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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?
 
#104 ·
Howdy All,

For the first 8-round flush-fit mag in the gun, with one in the chamber and 7 in the mag, does that tend to be reliable?


The premise is a flush-fit mag in the gun, and then extended tube 8-rounders for any back-up mags.

Peace
The theoretical problem with flush fit 8 rounders is the follower and the spring are both compromises in order to get 8 into a tube designed for 7. Downloading by one round doesn't change the fact you have a less than optimal spring or follower in the tube. However, many use flush fit 8 rounders with great success.
 
#110 ·
There was a study/article titled something along the lines of "how i did it" where it explained the Wilson 47D mags bypassed part or all of the 1911's "controlled feed" process. IIRC, it was said the 47D's will make some less than good or flawed 1911's run well.
I read that article years ago, and several times since. The "loss of controlled feed" claim is an interesting one. What is the peculiar trait of Wilson 47D's that causes that loss of controlled feed? The top rated 1911 mags on any forum are typically Wilson, McCormick, or Tripp. All have the same wadcutter feed lips and all basically release the round at the same point, yet only Wilson mags display a "loss of controlled feed"? Peculiar, don't you think?

There is a lot of magazine "theory" out there. You can spend a lot of time and money chasing the minutia of magazine design. Do I think John Browning's design of a 7 round mag, with the standard GI follower, and tapered feed lips, feed 230 gr ball ammo best? Yes. Is it possible other designs also will work with your pistol, and possibly better, with more modern bullet designs? Yes.

Find a magazine design that makes sense to you, make sure it works with your pistol, and buy more of them.
 
#111 ·
controlled feed

I read that article years ago, and several times since. The "loss of controlled feed" claim is an interesting one. What is the peculiar trait of Wilson 47D's that causes that loss of controlled feed? The top rated 1911 mags on any forum are typically Wilson, McCormick, or Tripp. All have the same wadcutter feed lips and all basically release the round at the same point, yet only Wilson mags display a "loss of controlled feed"? Peculiar, don't you think?
I went back to look that article over again and saw/read that the Wilson 47D mag holds the round higher relative to the chamber than the others. The result is the bullet doesn't touch or barely touches the feed ramp that is part of the frame/receiver. At the end of the follower, the round is chucked into the chamber touching just the barrel ramp (not part of the frame/receiver). Therefore, the feed ramp part of the "controlled feed" is bypassed.

The above is good for "out of spec" 1911's but the design was not meant to work that way and the author wonders about the 47D's reliability if the gun is fired at various angles. Sideways, upside down. I guess incline, decline as well.
 
#112 · (Edited)
The point I was making is all the top rated mags are basically the same as Wilson 47D's as far as their release point. The reason for the early release is the wadcutter feed lips, and not anything else related to Wilson mags. Nearly all of the top mags use wadcutter feed lips. All Chip McCormick mags, all Tripp Research mags, Wilson ETM's, and any other mag using wadcutter feed lips, all use the same basic release point as Wilson 47D mags. The article didn't include McCormick, or Tripp mags in the study and I'm sure the writer would have made the same claim against those mags if they had been included. The number of folks that use Wilson, McCormick, and Tripp mags is huge. If these mags didn't work, we'd probably hear about it on the forum.

The reason for wadcutter feed lips is to allow shorter rounds to feed better. Nearly any round with a semi-wadcutter or hollow point bullet will be shorter than a 230gr ball round. If all you shoot are 230gr ball ammo, then you may be better off with the original design tapered feed lip mags. If you are primarily shooting semi-wadcutter ammo, or just about any of the top defensive rounds, maybe you'd be better served by a mag with wadcutter feed lips.
 
#114 ·
I don't have time to post a pic, but the Tripp's release point is MUCH later than the Wilson's. It's more in line with the controlled feed principle, but they both work well in my guns so it isn't all that important to me. Just didn't want anyone to be misled...
 
#113 ·
To continue...

Sure, there are complaints you find about Wilson 47D's on the forums. Most revolve around spring strength or the polymer follower wearing out.

You'll find complaints about McCormick's follower's tipping out of the tube.

I'm not that familiar with Tripp mags to identify what problems folks complain about them, but I'm sure there are some.

What you don't ever hear (outside of that one article) is somebody complaining about the early release of the rounds due to wadcutter feed lips. Think of all the people that take these well respected mags, with their early release wadcutter feed lips, to any of a number of training schools such as Thunder Ranch, or Gunsite, or all the law enforcement or military folks that use these mags. They all shoot their guns at odd angles. If these mags didn't work, we'd here about it.
 
#153 ·
I don't have time to post a pic, but the Tripp's release point is MUCH later than the Wilson's. It's more in line with the controlled feed principle, but they both work well in my guns so it isn't all that important to me. Just didn't want anyone to be misled...
Anyone know if the McCormick mags bypass the "controlled feed" of the 1911 design, supposedly like the Wilson 47D does?
From what I've read, McCormick and Wilson 47D have identical feed lips. So they should theoretically feed the same.
 
#117 ·
Update on my Springfield Armory mags.

I received two Mags with my pre-owned SA Pistol. One feeds everything fine, the other not-so-much. Noticed that the two mags are not quite identical.

