1911 plastic main spring housing! Cracked?

[Waynetheman]

So I swapped out my factory colt arched MSH for what is supposedly a flat factory MSH from brownells. Both are plastic. After my last range trip I see something that looks like a crack. Can't really feel it but of I scratch it with my fingernail I can feel a bit of a line.

Hope the pic is clear. Photobucket usually resizes and my iPhone camera is crap at night.

So, is this a crack? Will it spontaneously poop the mainspring out?

If so I'm gonna stop shooting it and get a Ed brown msh.

 

[mrclean]

Might be a crack, but if it does break, you still have the pin through the bottom of it for some extra insurance. Getting a metal one won't hurt either.

 

[MauserMike]

First purchase for my STI Spartan is an Ed Brown 25lpi housing and magwell. Its a quality product.

 

[Waynetheman]

Oh true the cross pin should stil retain it. I'm thinking snake skin or chain link MSH.

 

[ted_dent]

I can't believe that quality gun makers like Colt and Kimber cheap out using plastic mainspring housings for the few extra bucks a steel one costs. When you're dropping $1200-$1500 on a good 1911 who wouldn't gladly pay another $15-$20 for steel vs. plastic. That kind of cost cutting just doesn't make sense.

First thing I did on my 45 and 9mm Kimber Stainless II Target guns was replace the plastic with Ed Brown MS housings.

 

[Waynetheman]

Yeah tbh I don't understand the plastic MSH on brand name 1911s either. It just screams cheap since you really arent saving weight on an all steel gun like 1911s tend to be. They claim the poly is just as good as metal but clearly that's not the case here.

The only reason I swapped to a flat plastic one was cause I wanted to see if I liked arched or flat better and this was cheap. Definitely gonna pop an Ed brown on there soon.

 

[Skinny 1950]

I recently replaced the mainspring in my 1911 and found it to be under tension even when the hammer is forward so there is going to be quite a bit of force applied to the housing when it is cocked, I find it hard to believe that anyone would think plastic is a good choice of material for a mainspring housing.

 

[Waynetheman]

I had always figured it was modern polymer like most gun frames these days. Who knows?

Just ordered a snakeskin MSH. Along with a few springs for an overhaul.

 

[Cocked&Locked]

it looks like a flow line, or moulding mark rather then a crack. I'm not a big fan of the poly mainspring units, but just because they clash with the metal frame to my senses, they function fine. Personally, i'd replace it with an Ed Brown or similar.