Identify 1911 Magazines

94045 said:

I had some Stainless 1911 6-Round Officers Length Frame Magazines given.to me.

1. Stainless uncoated Devel-Style follower with one dimple on rear.

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I've never seen a Devel follower with a dimple.

However, the CheckMate Patented Follower (CMF) has a similar design, but with the front leg. Those come with a dimple.

http://www.checkmatemagazines.com/i...ow&cid=80&name=cm45-f-s-t-follower&Itemid=298

94045 said:

I had some Stainless 1911 6-Round Officers Length Frame Magazines given.to me.

1. Stainless uncoated Devel-Style follower with one dimple on rear.
2. 5 staggered holes per side. 3 Front - 2 Rear.
3. Marked "45 ACP" on left side of magazine near the bottom. Slightly closer to rear than front. Half letter spacing between numbers and between letters.
4. 2 Vent Holes in welded stainless baseplate.
5.1 half circle vent hole in front of tube directly over baseplate.
6. Baseplate appears to a pressfit from from of tube with no lip or groove. Flush with tube rear and side walls
7. No visible spot welds.
8. Very small "s" (smaller than vent hole) on baseplate exterior centered between the rear baseplate vent hole and the rear tube wall. Left side of S toward front of magazine

Anyone identify the manufacturer of these magazines?

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Did I miss pictures??

The only 1911 mags Ive had over the years, that have two holes in the baseplate, were Springfield Armory mags.

AK103K said:

The only 1911 mags Ive had over the years, that have two holes in the baseplate, were Springfield Armory mags.

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CheckMate and McCormick have two holes in their welded base mags. I'd suspect the design is fairly common across manufacturers as bumper pads with two screw holes are fairly common aftermarket products.

I'm pretty sure Springfield has never made 1911 magazines, they contract them out. I believe they were Metalform at one time, but may be CheckMate now.

94045 said:

I'm fairly certain they are 6 round stainless Springfield Armory Magazines but I was trying to confirm they where Metalform or something else.

I'm afraid to use them in my Kimber Aluminum Frame because of the unskirted Devel followers. They do seem to be well built with heavy thick gauge stainless steel.

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I said Springfield as they were the only 1911 mags I had, that had those holes, and they came with the Springfield guns. Never really gave it a thought who made them or the reason for the holes, which now make sense. They were also only about the only things Springfield I didnt have trouble with and still have.

I had a Kimber Ultra Carry with an aluminum frame back in the 90's, and the steel followers in the factory mags were chewing up the feed ramp on the frame, and badly. I switched them out with Wilson plastic followers (they sell them separately) and that stopped that. Didnt help the Ultra Carrys other problems though.

94045 said:

I'm fairly certain they are 6 round stainless Springfield Armory Magazines but I was trying to confirm they where Metalform or something else.

I'm afraid to use them in my Kimber Aluminum Frame because of the unskirted Devel followers. They do seem to be well built with heavy thick gauge stainless steel.

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The way to prevent damage to the feed ramp is to watch what is happening with the mag and the feed ramp. Shoot a round or two and look. Do it again. Do it a few more times. Do you see any damage? If no run a full mag and look when you are done. If the gun and mag run well without issues or dings in the ramp than it's good to go.

Feed ramps get damaged by three things: 1. worn or poorly built mags that allow the follower to extend further forward than it normally should. 2. JHP ammo that has an exceptionally wide hollowpoint or too short an overall length so that the ammo jams into the feed ramp. 3. Shooter error in ignoring the feed ramp and continuing to use the mags despite clear evidence that the mags are wrong for that gun.

We read in these threads of aluminum frames being "chewed up" by certain magazines. If that's the case it's because the shooter ignores their gun and the mags in it and allowed the ramp to be "chewed up".

By the way what's wrong with the Kimber mags that came with the gun?

94045 said:

It's a Devel follower but it is skirted and a 7-Round.

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If it's "skirted" it isn't a Devel follower.

tipoc said:

The way to prevent damage to the feed ramp is to watch what is happening with the mag and the feed ramp. Shoot a round or two and look. Do it again. Do it a few more times. Do you see any damage? If no run a full mag and look when you are done. If the gun and mag run well without issues or dings in the ramp than it's good to go.

