1911Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Best 1911 Mag?

289K views 512 replies 346 participants last post by  jtq 
#1 ·
Which is the best and most reliable 8 round 1911 mag?
 
#34 ·
I have 4 stock Sig mags that came with my 1911 - I think Mec-Gar makes them - excellent stock 8 round mags. I also have 4 Chip McCormick Power Plus 10 round mags. On my 1st outing to shoot my new Sig 1911 I put 400 rounds through it using all the mags and not 1 hiccup at all. The stockers are great and I LOVE the CMC Power Plus 10 round mags - I just ordered 4 more of those - love having the extra rounds...
 
#36 ·
Best mag is like the whole 9mm vs .45 debate: it's a matter of personal opinion. Given what forum we're a part of we all know the answer to that one anyway!

As far as magazines I agree with what most people are saying. Find what works for your gun. I have Chip McCormick power mags and Wilson mostly, but there's a couple Chips that don't fall free out of my Springfield but flawlessly out of my Colt and vise versa with one of the Wilsons. It's kind of luck of the draw...
 
#43 ·
I don't rightly recall. All I remember is "Made in Italy" and got them here online.

I have since gone to 10 round magazines. Some of the CMC mags are rebuilt with 9 round spring/feeder kits to make them reliable.

I don't do compacts, I cannot hit anything and my hands are just too big for them.

Every gun or auto that I have seen or owned have different... experiences regarding mags. At the end of the day, reliability in combat (Fighting for your life) and malfunction training is going to help save you.

With that said I like to know my gun like my wife. I would never want another wife because it will be too hard to readjust and learn all over again.
 
#47 ·
I read this thread and got to wondering about the different mags. I've been shooting 1911s for a long time, and I have about two dozen USGI mags, all at least 30 years old, most older. Quite a few are WWII issued mags.

Well I just bought a new Remington 1911 R1 Talo pistol for casual shooting, mostly just to see if it was as good as a buddy claimed. It's not bad, but that's another topic. Anyway I decided I needed a few more. Can't ever have too many mags, right? So I started looking and was amazed at the current prices. Remember, I haven't bought any 1911 mags in about 30 years, OK. I seem to recall paying about $5 for the last USGI mag I bought.

Anyway I looked around and saw Cheaper Than Dirt advertising some
"GI type" mags for under $6, and thought how bad could I get hurt for $6? So I ordered three to try them out. I received them the other day and took them to the range. To my utter suririse, they fed and functioned very well. I had one misfeed, the last round in one mag, with about 200 rounds fired through the three mags.

So I came home and ordered another 10 mags, got them in the mail today, and immediately hit the range with a full can of ammo, 1000 rounds, and the Remington and an Ithaca 1911A1 pistol to test the magazines. I fed just over 900 rounds through the 10 mags and did not have one single failure to feed out of the whole bunch in either pistol. I am very pleasantly surprised at the results.

So now I'm wondering, did I just get really lucky, and should I buy a lottery ticket today? Has anyone else tried these cheap magazines, and if so, what was your experience? I'm thinking maybe I shouild buy another 10 but I don't want to press my luck too much. How about it?
 
#49 ·
I like Checkmate mags. They have 3 styles of feed lips to chose from , GI , SWC and Hybrid. I also like their patented 2 skirt followers. They cant nose dive forward while stripping off the rounds. Colt subcontracts them to make their mags and I figure if they are good enough for Colt , they are good enough for me. Nice people to deal with to. I really don't see anything special about CMC or Wilson mags. I think it's more hype than substance.
 
#51 · (Edited)
Chek Mate's Followers

I'm curious about these two followers from Check Mate. Both are indicated with 7 round magazines and while I have both, I for the one with the longer leg in the back but like the skirt in the front on the other one. What do you think? I'm also wondering if the Wolff springs will work with both followers.

CM Follower(also with dimple)


Flat Follower with "dimple"
 
#52 ·
My understanding is Wolff does not have a spring for the Patented CheckMate Follower (CMF). You could call Wolff and CheckMate to verify though.

The CMF is basically the Devel follower with a skirt in the front. I think it is an improvement over the Devel follower. It probably has a stronger slide stop engagement area than the front leg of the traditional GI follower. I've never had the front leg break on any of my GI followers, but I've seen pictures of it.
 
#53 ·
Whenever I read a thread that deals with mags I think of ads for laundry detergent. New improved redesigned green eco mags are the best -IF they work in your gun. Most reliable manufacturers of guns, e.g. Wilson, Brown, Baer, Colt, etc., really want you to have a satisfactory experience with their product - so why not just use what they recommend - unless a problem arises. Don't fix it till it's broke. You don't need 4 of every makers mag to 'survive'. Happy shooting!!!
 
#57 ·
No troubles with Tripps. If you're happy with their design offerings I don't see how you can go wrong, as you can easily burn up any savings on ammo spent testing other mags. I just use my Tripps in whatever I shoot, replace springs at reasonable intervals, watch for wear & tear, and I don't have mag related issues.

I appreciate the desire for 8-shot flush mounts and such, but I'd rather have 7 I'm confident in. Just as my Dad might have preferred the 6 in his revolver. Whatever you choose, just make absolutely sure its earned "your" confidence.
 
#59 ·
Wilson Combats
Novaks
&
Kimber Kim-Pro Tac Mags

Those brands get my vote. I have used all three brands and they are of supurbe quality in my book, never had an issue with any of them. Very well made products.

Other then factory mags that have come with my previous 1911s, the factory SIG mags look OK. I have tried Chip McCormick mags, didnt have any problems with them, but dont like them that much.
 
#60 ·
jblackfish,
Tripps and Wilson ETM's. Both have worked fine in my STI Trojan in IDPA, the Wilson mags took longer to break in.
 
#62 ·
The only magazines that work in my Les Baer 45ACP is a Wolff 8 round . Others do not have a strong enough spring to push the barrel stop up and lock the slide back. I bought some Heavy Wolff springs to replace the ones that came with the L.B. one of the magazine had a plastic follower in it and the heavy spring pushed the plastic follower right through the top of the magazines. The other magazine had a Matalform follower in it and I was abke get that one to work. I was surprised that they shipped a pistol with different magazines and they did not work at all. No quality control as far as L can see.
My Sig c3 worked perfect out of the box. Same with the Kimber 1911. It makes you wonder. When I called and and asked about it they said that the slide stop needed to have work done on it. I did not want to be without the pistol for the time they quoted 10 to 15 weeks. So the Wolff magazine was the best fix.
They work every time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top