Chris: SharonAnne is right - don't point the dang spring at your eye or look at it straight on when you're trying to disassemble the pistol.
Easy trick if there is too much interference removing the plug - hold the slide back just a touch with one hand, which takes some of the pressure directly off the bushing, and you can rotate the bushing a bit more easily.
Re: "pushing down on the plug with the magazine end - your plug is knurled at the end and I doubt the constant use of a magazine, which is what I use, to depress the plug is going to wear any parkerizing off the plug". You probably get more wear at the end of the plug from muzzle blast over a period of 20 or so years than from disassembly techniques.
If you don't want to disassemble the 1911 the way ya oughta there is the technique SharonAnne mentioned and here is how it goes: You disassemble the same way you disassemble the TT-33 Tokarev and Type 54-1 Tokarev pistols. BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - gotcha on that one, although it's true.
However, here is how it is done: Make dang sure the pistol is empty of boolets and live ammunition; insert empty magazine, draw slide back and lock open with empty mag, remove magazine with pistol locked open. Hold pistol in right hand and push slide back a tad more with left hand, or grip the front of the slide with your left hand (like you're going to club someone with it) and place your left trigger finger inside the trigger guard to give some leverage to hold the slide back (easy) and push the slide hold-open pin from right to left with right forefinger. With your big ol left mitt wrapped around the piece to hold the slide in place, pull the barrel retaining pin/slide lock lever out of the gun and then slowly allow the entire slide assembly to move forward - as you are doing that make sure to capture the spring assembly with your left hand to hold it in place and slide the entire slide assembly off the frame. The recoil spring guide and spring should release tension and you should be able to easily dismantle the complete slide.
All that being said I believe the easier way is to (1): make sure the pistol is empty and unloaded; push back slightly on the slide while using the magazine to rotate the barrel bushing off the spring retaining plug - just before the bushing is completely off and the plug attains 'free-flight', put the magazine down, hold the front of the piece in your left hand, hold down the plug with your right thumb and rotate the bushing off the plug end with your left thumb - you have to maintain light pressure on the slide to make it easier to rotate the bushing but then the plug should be under your thumb pressure and you can release it easily.
Do this five times in a row and you will have mastered field disassembly of the 1911A1, gwasshopper. HTH. Mikey.
