The best magazines are the ones that will function reliably and drop free, when empty, for quick reloading. I have found that the only way to determine the best for your gun is to try them. I have an Auto Ordnance 1911 that I've had for about 20 years and bought some extra magazines for it this year. The Wilson Combat 47D magazines were highly recommended so I bought a couple. Both were terribly tight. Neither would drop free and one was very difficult to insert. I returned them. I then ordered a Tripp magazine. It worked great and while not as tight as the Wilsons, it also would not drop free. I kept it for a range magazine. Frustrated, I gave my 1911 to a friend of mine who is a 1911 gunsmith who took it to his shop (thinking maybe something was wrong with it). He found no problem with my pistol. He tried various magazines he had around his shop and determined the Kimber KimPro magazines and McCormick magazines both readily dropped free and he said both were quality magazines. So, I purchased a couple of each brand and have had no issues with them. The KimPro and McCormick Power Mags are the magazines that I have in rotation (I don't like to keep magazines continuously loaded for more than a month at a time) for home defense use. Obviously, there can be great variation in dimension among the various brands. I was particularly disappointed with the Wilson magazines. In all, I tried 3 different Wilson magazines in my pistol. All were tight and would not drop free and one was very difficult to insert. There would appear to be a QC issue with them. Even the cheap magazines that came with the pistol fit and worked better than the Wilsons.
QFT