Feed ramps get damaged by three things: 1. worn or poorly built mags that allow the follower to extend further forward than it normally should. 2. JHP ammo that has an exceptionally wide hollowpoint or too short an overall length so that the ammo jams into the feed ramp. 3. Shooter error in ignoring the feed ramp and continuing to use the mags despite clear evidence that the mags are wrong for that gun.

We read in these threads of aluminum frames being "chewed up" by certain magazines. If that's the case it's because the shooter ignores their gun and the mags in it and allowed the ramp to be "chewed up".

By the way what's wrong with the Kimber mags that came with the gun?

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My Ultra Carry came with a couple of factory mags, with steel followers, that had the "split finger" type follower. When the last round went into the chamber, the follower went forward of the mag body with it, and the sharp edge of the follower, impacted the feed ramp, chewing it up.

It only took a couple of outings to wear that groove in mine to the point it was noticeable (not just a scratch). And that wasnt a whole lot of rounds, as I was fighting with trying to get the gun to function properly, which it never did.

As soon as I saw what was going on with the followers, I put the Wilson plastic followers in, and that stopped that. Not that it helped with the function issues.

Having a new gun try and tear itself up, isnt something you usually expect and are looking for either.

I noticed with later Ultra Carrys (and maybe all their aluminum frame guns), they did away with the aluminum feed ramp in the frame altogether and went with a barrel that had it. Im guessing it was a pretty common problem, and why the change.

I was never impressed with the Kimbers in general and the Ultra Carry was enough of that. The 1911's in general at the time were starting to piss me off anyway, and that Kimber was one of the last I had bought at the time. I dumped all but a couple of those that I had (I had a bunch too), and moved on to SIG P220's. It was a refreshing change to buy a new gun and have it be 100% right out of the box. No fiddling, no break-ins, just load the mags and shoot.

94045 said:

Maybe Im using the wrong term.

The Kimber has a split stepped follower but the lower finger has a skirt (toe?) below it going into the mag tube. I thought that was a modified Devel?

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This is a Devel follower https://www.cmcproducts.com/Magazine-Conversion-Kit-Spring-Follower-45-ACP-8-Round_p_223.html

Above I posted CheckMate's CMF. Here it is again http://www.checkmatemagazines.com/i...ow&cid=80&name=cm45-f-s-t-follower&Itemid=298

The same CMF sold by Tripp as their Flex follower http://www.trippresearchinc.com/follower/

This is a GI follower http://www.checkmatemagazines.com/i...ow&cid=79&name=cm45-7-f-s-follower&Itemid=298

AK103K said:

My Ultra Carry came with a couple of factory mags, with steel followers, that had the "split finger" type follower. When the last round went into the chamber, the follower went forward of the mag body with it, and the sharp edge of the follower, impacted the feed ramp, chewing it up.

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Yeah a poorly made mag. What you're describing shouldn't happen with a well made mag. It's never happened with my Colt mags.

Below are a couple of pics of feed ramps on alloy framed guns. The first is an early 1990s Colt Defender in 45 acp, a much shot gun.



Below is the ramp from a 1951 Colt Commander in 38 Super. Over the years the paint has been flecked away some and light scratches but nothing like "chewed up" or gouged.

94045 said:

I used to do pictures but the hosting company stopped allowing links to forums.

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you can post pictures directly here. Even from your mobile of choice.

tipoc said:

Yeah a poorly made mag. What you're describing shouldn't happen with a well made mag. It's never happened with my Colt mags.

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I never had any problems with my Colt or GI mags. Wilsons either, but their plastic followers are the obvious reason there.

The USGI mags were the only mags that worked in "all" my 1911's. Colt 7 round mags were pretty much the same. The Colt 8 rounders, and the Wilsons, most of the time too. All the rest, would work in some, and not so well in others.

For a while there, you had to be careful (and maybe you still do, I havent bought any in a couple of decades now), there was a lot of counterfeiting of Colt mags going on, and a lot of what must have been rejected "surplus" or even counterfeit GI contract mags being sold. I, unfortunately, got stuck with a few of each. EBay was the source in both cases.

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The ones with the holes sound like Checkmates. The 2 holes are for the screws to hold the bumper pad on. The follower sounds like your description.
Check out the 3 views and enlarge the picture.
https://www.cdnnsports.com/1911-38super-9rd-stainless-metalform-o-e-mag.html?___SID=U#.XO2_laJKi00

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