tuesday of last week and a long weekend in between so Friday I'll go to the range, Clark County Shooting Complex, and blow 500 rounds through it and we'll see what happens.
So it was a nice day at the range as spring has definitely hit Vegas and not to many folks shooting today. So after blowing 500 rounds through it the new guide rod shows no appreciable wear. Here's a pick of the original one:
So 500 rounds no malfunctions. I was shooting quickly with lots of double taps to get it done so i really cant complain about accuracy.
So this pistol now has 1,700 rounds put through it and has seemed to settle in. Tolerances are so tight nowadays it takes allot more rounds to get the guns to settle in than it dead 30 or 40 years ago. The trigger felt really good and has smoothed up considerably. I quit using my old favorite Hoppes #9 as it doesn't seem to quite do the job as the old formula did although it still smells good. So now I clean all my guns with with Remington Shotgun Cleaner, gets all the crud out right now leaves nothing behind and wont harm plastics and I lube everything with Rem-DriLube. Sense I switched to this cleaning method the gun stays real clean even with lots of rounds through as there is no oil to gum things up. Hope this helps somebody out there.
Just a quick update. Went to the range today, Clark County Shooting Complex, and I tested the old recoil spring guide that I had gone over with a Dremel to smooth over the hanging chads of plastic from the original part. 100 rounds and no visual wear on the guide so I'll keep this one as a backup part. Love this gun and it's fun to shoot. Makes a great carry piece. No one can tell it's in my pocket. Have a good one.
