[denfoote]

Ok, now that I'm gunna go down the 1911 highway, I have to ask. What is the deal with these two?? What is wrong with McCormick mags?? Why are Wilson's so good, other than they cost $30/mag??? You would think that mags for a durn near century old gun would pretty much be the same!! :rolleyes:
The 1911 that I'm buying has one Mec-Gar mag in the well. Anything wrong with those?? Mec-Gar makes mags for my P99 and BHP, and they function flawlessly!!! :cool: When I pick this puppy up, which may be as soon as this weekend, I'm gunna have to buy some mags and I don't want to buy duds!! :scrutiny:

[Still Learning]

I've never had a problem with a Wilson magazine. I have had one McCormick that wasn't 100 percent reliable. Personally, I spend the extra bucks on the Wilsons.

Poor magazines are the primary cause of 1911 failures, in my experience.

[BigG]

If you can pick up a government issue mag for the 1911A1 you should not have any problem. About $7-10 a shot.

Colt marked mags are my top choice. Many people swear by the Wilson/Rogers mags though as you have read. I don't like the large plastic bumper pad that comes on the mags du jour.

[Sean Smith]

I'd say spring for the Wilson mags myself, though the CMC PowerMag-8's are supposedly very good too.

[10-Ring]

I haven't had any problems w/ any of the Wilson mags I've owned, borrowed, or used (belonged to friends). I'm sure you'll probably find one or two disgruntled customers, but for the most part, these are the finest 1911 mags available.

[John Forsyth]

Let me muddy the water. I have at present four 1911's. Two Kimbers, one Colt and one Caspian. In my box of magazines, I have CMC Shooting Stars, CMC Power Mags, WC 47D's, and Metalforms. All the mags work in all the pistols.

Now I am not saying do not buy Wilson's, they are excellent mags. The Power Mags are good mags, and for the money so are the Shooting Stars.

[TheFrontRange]

I have both 7- and 8-round Wilson mags that I've been using for over a year and have had no problems with them at all. Like Still Learning posted, mags are probably the biggest source of 1911 troubles, so I don't mind springing for the Wilsons, either.

A few years back I had an assortment of mags for a Springfield Mil-Spec, one of them being a McCormick. It, too, gave me no problems, but I've been sticking with Wilsons lately.

[Matthew_Q]

I've used CMC Shooting Star 8 round mags for a year or so now. Shot hundreds of rounds without a single problem. I highly recommend them, because they can usually be had for $12-15. Get two for the price of one Wilson.

I'm not doggin Wilson, as I know they are excellent magazines, but for what they do, I'd rather spend half the money and get the same result. Call it thrift I guess!


(not to mention CMC is about 5 miles from where my parents live... I need to call them and see if I can place an order, and just come down there and pick 'em up!)

M@

[rblack]

I have all the above mentioned mags and have not had any trouble with any in all my 1911's. Just shoot enough thru to make sure it is reliable.............

[El Tejon]

den, a few years ago I purchased a dozen McCormick mags for the academic year. They wore out after a year. I replaced the springs and followers with Wolff springs and Pachie followers and gave them to my brother for his birthday.

I have used Metalform (7 rounders) as skul mags for several years. They have held up very well.

I use Les Baers as carry mags. I will eventually use only Les Baers (7 rounders).

[Pendragon]

My Colt would not run right with Colt mags. Wilsons made a huge difference and I was pretty happy with them.

My Valtro came with 2 Mec-Gar mags and they have been flawless. I think some guns are just finicky and some arent.

[Navy joe]

Occasionally with the Chips or the SS mags you will see a failure to slide lock or some goofy last round feed issue. I'm down to only Wilsons now, 8 and 10rds. I prefer the thin steel basepad as I've had a plastic one break. With the 8s you need a high basepad like the aluminum one Wilson makes if you use a magwell. I used one 10 rd chip a lot, it was good, glad it's gone. Seen several of them over-inserted due to the plastic base moving or wearing. The Wilson 10s absolutely will not do that. If you get a 10 rd mag jammed in too far it is an absolute bear to clear unless you have the grip strength of a bear.

Even when shooting a Glock I carry Wilson mags to ease the suffering of 1911 shooters around me trying to make do with less.

[45R]

I've got 3 CMC Shooting Star 8 round mags and 1 Wilson 10rder for my 1911. They have all been reliable in my Kimber 1911. The only mag that didnt function properly was the mag that came with my 1911. Go figure!

All in all I think your in good hands with either magazine.

