1911 Magazine - Chip McCormick v Wilson 47?

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Anchorite

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I’ve always had success with Chip McCormick. They seem to run in all my 1911s - DW, Colt, Les Baer, Para.....what’s the consensus between the two? Should I consider switching? Appreciate your thoughts and comments.
 
I run Wilson’s. No functional problems at all.

I think you can get Chip McCormick’s for a LOT less money than Wilson’s. If they run in your guns, no reason to switch.

Rabid
 
If the McCormick's work well for you, keep using them. I *think* I like the standard 7-round Wilson 47s best, but I only have one in my collection of 1911 magazines currently. I've also had great luck with a Colt-marked 7-round magazine and a MecGar 7-round magazine. Out of 6 different McCormick Power Plus 8-round magazines, I had to deadline 1 for intermittent failures to lock the slide open, and I still have to identify which of the remaining ones gives me an occasional follower jump over the slide stop.

I will say don't bother with the Wilson 47D. It's possibly the most over-rated 8-round 1911 magazine in existence. The springs wear fast and then the feeding issues start. I've actually handled a Novak's customized Colt that sat in a pistol rug with an empty 47D in it for years, and the magazine spring had lost tension and wouldn't activate the slide stop. And that's without a stack of cartridges putting pressure on the spring...
 
I’ve always had success with Chip McCormick. They seem to run in all my 1911s - DW, Colt, Les Baer, Para.....what’s the consensus between the two? Should I consider switching? Appreciate your thoughts and comments.
A trivia note - Chip McCormick retired and sold his business to Wilson Combat, so Wilson owns both brands.

I'm a Wilson fan myself, but in the Wilson line-up, the 47D is probably their worst mag. However, I'll admit saying this, it's like saying the 10th man on the US Men's Olympic Basketball team is the worst player on their team, but he's still better than most of the rest of the players on the planet.

While my personal favorite is the Wilson full size, 7 round, 47, if I were picking between the McCormick PowerMag and the 47D, I'd pick the PowerMag. If I wanted 8 rounds in a Wilson mag, I'd choose something from the ETM line-up.

I'm content with 7 rounders as I find them easier to seat with a closed slide.
 
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A trivia note - Chip McCormick retired and sold his business to Wilson Combat, so Wilson owns both brands.

I'm a Wilson fan myself, but in the Wilson line-up, the 47D is probably their worst mag. However, I'll admit saying this, it's like saying the 10th man on the US Men's Olympic Basketball team is the worst player on their team, but he's still better than most of the rest of the players on the planet.

While my personal favorite is the Wilson full size, 7 round, 47, if I were picking between the McCormick PowerMag and the 47D, I'd pick the PowerMag. If I wanted 8 rounds in a Wilson mag, I'd choose something from the ETM line-up.

I'm content with 7 rounders as I find them easier to seat with a closed slide.
The above is pretty much what I was going to write. I've always liked the McCormick mags since the days of their predecessors, the Devel Magazines (original comercial 8-rd 1911 mag)

I've always chosen the McCormick PowerMag over the Wilson 47D purely on function. The Wilson ETM is a huge improvement, very much on par with the PowerMag.

In a 7-rd mag, my personal preference is the Metaform.
 
I’ll be that guy......

I highly recommend Tripp Cobra Mags. These magazines alone changed my opinion of 1911s from...”utterly unreliable” to “totally reliable”. I was ready to sell my DW VBOB until I changed to Tripp and then proceeded to switch all of my other magazine guts (except the Wilsons that came with my Wilsons) to Tripp spring kits. The Wilsons that have arrived with my guns have been great, no question....they remain my only non-converted magazines.
 
Since nobody has mentioned them yet, McCormick has a new (out for a couple of years) offering, the Railed PowerMag (RPM).

This is an 8 round mag, with longer mag tube body, longer than the original PowerMag, and like those on the Wilson ETM and Tripp CobraMag 8 rounders. The follower has a longer rear leg and is less likely to tip out of the tube than the original PowerMag, similar to the feature on the PowerMag Plus, and has folded over feed lips that theoretically are stronger than traditional feed lip designs. Of course the price is now similar to the Wilson ETM and the Tripp CobraMag.

