Shooting 10mm in .45acp magazines? Yes!

[Brian D.]

Maybe this should be over in General Handguns or Semi Autos, but I wanted Mr. 1911 Tunerman to read this and quickly comment if he thinks I'm flirtin' with disaster or anything...

Due to having a hard time finding magazines for my just-acquired Delta Elite, I got the bright idea to try shooting 10mm's out of my plentiful supply of 8rd. .45 magazines. (BTW they hold 9 rounds of 10mm.) First tried this at home with some hand cycling of the slide at both "full" and not-so-full speeds. Chose a pair of Wilson and one Novak mag for the testing.

Hey, rounds seem to stay put until the right moment. If anything, the top round is held just a smidge higher than in my 10mm mags. Long story short, the hand-cycling works 100%. Now, off to the range for Part Deux.

Ran about four mags-full through each of the three test subjects. Shot using good two hand hold, then switched to some strong/weak hand only firing. No problems encountered.

As time goes by I'm gonna continue this experiment with several more .45acp mags, and will report back with any failures. Btw, anybody else ever tried this? What happened?

1911 Tuner, what do you and the other gundocs here think? Can I stop searching for dedicated 10mm magazines, or am I missing something?

 

[Southern Raider]

I think you'll find that the only difference between a 45 and 10mm mag in most guns is the spacing and possibly shape of the feed lips. If it works, it works, but for defensive purposes I'd want the correct mags.

 

[1911Tuner]

Mags

Hey Brian!

If they work and don't show any sign of push feed/extractor snapover, I'd go ahead and use'em...but I'll also go along with Southern Raider on what he said about the right mags for serious business.

The rounds sit higher because of the slight difference in the width of the feed lips...which does provide a straighter shot at the chamber, but could also lead to the round releasing too early and getting ahead of the extractor,
so keep a check on that.

Have you checked with Metalform?

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I use metalform 10mm mags. They work great and can be bought in bulk. I think I have around 15 or 20 10mm mags.

My one complaint is a bunch of them are 8 rnders. I really wish I had bought more 7's when I did.

Anyway, go to metalform. Les Baer told me that is who makes "his" 10mm mags for my Baer 10mm.

 

[Brian D.]

Yes, Tuner, I looked at Metalform's website. (They give a heckuva price break when you buy 40 or more of the same mags from them, btw.) Truth is, I rarely order goodies over the phone, never by 'Net. Rather buy stuff face-to-face, cash in hand, and nobody local carries merchandise like this. Oh well, I either gotta change my ways or make a road trip.

Meanwhile, anybody else with input on the results of my experiment, chime in please..

 

[Bob R]

Brownells has the Colt mags for the Delta. As a bonus, if you have an FFL (C&R works also) you get a discount on them. They are still a little pricy, but for me they are worth it.

bob

 

[grendelbane]

I have tried this, and, with my Delta Elite, it is not reliable. I tried it with Wilson and Colt and a couple of mystery mags.

If it works for you, great. I like my Colt mags, and the Mec-Gar mags are not bad either.

When I use my .40 S&W barrel, the Mec-Gar .40 mags have worked great, also with the 357 SIG, if loaded short. Loaded to 1.25", only a few bullets are reliable in the 357 barrel.

All these mags look too much alike, especially if they get mixed in with my .38 Super mags and 9mm mag. (Yes, I only own one 9mm mag, imagine that!)

 

[Vitamin G]

my wilson 47d for my Kimber cycles UMC and Federal Hydrashok 10mm... chokes on American Eagle...


Like all 1911's... Check for ammo/mag compatibility!

 

[BigG]

The 10mm factory mags have little grooves that make them smaller ID than the 45 ACP. If they (the 45 ACPs) work, use em!

 

[Brian D.]

Update:

Over the weekend I picked up some 10mm, 9rd. Shooting Star mags for the Delta. They work just fine, guess I'll use those for when CCWing the DE. Also have continued my insane experimentation, with no failures as yet. Along similar lines, today at the range I fired my .38 super Commander using....10mm magazines! And this seems to work flawlessly too, so far at least.

Maybe trying this sort of thing is somewhat pointless, but it's nice to know about "field expedient" substitues that can be used in a pinch.