cactusbrew Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Hello everyone, A few months back I had Akai build me a full on limited pistol. The pistol is stroked and i broke the reverse guide rod plug a few days ago. I bought an STI replacement but when i received it in the mail today found that its too long. The STI is around 1.69 long whereas the Akai plug is 1.42 long. Could anyone point me in the right direction as to where I could buy a replacement? I've looked on EGWs site and wonder if I need a commander plug vs. a govt sized plug? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theKenny Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 OP, did you call or email Shay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactusbrew Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Since its a Saturday, I have not. I plan on calling on Monday but Shay is sometimes hard to get a hold of, so I was hopeful someone here could point me in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) Since its a Saturday, I have not. I plan on calling on Monday but Shay is sometimes hard to get a hold of, so I was hopeful someone here could point me in the right direction. Too late for that! Bada Bing!! Just kidding you. My guess would be Shay probably makes some of the parts. I would give him a call or email him and just wait for him to get back to you. Otherwise you will probably buy all kinds of stuff you don't need. Your gun builder should NEVER be hard to get a hold of by the way. I know mine isn't. I'm curios, how on earth did you break that part? Edited February 14, 2015 by Sarge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactusbrew Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) Interestingly enough, I was trying a 14 lb recoil spring in the pistol to see how it felt. After about 25 rds, the lip holding the spring in the plug broke, and about 1/4 of the recoil spring pushed out of the plug in front of my pistol. It would appear the lip was brittle by the way it folded out and broke off in pieces. Edited February 14, 2015 by cactusbrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRobson Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 The new spring you put in should have been cut down on a stroked gun. Your spring was just too long. I believe Shay uses a commander length reverse plug on the stroked guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mberry Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 The new spring you put in should have been cut down on a stroked gun. Your spring was just too long. I believe Shay uses a commander length reverse plug on the stroked guns. Not to hijack the thread, but can you explain this? I thought stroking extended the travel of the slide, why would that require a shorter spring? I have a stroked gun being built and had never heard this before. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcobean Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I just replaced the 12 lb recoil spring in my stroked Akai 2011 with a Wolf commander length 14 lb spring. I had to cut several coils off the new one to get the length right. I believe the reason you need to do this is to allow the slide to travel farther rearward than a standard gun due to the cut down guide rod tunnel that makes it a stroked gun. i.e. the spring in a stroked gun at full compression will be shorter than a spring in a non-stroked gun. Edited February 15, 2015 by kcobean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactusbrew Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 KCOBEAN How do you determine just how many coils to cut off? This is a new platform for me, so I'm a little bit of a novice at this point. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Take the spring out and put the slide on, run it to the back of the travel and see where it stops. Put the spring back in and reassemble the gun. Pull the slide all the way back again. If the slide does not go back as far, you are getting coil bind, which means the slide is stopping against the compressed (solid) spring, instead of against the frame. This can break stuff. I hope I explained this right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthshine402 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Try getting in touch with your builder on facebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robb315 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I check all my recoil springs for coil bind and clip them accordingly so they are ready to roll when I need them. Even in non stroked guns this can be an issue. In my Edge, ISMI 14# springs were good to go out of the package but the 12.5# springs all needed a coil or two clipped off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 same here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robb315 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Another way to check is assemble the slide with the spring and push the guide rod and compress the spring. If the head of guide rod touches back of tunnel, good to go. If it stops short, coils need to be cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactusbrew Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Great information guys, thanks so much!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metallurgist Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Thanks as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactusbrew Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 Talked to Shay this morning. The reverse plugs are custom made, so he will be sending me another free of charge. As for recoil springs, he says he clips govt length recoil springs to fit. So I will just be sitting back and waiting for my plug to get here. Shay said he will send it to me free of charge, so you cant beat that. Thanks again for the help and the pics on where to cut your spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigGabe Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 If the new plug was too long couldn't you get someone to shorten it to the same length as the old plug in a lathe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd7446 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Just for the record, I can tell you that Shay was VERY accessible to customers on Saturday. I was with/around him for most of the day. He spent the day talking with customers & prospects, looking over, and making adjustments to guns. Very nice guy, very accessible, and very helpful to all shooters. I'd venture to guess that the only time he goes somewhat radio silent is when it is his weekend with his kids, and even then I don't know that he completely checks out. And no, I don't even have one of his guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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