McCormick RPM https://www.cmcproducts.com/Railed-Power-Mag-RPM_c_52.html

As I often recommend in any - "what 1911 mag should I get" thread - buy one example of a recommended mag and make sure it works in your gun before you buy more. It's not a lot of fun to buy a dozen of some super-duper mag loved by everybody on the internet only to find your 1911 doesn't love them.
 
my experience. each gun is a bit different as everyone knows. some mags work great in mine not in yours, etc and vice versa. both solid mag makers, but you'll find some folks who can't get them to work in their gun.

I've had good luck with both brands and now they are both owned by Wilson. so little risk, but. .... if you have mag brand that works for ya why switch? unless ya just want to do it.

just make sure ya have the various ammo youll use and take the time to test it out on your gun(s).
 
In my full size 1911 pistols I've found very few magazines that don't work. I've got around 75 .45 ACP 1911 mags. I've got all the major players covered and some no-name mags. 7 round, 8 round, and 10 round.

As long as the feed lips aren't bent and the spring is good they all work.
 
I like my Chip PowerMags, I cleared out everything else and that's all I run. Zero issues across 4 different pistols.
 
I run both, but for my carry 1911s I go with Wilson 47Ds. I've never had an issue with either CMC or Wilson - but I prefer the Wilson 47D.

I have had issues with the Wilson ETM magazine in my Colt and Springfield 1911s - things get fussy with that magazine.
 
Remain with what works. If you want to experiment, there are many to spend $ on. ;)

I have a few various 47's bought over the years. I don't find them to perform differently than others of a lesser price point. Read that as my Springfield and Sig are not picky. They feed the 230gr RN, HST, and other JHP fine, the Springer does not like the 200gr FN regardless of magazine, it hangs on the ramp.
 
For 230 grain RN bullets, I find about any magazine works fine. In general, that is what I shoot most in my 45 ACP M1911's.

When venturing off to different bullet styles or cartridges, things get a bit different.

I've found a series of magazines that work well with my 38/45 Clerke guns and a different set with my 185-200 gr SWC rounds for my Gold Cup. The difference is in the lip configuration and the follower design.

I have McCormick, Willson, Tripp, and Checkmate magazines and pleased with all of them. Colt and USGI magazines work fine with the 230 RN bullets.
 
I have a Kimber Super Carry Pro HD (or some such word salad - commander length steel frame) that is a bit picky with mags. The Chip McCormick mags run reliably. The Wilson 47D’s are not 100% in it. They look meaner, but the Chip mags actually have a better track record for my gun.
 
I've used both; McCormick 8 rounders and Wilson 10s for IPSC competition. No problems with either. Changed mag springs around 5000 rounds.
 
One advantage to Wilson is their after-market support for things like springs, followers, and base pads seems to be a little better than for McCormick's (at least at the CMC website) since Wilson took over.

It seems as if there used to be a couple of spring options - specifically their conversion spring and follower set (that is still available), but they also used to list a specific replacement spring for the PowerMag (you know "rocket wire") though they could always have been the same spring. I also don't see the ability to buy replacement followers for the PowerMag Plus or the RPM. Of course it's unlikely you'd need one, but it used to be nice to have a ready source for replacement parts. Wilson still offers just about any combination of springs, followers and base pads on their site that you could ever possibly want.
 
Others have hit on both of the major points I was going to bring up
  1. If McCormicks work in your gun, why would you want to change?
  2. If you want to try Wilson, Skip the 47s

As for myself, because McCormicks (base model 8rd Shooting Stars/Classics at that) work so well in my two 1911s I'm hard pressed to pay the extra for the Wilson mags. Frankly mine run so well with CMC's budget line mags that I'm frankly iffy about forking over the extra for the Railed Power Mags. and relatively soon I'm going to buy about 10-15 new mags, because I need to retire my current set from match use and only use them for practice sessions. And I want to replace these blued one with SS.
 
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