1911 Magazines

McCormick Shooting Stars have treated me well. I think they're a pretty good value. I've had eight of them long enough that they're on their second set of springs.

Please do yourself a favor and try a Tripp Cobra Mag or even a Tripp kit for your existing magazines. These literally changed my perception of the 1911 from “finicky” to 100% trustworthy. Also, with any 1911 magazine, load them up for a few days before you shoot them for the first time. The Wilsons that came with my Wilson are the only OEMs that came with a gun that I haven’t changed and they’ve been great too (not sure what series they are).

They aren’t cheap...$35ish, but the kits are $9 and are super easy to install. I generally get from Brownells, but that’s just a habit....I’m sure others have them for less.

D.B. Cooper

I don't know if they would be considered aftermarket but I have never had a problem with factory Colt mags.

Does the CMP have GI mags?

I've used a number of different 1911 mags over the years, and the GI "contract" mags I have, were the only mags to work and be reliable in all my 1911's. Even the Wilsons didn't do that.

I have found Metalform 7-rounders (the factory magazines in Springfield 1911s) to be inexpensive and reliable.

Wilson ETMs are more reliable than 47Ds in my opinion. I also like the Metalform mags. 7-round mags seem to generally be more reliable than 8-rounders, but the two I listed have given no issues.

Spats McGee said:

(Grabs popcorn to watch the melee that's about to begin.)

You might have to test a few to see which your particular gun likes. That said, Wilson 47Ds have preformed consistently for me, in the small handful of 1911s I've tried them in.

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Yes, it is a contentious topic as there are currently about two dozen builders of 1911's, and they aren't all the same, and there are bunches of 1911 mag makers and they aren't all the same. Not all combinations work well together. You really need to find what "your" 1911 likes, and then buy more.

Regarding the Wilson 47D - Wilson makes great mags, but like the graduating class at Harvard Medical School, somebody is going to be last in the class. In the Wilson mag line-up, that's going to be the 47D. The full size 7 round 47, is a better mag than the 8 round 47D, and if you want a Wilson 8 rounder, get one from the ETM line-up.

AZAndy said:

McCormick Shooting Stars have treated me well. I think they're a pretty good value. I've had eight of them long enough that they're on their second set of springs.

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McCormick also makes great mags (now part of the Wilson family) and like my comments about the Wilson 47D's above, the Shooting Star is at the bottom of the McCormick line-up. The PowerMag and RPM are the top mags in the McCormick line-up.

bannockburn said:

D.B. Cooper

I don't know if they would be considered aftermarket but I have never had a problem with factory Colt mags.

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Colt hasn't made mags since the 1970's. In the ensuing years, they have contracted mags from a variety of suppliers in a variety of configurations. I believe CheckMate is the current mag supplier to Colt. When you buy a "Colt" mag, in general, you have no idea what you're going to get until it is in your hand, and if you don't know much about 1911 mags, you probably still don't know what you have.

Generally speaking, McCormick, Wilson, and Tripp are all pretty safe bets and are usually at the top of most recommendations. Whatever you choose, don't buy a dozen of them, just buy one and make sure your gun likes them.

I've been using Wilson 47D magazines for my 45 for approximately 8 years, and now ETMs for my 38 Super. They work fine.

Not saying they are the best, or even better, but mine work as they should.

I've had great results from the Wilson 47D and ETM, CMC (though these also have had the most issues for me), Tripp, Checkmate and Metalform.

The only true garbage mags I've had were two that came with a couple Kimbers I bought, guns run fine with good mags anyway.

But I'd certainly look into some of those GI mags from CMP, I've heard they run well and last I saw them they were pretty cheap

McCormick and Wilson have worked well for me.

I've owned a number of 1911's. One was a factory lemon. The rest have been very reliable.

JR24 said:

I've had great results from the Wilson 47D and ETM, CMC (though these also have had the most issues for me), Tripp, Checkmate and Metalform.

The only true garbage mags I've had were two that came with a couple Kimbers I bought, guns run fine with good mags anyway.

But I'd certainly look into some of those GI mags from CMP, I've heard they run well and last I saw them they were pretty cheap

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Chances are good the Kimber and CMP GI mags are both made by CheckMate who produces many of the current 1911 "factory" mags for a variety of 1911 makers.

JTQ said:

Chances are good the Kimber and CMP GI mags are both made by CheckMate who produces many of the current 1911 "factory" mags for a variety of 1911 makers.

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Possibly, I surely don't know. I bought both those Kimbers around 2012 if it makes a difference.

Both had bad/out of spec/backwards/something followers that couldn't even load a full mag without hanging up and jamming, never even tried to actually shoot them, just failed to load a few times and tossed em in the junk bin as I already have a few dozen good 1911 mags

Edit: I'll note I bought a Ultra Carry that came with a 7 round compact mag that worked perfect.

Texas10mm said:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1911-mag-m...516604&hash=item3d1d180419:g:hDwAAOSwnNBXXYmK

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Nothing in the gun world is faked more than genuine, "Colt", or "GI" mags. You may end up with an actual product or some junk from a third world country that will drop the baseplate with the first loading. Buy at your own risk.

JTQ said:

Nothing in the gun world is faked more than genuine, "Colt", or "GI" mags. You may end up with an actual product or some junk from a third world country that will drop the baseplate with the first loading. Buy at your own risk.

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I've bought from that vendor several times. He buys in bulk from Metalform.

I am happy with the Brownells brand 1911 mags. I've been using them for work and am happy with them.

D.B. Cooper said:

Specifically, for a USGI 1911A1 from cmp.

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I was one of few "default" armorers for my unit in the Army (Hard to find medics with gun experience in a medical unit). Whenever we got shipment of new unissued 1911s, boy they were ROUGH and took us an average 20 minutes to hone/polish sharp edges for each weapon to reliably cycle the slides so officers could qualify without jams at the range.

Keep in mind, many of my unit's armory 1911s I handled had varying degrees of loose tolerances and if I had one of those, I would get the longer 8 round magazines with base pad so I could more positively seat the mags in the mag well.

BTW, congrats on the CMP 1911. I thought about getting one but the silky smoothness of my Sig 1911 keeps me from getting one.

D.B. Cooper said:

So I think I'll just go to Brownell's (cheaper shipping than Midway) and buy one of each of the 3-4 brands named here.

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Whenever somebody had 1911 magazine issue at the range (This is after Army), I hand them my Chip McCormick 8 round Power Mags and Presto! Problem solved.

If you don't like the stainless steel finish, CMC Power Mags come in black stainless finish as well - https://palmettostatearmory.com/cmc...pact-1911-magazine-stainless-steel-14132.html

For decades, CMC Power Mags and in recent years Wilson Combat 47D have reliably fed 200 gr SWC/230 gr FMJ reloads in multiple 1911s I have shot, including my railed Sig 1911 with tightest chamber I have seen ... Now well over 10,000 round count.

Brownells has 3 pack 47D on sale for $77 with free shipping ($30 off on $250+ order with 2BA code) - https://www.brownells.com/magazines...d42979.aspx?avs|Special-Filters_1=Made+in+USA

Brownells has 3 pack Power Mags on sale for $101 with $10 off and free shipping ($30 off on $250+ order with 2BA code) - https://www.brownells.com/magazines...d42580.aspx?avs|Special-Filters_1=Made+in+USA

Many also like Check-Mate magazines as they are OEM magazines for many 1911 manufacturers (And I do believe Colt uses Check-Mate mags as their OEM mags) - https://www.topgunsupply.com/magazines/1911/check-mate/1911-8rd-full-size.html