WE 1911 repair...question!
 

The spring plug on my WE1911 broke...I won't get into why but suffice to say, not my fault...ACKBAR!

The ring part on the inside broke off, noticed it when he wanted to field strip the gun. I was scanning through Redwolf for them and noticed the details of "Type 1, 2, and 3" so here is the noob question. Whats the difference between the types? I'm thinking of going silver, its currently black.

You're looking at the wrong parts. Spring plugs for TM1911 are not compatible for WE1911, they're too big. You'll have to find specifically WE1911 spring plugs.

oy! I was to understand that WE are TM compatible...aw well, back to looking. But what is the difference between the "Types"?

Look closely, some of those plugs on RW are for a long recoil spring plug.

Just went back looking through some old threads addressing the same problem...not totally SOL at least.

The broken ring on the plug isn't a big problem in itself, but damage will now be transferred to the very weak bushing. You absolutely want to shorter your recoil spring guide by about 3-5mm; it was the original culprit (it's just a bit too long and is slamming into the tip of the plug).

This thread here covers the same problem and has a number of solutions. Hope it helps.

Kuro_Neko

That was the old thread I found, I'll cut down the spring guide and I'll get a new bushing just in case. Thanks all!

OK, reading through the whole thread, I need to take down a few mm but will I have to stick the lip/ring back in or leave it off with those few mm?

If you swing by tomorrow...bring it with you.

Tys

K,
thanks to m102404, my WE is sort of usable but I'm not gonna take any chances. Was looking around for replacement parts like a WA brushing and a stiffer spring. A couple things from Evike caught my eye
Matrix Complete full metal kit 1911 and the Complete Reinforced Supper Slide Assembly. Google was a pain in showing reviews for these 2 but my thinking is to have around as spare parts.

WE 1911s aren't compatible with anything else, at least for the most part. You have to replace the parts with WE only, and they're next to impossible to find.

As for compatibility, it's the Hi Capa that's 100% TM compatible, not the 1911.

Reviews on Evike on the Matrix kit mentions the WE1911 yet theres still the fact that its a part thats not TM compatible yet is suppose to work for both. IDK, $70US to risk it?

I think the two slides listed should be fine. WE1911 is not 100% compatible with the TM1911 largely due to being closer to the WE/TM2011 in design.

Conversely, find someone with a lathe. A replacement spring plug shouldn't be hard to make.

Some parts may be compatible like the slide itself. For example, internals of KJW and TM M9s have no cross-compatibility, although a TM compatible slide will fit a KJW without any modification required. I suspect the WE 1911 is similar to that. There may be some parts that are compatible, but for the most part, they're not.