Two-piece recoil guide rod

Rock River uses a two-piece recoil guide rod in their Bullseye Wadcutter.  What are the advantages and disadvantages.

Easier to switch to a .22 conversion.

When you are working on the gun making adjustments to the trigger or extractor they make life infinitely easier and there is less wear and tear on the bushing.

Good Morning Jim,

Your response to my inquiry is most interesting, as I have been thinking about a 22 conversion for the past two days.  Would you tell me more about them, and why the two-piece guide rod makes the swap easier? 

My interest in a 22 conversions has two motivations.  1)  It is easier to transport one gun, especially across state lines.  2)  Familiarity with one gun is more readily maintained, as opposed to switching among two different guns. 

Thanks, Tom

Good Morning Rich,

How does the two-piece rod make this possible?  I don't know how a gun with a two-piece rod is disassembled.  Can you describe the procedure for me?

Thank you, Tom

The two piece guide rod makes it possible to remove the slide from the frame as a complete unit. If you totally unscrew the two halves it will come apart similar to regular 1911, but if you unscrew the guide rod a few turns it will be loose enough to remove the slide but the spring will be captured and stay in place in the slide.

What he said, and you do not have the turn the bushing to re install the recoil spring.

Several YouTube videos answer your questions.

For me it's a GI rod or nothing. I've had a couple 2pc rods and really don't like them. You can easily remove a 45 slide without shooting your rod across the range, if you can't you need practice.

One piece work well with reamed tunnels

It requires some technique, but a 1911 slide and all the parts can be taken off the frame with a standard spring guide. The whole assembly can be replaced on the frame, with some technique, too! I never saw the need for these one or two piece rods. I suppose that they do add a little weight which might dampen recoil a very small amount. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2clYg5RwQrw

james r chapman wrote:Several YouTube videos answer your questions.

After wading through several videos in which the presenter didn't know what he was talking about (a reason I don't like YouTube), I found this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIpPMFm5ubM

Perhaps your findings are different, but as for me, the simplest, fastest disassembly and reassembly of a 1911 is with a Full Length One Piece Guide Rod. These are the rods with the small hole to insert a pin (bent paperclip) to capture the plug & spring.