[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

I was just wondering what the folks around here think of the Kimber 1911 mags, I mean would you trust you life to them or compete with them. Im asking because I was told there not very good but I have three and they are the only ones that havent caused my colt 1911 and my Kimber 1911 to jam yes I clean my guns yes I oil my guns after every range shoot, but I had three Novak mags jam my guns and then they split at the top of the Mag and it was the right caliber mags I was using it was stamped .45acp right on the side but that is another issue. But any feed back on the Kimber mags would greatly be apprecciated. Thank you.:)

[Bazooka Joe71]

Get you some Wilson Combat 8+1 rd mags...You won't be disappointed

[rbernie]

I don't care for the 8 round magazine followers; I'm much more comfortable with the followers that JMB designed for his pistol.

The Kimber bodies look like welded Metalforms; dunno if they are, but they sure look like 'em. I've run about three dozen of them over the last 3-4 years and have had no issues. They seem to come with decent springs; I generally don't have to swap out the springs for a while. They're also surprisingly affordable.

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

I was looking at the Wilson mags but $35 dollars a mag :eek: :barf: . And now where around here carries them I have to order Novaks Wilson Tripp research but many of the guns stores around WA have the Kimbers sitting right there on the shelf $20 a mag.

[HSMITH]

McCormick Power Mag mags have been as good or better for me than anything else I have tried. $15 each or so from Midway last time I looked.

Wilson mags are really nice, once you replace the springs. After a thousand or two rounds the follower is toast, put a McCormick follower in and all is well for a LONG time.

I have literally dozens of 1911 mags, a couple of ALL the popular mags at least and quite a few of the most popular. I carry and compete with McCormick Power Mags. I have had a couple need a little tuning out of the bag, but it wasn't a big deal and by far the best magazine for the money in 1911 land as far as I am concerned.

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

Thank you, and as far as a liitle tuning to the mag what exactly do you mean Im a litle new to the 1911 world.

[HSMITH]

The problems I have had with McC mags have been an early release of the loaded round and an overly closed base end. The early release is just simply the mag lips are too far apart out near the end of the lips, close them up a little and all is well. The base of the loaded round needs to be under the hook of the extractor before the magazine lets go, if it is otherwise the gun won't run well. The closed base end can be a little more complicated, but basically what you are looking for is a fully loaded mag should release the top round without any hitches or points in the release of that round that require any more pressure than any other point in the release of that round. Find the spot where it needs more pressure and fix it, whether it is a little bend in the lip or a little polishing.

If you are fairly new to the 1911 it won't hurt to buy a couple good mags, number them, and use the heck out of them. Keep a log, if you get a problem note the mag and rounds left in it. This can make it a lot easier to diagnose problems. The other good thing is that if you have 10 magazines, 2 NEVER give you problems and 2 cause 99% of your problems you can measure and figure out what is wrong with the 2 that are problematic using the ones that run flawlessly.

[10-Ring]

The only mags I buy are Wilson 8 rounders. I have 1000's through each mags w/o a hiccup. I am not ready to fix what ain't broke ;)

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

HSMITh
Thank you.

10ring
But those Wilsons sure aint cheap, and I just recently got put on a budget.

[Logan5]

I got my last few from Dillon, I think they're around $25 a pop for the Wilson 47-D's. $35 is more than they cost direct from Wilson Combat with shipping, according to the last catalogue I saw. CMC's are pretty good too, and you can actually find them on sale once in a while. I've heard most of the other OEM 1911 mags are actually subcontracted to Metalform.
Sorry to hear about your Novak's magazines, did you try to return them? If you bought them new, their warranty would seem to indicate that they'll replace them.

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

Yeah I believe it was Mike that I talked to at Novak, they will be replaced so they are in route now I was looking in an older Wilson Copmbat magazine of mine were I saw the prices on the mags.

[Handgun Midas]

My factory Kimber mag has never given me trouble in 800rds. I trust it.

[Skywarp]

Our 5 Kimbers in the range are still being fed by their stock mags just fine.


Thousandsof rounds through them.


Personally I've been abusing Wilson Combat 47D's again, thousand of rounds.....no problems.

[dmftoy1]

4 Kimber 8 rounders here that are in the rotation (8 mags total) . . . . over 4k through the "rotation" this year with not a single problem. I'd definately trust them.

Have a good one,
Dave

[HorseSoldier]

I have two Kimber mags, and have never had any problems with either of them, except a bump pad that cracked on one of them after I dropped it on concrete during a mag change. As far as feeding and such, they've run as well as the Chip McCormicks, Wilsons, and Colt factory mags I also run through my 1911s.

[riverdog]

The only problem I've had with magazines recently was with Wilson 8 round. I replaced the spring follower with Wilson's 7 round kit and all was well. McCormick 8 round mags have been better, fewer problems than the Wilsons.

[BIGDADDYLONGSTROKE]

I bought some Wilsons 47d 8 rounders today havent ben to the range yet but cycling a mag through my Colt Commander by hand I had a few FTE, and FTF maybe just because im not actually appling the same amount of force as the bullet would, but the cycled perfectly by hand through my Kimber Custom.

[lycanthrope]

The Kimber mags are identical to McCormicks (shooting stars). In fact, so are many of their parts.

Wilson mags get good press, but the 47D's fail to run in my Compact Aluminum Stainless. The McCormick mags run just fine.

[S&Wfan]

One of the worst magazines I have is a Wilson 47D. I had a well-broken in, slicked up Colt Combat Elite that I competed with for several years. It had thousands of rounds run through it and would shuck anything I put through it like a goose on ExLax, but every once in a while a round would hang from the 47D.

Strangely, it liked Mecgars . . . and McCormicks just fine though. When you find a mag that won't work, mark it and try to fix it. If this fails, get rid of it or put it away. An auto has to work every time.

KIMBER MAGAZINES . . .

I've got a couple of Kimber 7 round magazines that came with my first year pre-Series II Kimber Ultra CDP. Neither has ever choked and I'd trust my life to their ability to function . . . and this in an aluminum-framed, Officer's-sized .45.

DIFFERENT GUNS LIKE DIFFERENT MAGS TOO . . .

Also, different specimens will like different brands of mags . . . as well as different brands and different bullet weight ammo.

When you find the ideal combination for a particular gun, stick to that stuff.