Whats the best 1911 single stack mag?

[CrazyIrishman]

I need to get some mags for my 1911 and I'm a little confused as to which offers the best performance and reliability for the money spent. I've seen mags on different auction claiming to be surplus mil-spec mags with numbers stamped into their floorplates along with WWII mags. OTOH, I've heard good and bad about aftermarket mags.

Here are some mags I have been considering. They aren't in any particular order. All mags are blued.

1) Metalform 8rd.
2) Wilson Combat 8rd.
3) Colt factory 8rd.
4) Shooting star 8rd.
5) Mec-Gar 8rd.
6) surplus 1911 (new old stock or exc. cond used)

Any experiences that you've had with the above mags,good or bad , I would like to hear about. If you've had good service from a mag not listed please LMK as wel.


THX

 

[Gunsnrovers]

I've had great success with the Wilson 47D's and the newer Tripp Research Cobra Mag.

I have not been happy with the Shooting Star mags.

Jeff

 

[Rupestris]

Wilson 47D.

 

[Black Snowman]

From similar threads in the past the general conencous seems to be "The ones that work in your gun." Some very excellent brands just don't seem to work right in particular guns and some very inexpensive ones seem to perform like champs in others.

I have Shooting Star 9 rnd mags for my Delta Elite that work great and didn't cost a fortune.

 

[Southern Raider]

I liked the Shooting Stars until I found that their follower design could rotate enough to allow round to nose dive. I retrofitted these with Wilson followers and now feel I have something as good as the Wilsons without the price.

 

[BigG]

The Colts or the US surplus work best, imho.

 

[sig970]

My Wilson Combat 8 rounders work flawlessly in my Kimber

 

[R.H. Lee]

I've been using the Metalform 7 rounders with the humped follower. I get them for $13 at the local gunshop. Flawless.

 

[halvey]

Wilson 47 - the 7 rounders.

 

[nero45acp]

ACT-MAG is my favorite.

www.precisionsights.com/actmag.html



nero

 

[Berg01]

CMC Power Mags, Tripp Cobra Mags, and Wolff 7-rounders

 

[TheDutchman]

I have had the best luck with Mec-Gar 8round mags, i have gone through about all on the list thses seem to work the best

 

[fix]

7 round Wilsons are the most consistent IMO.

 

[Tamara]

I lurve the eight-round Wilsons, however:

If you keep these things loaded with eight rounds, the spring tends to tank in a hurry. (TANSTAAFL)

Unless you are willing to devote yourself to a rigid regimen of spring-changing and whatnot, you're better off with seven-rounders.



Tamara,
Who's about to drag four or five 1911's to the backyard range and vent.

 

[1911Tuner]

Mags

Ummmmm...

Nahhh...Ain't gettin' in this one again.

 

[Dave Sample]

Right On , Tuner! Let's stay out of this one!

 

[CZ52GUY]

Chip McCormick Power Mag's (8-rd).

The official mag' of many CDP division shooters at my club who shoot IDPA. Most of the others are feeding their 1911's with 8-rd Wilson Combat.

Safe shooting,

CZ52'

 

[Tamara]

Who's about to drag four or five 1911's to the backyard range and vent.

Ah, well... Despite all kinds of unapproved beavertails, safeties, sights, skateboard tape, and non-sooper-GI mags (and one gun in a *gasp!* metric caliber! ) they all ran tickety-boo...

(Except old Colt, which got a fresh recoil spring when it was cleaned due to one failure to return to battery on its first shot. I reckon after another two years I might have a little trouble returning to battery, too. I saved the spring; wonder what tension's left on it? 12#?)



Nothin' like draggin' four of 'em out in the back yard, blowin' the carry mag out of each, and then just shootin' up another few mags each just for giggles. Takes all the stress out of being laid-off.

 

[1911Tuner]

Fresh Spring?

Tam said:

Except old Colt, which got a fresh recoil spring when it was cleaned due to one failure to return to battery on its first shot.

Um...Ya might wanna get that pistol tuned up a little there ma'am.
If it's right, it oughta go to battery with a 10-pound spring...but what do I know...right Cap'n?!!

Tuner<------headed for the bunker...

 

[CrazyIrishman]

Thanks for the suggestions and info regarding magazines. Where can I find the Wilson 47D's and the Tripp Research Cobra mags? How do the 47D's differ from other Wilson mags?


