Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 1911 mags

I don't want to hijack this thread, only approach the question from a different angle.

Objectively, no fan boy crap, what mags wouldn't you use. Again, give a solid reason, not because of looks or because "everyone knows Tripp is the best."

I won't use any 1911 magazine that doesn't have the dimple on the follower. It serves an invaluable function that many don't realize. Metalform is about the only high end 1911 mag maker nowadays that still offers them with said followers, which is why I only buy Metalform mags for my 1911s. I have them from other makers, too, but they were bought decades ago, before I realized this about the dimple. I wouldn't use those apart from an emergency.

10 round mecgar. Never could make a pair I bought run right.

actually metalform makes the mags that often are sold under other brand names, like some mentioned on here.

i've got an accumulation from a lot of different manufacturers. The ones i haven't ever unwrapped, still in the brown wrappers, are the government 1911 mags i got from CMP. They went with the military pistols i have collected.

I like Wilson but am going to try Tripp next to see what all the hype is!

Checkmate hybrids.

Why? High quality, great price, consistent performance and build, long life. Translation? >>>> “ high value product.”

Feeds swc or ball loads slick in all my 1911 pistols. (Springfield Armory Milspec and Range Officer, and Springfield Armory 1911 wadgun ( based on Milspec setup)). NEVER had an issue with Checkmate 1911 mags, with hybrid lips.

None better than Tripp Research.

Sold all my Chip's due to a few issuess. Underwhelmed by the Wilson's I own. Have 23+? Metalforms.

I'm stocked up on Metalforms, too.

Hawkeye, what's the deal with the dimple? Don't remember hearing that before. Thanks.

John Browning put it there for a reason. It's so that, even if the mag spring has gotten weak, the last round won't slip forward enough to prevent the extractor hook from gripping the rim before the round is stripped from the magazine and into the chamber. Absent the dimple, this may happen, and the extractor hook will be forced to snap over the rim as the action locks closed, which will wear it out, and eventually cause breakage or "un-tuning" for want of a better word. Snapping over the rim, for internal extractors, is stress it's not designed for on a regular basis.

Of course, if your 1911 has an external extractor, it's a non-issue, and you don't need a dimpled magazine follower.

I've never been a true high-volume shooter, but I for few years averaged about 5,000 rounds per year through 1911's. I experimented with various mags, because I wanted "the best." I tried a bunch of different brands of mags--Kimber, Wilson, Chip Mc, Tripp, Metalform, Mec Gar and another that I can't recall right now.

In a discussion like this, one of the problems that we are up against, collectively, is that we likely all have different generations of magazines from the same manufacturer. That makes it difficult to compare success and failure rates. Manufacturers don't announce when they are changing something on their mags. So if they go with a different spring, and that spring causes problems in the long run that didn't show up in testing, they change it again. So version 1.0 might have been fine, version 2.0 a bust, and version 3.0 a huge improvement over 2.0. That leaves all of us to argue about how good that mag is/isn't when we don't have the same mag even though they are the same model. Couple that with the fact that those 3 versions might work better in some model guns and worse in others. Getting a consistent and accurate assessment of the quality of the mag is difficult--especially when their are multiple models of magazines from a dozen manufacturers out there and a plethora of different 1911 guns.

Another problem is the "tweaking" that people do to their mags to "improve" them. These guys are creating sub-versions of all the mags that already exist and then broadcasting how good or bad a particular mag is after it's been altered. The problem compounds even further when those altered mags change hands and the buyer doesn't know they aren't original. So the buyer thinks that Brand X is awesome and is sorely disappointed when he buys 6 more that don't run as well.

In my now outdated experience, I found 2 magazines that were 100% consistent for me: Tripp Research 8 rounders and Kimber's KimPro Tac Mags. I know it's cool to hate on Kimber, especially their mags, but I tried two that worked great. I bought another 5 or 6 from Botach for $20 ea, shipped. They came with two different size pads, which was cool, but more importantly, all the mags functioned 100%. Same with the Tripps.

Magazines are not crazy expensive. Nobody likes to spend money on them, but we can all afford to buy any mags we want. The point is: Since we can afford whatever it takes, we all want mags that work and will go buy what works. For me, I have only Tripps and those Kimber mags. When I say they have performed with 100% reliability, I mean 100%.

I have had feeding issues with 2 different Wilsons. I had to change followers on the Chip Mc's to get them to feed reliably. Metalforms were actually pretty good--I can't recall why I parted ways with them--not enough cool factor for a guy just starting out with handguns? Who knows.

So to (finally) answer the question at the top of my post, is there any brand I WON'T use? No. I now assess mags like I assess men--one at a time. There is not a reliable way to evaluate an entire brand. My advice is this: Go buy some mags, any mags. If they work keep them; if they don't work, sell them. Eventually you'll have a collection of mags that work 100% in your gun(s). I know that answer is not a magic bullet, so to speak, but I think it's an accurate answer without any "fanboy crap."

Good luck to us all!

Most 'modern' pistols function similarly to a fungo bat. The cartridge is popped into the air and wacked into the chamber by the breech face. Without sufficient slide velocity or orientation, the cartridge will fall to the floor. Even under normal conditions the chunk-chunk-chunk operation feels like an engine that's missing on a cylinder or two.

A critical design element of the 1911 is controlled feed - as the cartridge is handed off from the magazine to the chamber it is always supported by at least two points. This control is the foundation of the smooth action and reliability of a properly set-up 1911. The pistol will chamber a round at any speed or orientation and runs like an oiled gear. The length (to the ogive) of the cartridge and the release timing of magazine must be synchronized for optimum controlled feed. Manufacturers have thoroughly dicked with magazine release timing in an attempt ensure reliability with evolving bullet designs (truncated, wadcutter, short hollowpoint, etc.).

I won’t settle for anything less than controlled feed in a 1911, so any magazine that bypasses it in a needless stab at reliability doesn’t make the cut. Wilson 47D and others, you’re out. I don’t mind plastic followers, but I want metal in contact with the slide stop. Wilson 47D, strike four.

I won’t use magazines that lack skirted followers or otherwise allow the pointed follower tip to mash into the frame ramp. Chip McCormick (old style) and others, you’re out.

The overall quality of the magazine has to pass the ‘heft test’ - you pick it up, you know.

The magazine has to demonstrate complete reliability, provide controlled feed, skirted follower, metal in contact with the slide stop, and pass the heft test: Tripp Research.

All of the above, except a USGI/tapered lips magazine for hardball: Metalform.

I'm dense sometimes. So, that was an endorsement of Tripp?
And Metal for for hardball

Yes, sir.

I"ve never used that didn't work just fine. Cheap to expenseive, All the same for me.

Hmm. My SA 1911-A1 came with CMC "Shooting Star" mags. These have worked well[7 round]. I got a couple of mags that have stamped on the bottom COLT 45 AUTO. These work sometimes. They hang up, as in FTE, on the last round sometimes. Can't depend on these, other than fartin' around in the desert. So, went back and bought three factory SA 7 round mags. I looked at the Metalform ones; they seem identical to the SA ones. No dimple. Certain ones perhaps? The Colt ones are in a drawer now.

Yeah, you have to order the Metalforms with the dimple. They also have a follower that makes a seven round mag into an eight rounder, which has a rounded follower absent the dimple.

Ah, good to know. Thanks Hawkeye.