[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. A good friend ordered a Tripp Research CobraMag to try in his Les Baer .45 pistol. The gun fed fine, but was picky with which magazines it would reliably lock back the slide on the last shot. He'd tried practically all of the name brands with no 100% results.

Today, we got the chance to fire 200 rounds of a small assortment of ammunition through the pistol using the CobraMag. This ammo was:

A handload using a Precision 200-gr. coated, hardcast SWC

Factory 230-gr. Remington Golden Sabers

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid100/pb36ceb1f0afc18e263a8a7c6cf3775b0/f9e351b2.jpg
This is the Baer and Tripp magazine and ammo type used in today's admittedly limited test. It is designated by product number A8MG.(You can tell by looking at the pistol that my buddy uses it very frequently).

At Tripp Research I read: "This 8 round .45 magazine was designed specifically to hold 8 rounds. It is not a 7 round design modified to hold 8 rounds."

Handling the magazine, I was impressed with the smoothness of the follower in the magazine body and the magazine just exuded quality. I was very favorably impressed.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid100/p791f38e28ee4b777a9445b060347d03f/f9e351b8.jpg
The magazine's concave base is visible as is the steel portion of the follower that contacts the slide release. It won't wear like some plastic followers can.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid100/pda596cc61ac895647724fa30b2a0ea2c/f9e35085.jpg
From the side, you can get a different view of the follower, lips, and markings. This magazine works fine with magwells also.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid100/pab7b39640c32d8eb0a64962926c7bbdf/f9e351a7.jpg
Another view...

Cutting to the chase, the magazine worked flawlessly. Feeding was noticeably smooth and the slide locked back when the last shot was fired w/o fail. Insertion was trouble free and the magazine dropped freely when the magazine release was pressed. In short, the magazine functioned with 100% reliability.

As time permits, this magazine will be used in other 1911's and with a considerably more varied sortment of ammunition, but it appears to be a fine product for 1911 enthusiasts.

.45 ACP CobraMags are available in 7, 8, 9, and 10 shot capacities. The 7 shot magazine has a welded floor plate. I believe the others have the molded floor plates.

At www.trippresearch.com you can read about the specifics on these magazines if interested.

I think they've got a winner with the CobraMag.

Now, if they'd just get 'em out in .38 Super!

Best.

[45R]

As always thanks for the wonderful range reports!!! :)

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello, and thank you so much.

Best.

[P95Carry]

Thx as always Steve :) ....... there are so many mag's out there it's good to hear of one given a good shake down and coming out with a good score.

[VaughnT]

Enlighten me on a point, Sir. A master-class shooter at the club has three of these mags that he offered to sell me for $100. Sounds like a good deal and I'm interested in anything that will make my duty weapon more reliable.

That said, I haven't experienced any problems out of my Wilson 47D's. I'm sure they will wear out, and I'm sure I need to replace the springs and followers. But what does the Cobra mag do for me that the Wilson doesn't? Is the steel a better quality?

Also, the abovementioned shooter impresses me as a knowledgeable hand with a gun, not your range know-it-all. He made the statement that he prefers the Novak magazines because they are hands-down the best out there. With the nickel-plated carbon steel, not stainless, you have a harder, more durable magazine that does everything the Cobra is supposed to do but for much less cost.

Is there a real difference between stainless steel and chrome or nickel plated carbon steel? Have you compared the Cobra against the Novak? Have you seen any failures in the Novak?

Thanks for your time.

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I couldn't tell if you were speaking of "range know-it-alls" as my buddy who bought the CobraMag (as in 1 to test) after he'd bought a Novaks magazine. I believe you were speaking in general of the guys that we all prefer to avoid. The fellow who bought the magazine is not one of "them" and in fact frequents very, very few boards despite more actual face-to-face shootings than most of us will hear about from any ten police officers. He's also quite a good shot.

That said, he was so impressed with the CobraMag that he's buying a few more.
He also had nothing bad to say about the Novak magazines which worked perfectly.

I continue to use my Colts, Metalforms, Wilsons, Randalls, etc as they work for me in my 1911's.

Again, I have not tested nor seen the Novak magazines tested other than for a very few shots (perfect function with ball, SWC and JHP) and don't own either the Novak or Tripp magazines.

Until the Novak magazines were used, my buddy used Wilsons and simply had to replace the worn followers every few months. He shoots LOTS and practices magazine reloads religiously. His view was that in the long run, he might save money with a magazine in which he was not changing out followers all the time. He'd already replaced the slide stop many times and finally got one that worked pretty well with his individual pistol.

As far as I know, he continues to have no problems with the Novak magazines. If subsequent Tripp magazines work well for him, I suspect he'll go with them as he prefers to use the best he can find in magazines.

The untold point to the original post I did was to simply provide information on a newer product that some might find of interest. I will be buying some Tripp magazines in .38 Super. While I have good performance with Metalforms in my STI, they don't run as smoothly off a full magazine with certain JHP's as I think they might. Hopefully, the Tripp magazine will. When I get these magazines, I'll report on how well they do or do not work.

As to the stainless vs plated steel, I flat don't know the answer to that. Hopefully, someone here will and can provide that information for us all.

Good shooting and best.

[VaughnT]

Mr. Camp; Never doubted the veracity of your research or meant to sound like I was calling your friend's knowledge and experience into question. That was bad typing on my part.

We all have one or two of those range know-it-all's, and while they can sometimes be funny, they do propogate a great deal of misinformation.

Your consistently impeccable research, sir, is good enough for me. I'll talk with this shooter the next time I see him and see if he's still interested in parting with those Cobra mags.

Thanks again.

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. Thanks, no problems here. Right now, I'm using primarily Metalforms in several forty-fives; they've worked fine for me in my guns. As mentioned, I'm going to try the Tripp magazines in my Super to see if the feeding can be a tad better in terms of "slickness" with the JHP handloads I use.

Take care.

Best.

[Kestrel]

Stephen,

Does your friend, that has been in a lot of firefights, carry the 1911? Is that what he has used in the firefights? If so, I bet he has some interesting commentary on the 1911 in hard situations?

Has he conveyed any opinions on the 1911 in tight spots, that you could share?

Also, thanks for the info on the CobraMags. I might have to try out some 7 rounders, myself.

Thanks,
Steve