Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Why does the original 1911 design have only 7 rounds...was asked?

I was asked why 7 round capacity on original 1911 layout?

I once heard because initial designers had concern of wheelgun users transferring to new platform and wanted 1 more round to allow reload without having an empty chamber.

Info search brings no such story. Can it be as simple as only 7 rounds of .45ACP fit properly in the grip size/design?

You just answered your own question.

Which created a market for the 8 round mag.

I can't see any good reason to carry 7 round 1911 magazines when the 8 round versions work quite well. The 8 round Wilson 47D has never failed me.

I have never owned a seven round mag.

Browning designed the 1911 as a complete package which includes the 7 round magazine. Change any one item and you have changed the package. I use 7 round magazines as I try to stay as close to the original design as possible. If others use larger capacity magazines with no problem in the 1911 I say good for them.

The followers were longer in the original 7 round magazines.

Take note:

The transvestite/dumbfugg community endorses 7 round mags.

Thanks, derb.



Travis

Before the 1911, there was the six round revolver.
Browning was only practicing a little one upmanship.

He probably designed the grip to fit "his" hand, and that's the number of rounds it held.

Back in the day, when I made Sergeant, I was issued a well worn 1911A1 and three 7-round magazines.

I was lucky to get through seven rounds without some type of jam, so I suppose seven was plenty.

That is true Dan. Browning did design the 1911 to fit his hand. Browning was a large man with big hands. He also went with a long trigger for the same reason. Hence the reason for the modifications for the 1911A1.

...guess that means me.

My experience with 8 round .45 and 10 round .38 Super magazines has been less than gratifying unless one uses a magazine that is designed for 8 rounds.

When I carry a 1911 I want a baseplate that is flat to the bottom of the gun with no bumberpad sticking down as originally designed. No need for a pad as the magazine is already in the gun and any extension just adds to the printing of the butt area. Rubber pads can also drag and catch on clothing....just no need for them.

That said when using an original design flat bottom magazine body one has to use a modified follower/spring to get the extra round into the magazine body, 8 for a .45 and 10 for a Super. When doing so there is the ZERO compression space left and the last round has to be shoved in.

If one wants to top off the mag to take advantage of the extra round the magazine when one puts the mag back in, it has to quite forcefully driven home...why, because there is no compression as originally designed. The top round on the magazine is now exerting excessive pressure on the underside of the slide and on the magazine release. This excessive drag can cause a first round malfunction because the original design was made to have the top round in contact with the slide compressed down to the top of the feed lips of the magazine. Then as the slide comes back the top round pops up and can then be stripped off the mag lips as the slide goes forward.

Also try and run and do a slide forward reload with a 1911 magazine that has zero compression left in the magazine and usually it won't seat in place and you'll get one round off and then the unseated magazine falls out of the gun or is sitting there waiting for a tap/rack.

Top quality properly designed 8 round mags all have extended baseplates that allow for the proper amount of compression of the top round when seated in the gun. For me this is fine for backup mags but as stated I am willing to sacrifice one round in the mag to have a gun with less print....YMMV.

Bob

The eight round mag requires a follower absent a dimple. The dimple is necessary to prevent the last round from slipping forward under recoil and being pushed into chamber ahead of the extractor. When that happens, the extractor is forced to snap over the cartridge rim, which it's not designed to do, as it places undue stress on the extractor hook. This is the same reason we are advised never to load a round directly into the chamber, but only to feed from the magazine. When you use an eight round magazine, you are causing this to happen, in essence, on the last round of every magazine, absent a very new mag spring.

PS The above only applies to 1911s with internal extractors. Auto pistols with external extracors can have their chambers loaded directly by hand, and thus it matters not the style of follower, as snapping the extractor over the rim is a non-issue.