THX

 

[Texas Bob]

Cobra mag www.trippresearch.com

 

[moorerwc]

Tuner and Sample please comment

I recently read Tuner's recommendation of the Metalform 7rd. w/Wolff springs and would love to hear him pontificate--As I have also read warnings from the likes of Larry Vickers and Hilton Yam that the welded base plates will pop off at the most inopportune times.

There were a couple of long threads on tacticalforums.com where people with much larger budgets than I have were trying to come up with the best frankenmags--All of the attempts at really good 8rders eventually failed--and the recipe for good 7rds. was Wilson or CMC powermag body (with edge for strength going to CMC), Metalform round or flat 7rd. follower (with nod to round for eliminating slide stop rideover), and Wolff or ISMI springs (nod going to the new ISMI for round followers due to longevity), and the users choice of Wilson or CMC base plates.

My own rather limited experiments have proven to not trust anything 100%. I went with mostly Wilson 7rd. b/c of their excellent reputation. Took me forever to figure out that two of them were causing the malf's in my two 1911's b/c I assumed (yes, I know) that the mags were reliable. My luck has been pretty good with my factory Colt 7rd. and Metalform round follower 7rd. in the limited amount of shooting I've done with them.

-Chad

 

[hnm201]

Metal Form

 

[1911Tuner]

Mags

*sigh* Okay...Okay...Gimme a minute to get my flame suit on.


As we should know by now feeding problems are most likely related to the magazine. It's the first thing to suspect, and the easiest thing to check and eliminate. Do it first...before cutting, grinding, polishing, or tweaking anything. Many guns have been ruined with ramp and throat jobs. Never
saw one damaged by trying a different magazine.

I've probably cured more feeding problems by handing the frustrated
gun owner a good magazine and having him try again. More often than not, the problems were magically cured. This, whether the problem was
noted with Wilson 47s...McCormick Powermags...or cheap gun show
knock-offs. Never assume that because three of your buddies have had
flawless function with Brand X,Y, or Z that they will perform the same way in
YOUR gun. Too many variables involved for a blanket recommendation.

My recipe has boiled down to one of two combinations...A Metalform
7-round magazine with a flat, dimpled follower set at the correct angle and a Wolff 11-pound spring...or a factory Colt magazine with the same criteria.
Note that Metalform supplies Colt, Springfield, and Kimber with many of their proprietary magazines. Not also that about one Metalform in ten
needs to have the follower angle set to correct geometry. Just part of
the nature of mass-produced stamped sheet metal.

Yes, sometimes there's a problem with the welds breaking loose, but that's
a possibility with any welded-base magazine. Welds tend to be more brittle than the rest of the tube, and fatigue affects all steels, given enough use. I can't guarantee that you won't see it happen with a welded
Metalform magazine, but I own over a hundred of them, and have never had a problem with the welds failing...and I use the magazines a lot. Rather than let them hit the ground on every reload, I use a piece of carpet to avoid abusing them whenever possible, but I slam them into the magwell often. Of course, I have a group of magazines assigned to
range use, and another for carry, and I never abuse my carry magazines.
No sense in inviting trouble. The range mags aren't babied, but I do what I can to prolong their useful service lives.

'Bout all I can say...

Luck!

Tuner

 

[Tamara]

1911Tuner,

Never assume that because three of your buddies have had
flawless function with Brand X,Y, or Z that they will perform the same way in
YOUR gun.

That most people no longer want to test something like magazine or feed reliability on their ostensibly defense-oriented handguns is baffling to me. Somebody asks me "What magazines do you like?" and I'll tell them. Someone asks "What magazines should I buy?" and I'll tell them something different. Same thing with "What ammo do you carry?" vs. "What ammo should I buy?" (The answer to both latter questions is: "I dunno, what works well in your gun?" This is the corollary to the old "My gun runs fine with every brand of ammo except XYZ JHPs. What should I do?"
"Don't use XYZ JHPs." )

Um...Ya might wanna get that pistol tuned up a little there ma'am.
If it's right, it oughta go to battery with a 10-pound spring...but what do I know...right Cap'n?!!

Trust, it was the recoil spring. There's light years of difference between "oughta" and "does so reliably, without fail."