[Monkeyleg]

My Kimber had feeding problems with the factory mags (whose doesn't?). I tried a Colt mag, which is basically the same design, and had the same problems. The MecGar mags looked like they would solve the problem of the follower moving forward, but none of the dealers here stock them.

The Wilson's have a similar design as the MecGars (follower can't move forward), and I haven't had a problem with any that I've purchased. Plus, cleaning them is a heck of a lot easier with the removeable floorplate.

[mparris71]

I hear Wolff is starting to make 1911 mags I bet they will give wilson a run for there money

[longeyes]

I have two 1911s, a Colt Sistema and a Kimber Custom II. I have some G.I. mags, a slew of Wilson 47 and 47Ds, two McCormick PowerMags, and a Wolff. The Wilsons and Wolff have worked flawlessly in both guns. So, interestingly, have the G.I. mags in the Sistema; I haven't tried those in the Kimber. The PowerMags, which I got just recently, induce jams in the Sistema but work fine in the Kimber (anyone know why?). My advice is, go Wilson. There's a good reason they're so popular.

[railroader]

I use mainly mecgars in my kimber and they work great. I also have a couple of wilson 8 rounders that work great too. If you are going to by a few mags cdnn has good deals. I think they have megar 8 rounders right now for $9. Mark

[fgr39]

I have two 1911's a colt and a kimber, the only mag related problem I have had was with the original kimber mag and that was only in the kimber (also have CMC, mec-gar, colt, and generic mags) I took it home pulled it apart cleaned it and went back to the range, no problems since. I think a lot of people just dont take the time to clean and inspect mags prior to use and then blame the mag. prime example, I've seen people pull a rusty mag out that has been loaded for years and then call the pistol/mag junk when it won't feed the last round.

[Soap]

Just as a side note, I did some research on the Metalforms that El Tejon mentioned. Apparently Metalform makes a low priced (like $8) line and a higher end line (around $20 IIRC). I believe El T's mags are of the more expensive variation. A Wilson 47D runs about $28 so you would save some cash using Metalforms for practice mags.

[yankytrash]

I've got a good handful of both Wilson 47D 8rd and Chip Shooting Star 8rd that I run through my pair of fairly stock Norincos and a Caspian franken1911 I built with a Para-ramped barrel.

Everyone always tried talking me out of the Shooting Stars, even though they fed fine. When I first started using the Wilsons, I really loved them. They were smooth, dropped freer than any mag I had, and didn't seem to mind if they were dirty or not.

I still use the Shooting Stars regularly though. One thing I've found in my tinkering is that the Shooting Stars don't like you messing with a fast slide - whether it be hot loads (880fps+) or stronger (17.5# +) recoil springs. The slide stop catch on the Chippy follower doesn't have the oopspa to snatch a million-mile'n hour slide. The Wilson follower will catch it every time regardless of slide speed.

I say go for the Chippy's. They have them Power Mags now, they're supposed to be the rat's pituty. I only have one, but it's that 10rd Navyjoe just talked about and I really have no use for 10's. I just don't use it enough to say much about it.

Just don't go messing with the perfection of the 1911's internals and you'll be a happy camper.

[2xTap]

Chip McCormick 8rnd. and 10rnd. PowerMags are my choice. As carry mags, that's all I use. They've worked flawlessly in my 3 Colts, 2 Springers, and my Kimber.

2xTap

[Matthew_Q]

Yankytrash,

That's odd about the shooting stars you have. I have four of the 8 rounders, and ran a 22lb spring with a Sprinco reducer in my SA 1911A1 Loaded, and they fed fine, and stopped the slide normally.

I took the sprinco out, as it made reloads (releasing the slide stop) more difficult, and went to a 20lb spring. Haven't shot any yet. Also feeding my Thompson has made me load a little heavier... we'll see how those mags run.

I do think I will get a few Wilsons just for competition and carry/defense. They seem to have the absolute best reputation wherever you go.

I do plan on getting more Shooting Stars, and maybe some of Chip's Power mags... and would love to try a few Wolff mags, and would love it if they did an 8 rounder, too!

One of the nice things about 1911s.... plenty of magazines to choose from!!

M@

[rick458]

www.natchezss.com has the wilson 47Ds for about $24.00, I have 6 47Ds and will get 3 more soon(3 for each 1911) I have tried Shooting stars with mixed results my Bud has some pachmayer's that have choked on him. the colt mags have choked, the kimber mag did OK but I run wilsons for concistancy

[sm]

Mags need to be checked in individual guns for reliabilty.

Dunno how many 1911 mags I have, pretty much evenly distributed between Wilson 47 D's and CMC 8 rd powermags. In my personal guns they work.