So, I ordered two new SA mags. The new SA mags look identical to the old mag that works. So I have 3 mags that work, and three that are iffy. The iffy ones are in the drawer for parts, or just to look cool if I want to show off that I have a bunch of mags.

Major primary difference noted. At mouth of the mag, the two bent 'curls/lips' that hold the rounds in the mag are properly and fully formed. My other mags don't have fully formed curls/lips like the SA ones.

So, $16/ea plus shipping from MidwayUSA and I have Mags that feed FMJs, HPs, and my lead-ball reloads. (I don't use wadcutters.)

I don't require Match-grade mags. The SA mags work great in my SA.
 
#119 ·
I like the Wilson 47D but my Sig Scorpion doesnt, its kinda finicky! The rest of my 1911s just love them.
 
#123 ·
I have a new R1 and I saw the post about Chip McCormick mags. Does anyone with the R1 have a preference about mags with or without the base pad? Has anyone used the 10 round mag with the extension?
It's been raining here all day and have not fired a shot yet! Getting some good holster (Bianchi Serpent) break-in time though.
Thanks,
Corey823
 
#124 ·
Wilson and Chip Mc 8rd mags work great with my RIA GI.

I had bought the Chip mag at the shop where I purchased my gun originally, just to have something to replace the stock mag with. When I went about purchasing 2 more mags I really wanted Wilsons because I had used them with a friends 1911s in the past. I contemplated getting the 10rd mags for days and asked me friend about using them on duty, the pro's and con's in his experience. In a nutshell the Wilson 10rd mags are probably the best 10rd mags out there, but for exposed carry (not sure about concealed) on a duty belt with a lot of other things going on the belt, his main complaint was that the extended mag snagged on a lot of things during certain body movement and around certain objects. So alas I carry 8rd mags. :grumble:
 
#129 ·
Springfield Armory Loaded 1911. Over 500 rounds (young gun I know!) with stock factory 7 round mags (2). 3 more stock factory 7 rounds mags on the way courtesy of the Loaded Coupon at $12 each. They will serve their purpose. If not, no biggie for me. Just a casual range/target kind of guy, but I expect excellent results from Springfield.
 
#130 ·
Well, first time at the range with the new mags. The follower seems to stick a little bit on the front lip of the magazine when I'm inserting the first round. Kind of a pain to keep having to push the follower back. Will have to email Springfield and see if I can send them back.
 
#131 ·
CMC Powermags out of an RIA GI and then a Tactical. Flawless mags, never a failure after thousands of rounds.

Not something I can say for the stock ACT mags or the Kim-Pro Tac mags i bought at Gander MTN years back...the CMC mags replaced the Kimber ones and it has been smooth sailing ever since.
 
#134 ·
Magazine follower kits

Tripp also sells a kit to replace the magazine spring and follower with Tripp components. I believe that is a serious improvement to magazine reliability. One might give particular consideration to testing your favorite load with each magazine in your favorite 1911. The 185 grain JHP from brand X might not feed as reliably as the 230 FMJ from brand Y. (Yet more excuses to go to the range!:).
 
#135 ·
8 round mag.

I have an American Tactical FX45 military that came with an ACT mag. Ball ammo works great with it but jhp is ftf almost every round. I bought a Kimber mag and haven't had any issuses at all except my ammo keeps vanishing. :D
 
#136 ·
Hybrid feed-lips for ball

For 8 round mags, Checkmate hybrid feed-lip with extended tube. For 7 round mags same thing w/o extended tube. The 8 round non-extended tube version has not worked for me, although I have a Para.

The new-ish Mec-Gars with the anti-friction coating got some good reviews, though the last round using ball has FTFeed too many times in my Para.

I think the Checkmate hybrid ones are good to try if you shoot ball. Wilson also has hybrid lipped 7 round flush-fit mags as well.

Alternatively, Checkmate has 7 rounders with fully tapered GI feed lips. That profile is supposedly optimum for ball.
 
#137 ·
Check-Mate and Metalform standard 7 round mags have always worked for me in any of my pistols. I also have a Mec-Gar 7 rounder with a chrome follower that has been reliable but I haven't used it in enough different pistols to deem it rock solid reliable in any gun yet.
 
#138 ·
In 1911s with a beveled inner frontstrap, I'll use Check-Mate welded baseplate magazines, either 8 rd or 7 rd hybrid feedlip, dimpled metal followers; the welded baseplate prevents magazine over-insertion or from the frontstrap chiseling its way behind the the basepad of an extended tube magazine. My initiall administratvely-loaded/carry magazine will be without basepad; subsequent reload magazines will have Check-Mate's low profile screw-on polymer basepads for a more secure reload under stress.

On 1911s with a "normal" frontstrap with a bottom ledge, I'll use a Check-Mate welded baseplate, hybrid feedlip, dimpled metal follower, 7 or 8 round magazines, or Check-Mate's 8 rd extended tube magazines, with hybrid feedlips dimpled/skirted metal followers (or, alternatively, Check-Mate produced CerTac P3LLC's 8 rd extended tube magazines, with semi-wadcutter feedlips, skirted metal followers

Best, Jon
 
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