I do use my mags in a variety of other person's guns, Range/students/friends, various mfgs. models ...

These two have worked the best, and sometimes cure the ills of a student's gun that otherwise won't run.

I have 2 factory Kimber Mags (a 7 and an 8 rounder) that work...and these appear to be different than what is currently sent with guns, remind me of the old Colt Factory Mag. I mainly use these for topping off...easy to distinguish from serious mags.

I have used a Wolff, a Clark, Mec-Gars with no problems. These also have cured ills for students.

I have (finally...kicking and screaming) accepted and have confidence in 8 rds mags. I will add my 4 or 6 at a time purchase to a bulk order by my gunsmith...we then to do the two favorites the most.

I recommend using what makes gun reliable EVERY time--regardless of brand.

sidenote:

Marlin camp guns use the CMC 8 rd power mags for friends and are rock solid in performance...these guys use same mag for both platforms...only reason I tried in the first place.

[boing]

As stated, test in your gun before you invest heavily.

I have three Wilsons that don't work in my Springfield parts gun. No-name parts magazines work fine (old fashioned GI-style).

My Kimber does well with it's Wilson. Very smooth chambering.

You never know. Get one of each and see for yourself. Mags are important, so it's okay to spend a little to gain confidence.

[denfoote]

Soooooo. Just as I feared, this has as much of a chance of coming to a definite conclusion as the endless 9mm vs .45ACP debates that we used to have so much fun with over at TFL. :D

I also guess the likelihood of they're being a concrete engineering based difference between these two is pretty much nil. :banghead:

I probably will end up buying one of each, shooting the heck out of both and finding out for myself!! :rolleyes:

[Al Thompson]

Interestingly enough, my Kimber chokes with Wilson mags and 200 gr LSWCs. Everything else feeds fine through the Wilsons. Shooting Stars and the 200 gr LSWCs work just fine.

[mattk]

Wilson mags use a slightly thicker and stronger steel. McCormick mags have a tendency to become deformed with hard use(dropped on concrete floors, sandy areas, boardwalks, you know IPSC stuff). The biggest problem with McCormick's is that the feed lips will splay apart slightly and catch empties that that are being extracted from the chamber. I have about 20 1911 mags most are Wilson but I have 8 CMC Power Mags. All the Power mags have had this feed lip deformation. Only one of the Wilsons has had this happen. Its easy to fix but can be a pain if you havent shot your 1911 in awhile and dont check your mags before the load and make ready command.

[Sean Smith]

Here is as objective a take on it as I can come up with:

No one mag is "ideal." The Wilson mags have plastic followers that can wear out, but arguably the strongest mag bodies out there. And the solid follower does have the advantage that it doesn't slip & slide around the mag body. CMC PowerMag 8's have stronger springs, but the flat follower can slide around, and they arguably don't have the long-term durability track record of the Wilsons (not counting the follower of course). MecGar magazines have a flat follower design, but the shape of it keeps it from sliding around the mag body as easily as the "shooting star" follower in all the CMC mags. If you only want 7 rounds, the Metalform round-top follower is probably the best there is, it has the advantages of the Wilson follower except that it is made of steel, not plastic. But both the Mec-Gar and the Metalform mag bodies seem flimsier than the Wilson or PowerMags.

If you were crazy enough to try to build a "perfect" mag, I'd guess that the way to go would be to take a Wilson mag body, a CMC PowerMag-8 spring, a Mec-Gar follower and a Wilson low-profile steel base pad. You'd have the strongest spring for an 8 rounder, the toughest mag body, a metal follower that wouldn't slide around, and a base pad that won't break like the standard plastic ones. For a 7 rounder, do the same thing but use a Wolff XP 7-round spring and a round Metalform follower.

Go for it, I'm just going to use Wilsons. :D

[sm]

I'm sorry, didn't mean to contribute to confusion. Best I figure some of this gun stuff is "about" as bad as trying to figure out the opposite sex...I say 'about' because I still think guns are easier...less finicky...expensive...tempermental...Feel better now? :D

Weird, got a call this morning, someone referred to my gunsmith ordered a bunch of 47 D's , wants to trade for some of my CMC 8 rds. Reason? He has a Marilin camp gun and 47D's won't work, his gun likes the CMC better...main reason...whomever he last attended a training class said to use these. OK, so I'll use 47 D's for 95% , sides these are NEW mine are used...gee not often I get a good deal. Gunsmith has them--yep the real deal with reciept and all. Same guy whom spent 10 k on guns last year because whatever training camp he attended said to use this or that, changes guns everytime...buying targets.

47D's dominate the mags for me it seems ( or will shortly)