8rd mag problems

[edwardyoung]

I've ended up with a couple 8rd NOVAK'S marked ACT-MAGs. All of my others are 7rd and give no problems. The first round would nose-dive and hang up. A guy on the 1911 forum said he remedied this problem by flipping the mag spring top-to-bottom. I did this and, sure enough, everything feeds fine. The mags will only take 7 rounds now, but they feed reliably. Is this just a coincidence, or have some of you heard of this trick and used it? Are ACT mags good mags? Is there a replacement spring that helps 8rd mags? Thanks

 

[Rob1035]

hmmm, I'm no expert, not even close, but maybe the fact flipping the spring limited the mag to 7rds is the reason? Before you flipped the spring, did the mags work ok with just 7rds instead of 8?

 

[1911Tuner]

8

*sigh*

Once more...

The gun...and magazine...were designed for 7 rounds. The dimple on top of the follower is important. Follower geometry is important. Spring tension is important. When you try to stuff 8 rounds into a space designed for 7, you have to sacrifice correct follower geometry, usually the dimple, and spring length. Reliability will suffer, usually sooner than later.

Proper magazines...A good extractor, made of the right stuff and correctly tensioned...Decent ammo. 16 pound recoil springs and 23 pound mainsprings.
You'll likely go broke trying to buy enough ammo to make it jam unless there's something seriously wrong with the gun. The proof's in the puddin'. Come see mine run. I'm in Lexington, NC in case anybody wants to make the trip.
Ah'm yuh Huckleberry! (Or, rather my pistols are.)

 

[edwardyoung]

Thanks for the replies. I'll just stick with 7-rounders.

Rob1035, I didn't try it with 7 rounds before I flipped the spring.

1911tuner, where are you in Lexington? Ted Clement told me you were the damn man on 1911's.

[email protected]

 

[Onmilo]

I have been using Wilson 8 round magazines for years, never once had a feed issue but these do wear and fail to lock the slide on the last round after a couple thousand feed cycles.

There are no perfect magazines but I have to agree that original USGI 7 shot magazines seem to be the best wearing, and longest lasting, magazines ever designed for the gun.

One can't argue against success.

 

[1911Tuner]

Lexington

Edward! Howdy neighbor!

I'm in central Davidson county about a mile off Beck's Church Road...Horse country. Where you be at?

 

[edwardyoung]

I'm on Young Rd off of Old 64, about 4 miles from Beck's Church Rd.

 

[Slip Shooter]

I have also had problems with the 8 round 1911 magazines and went back to 7 rounders..

This may be off subject to you but, I thought I would just throw it in for kicks.

Desiring extra capacity I ordered from Midway, on sale, three Chip McCormick "Power 10" 10 rd .45acp magazines. These magazines hold 10 + 1 rounds and are totally reliable.

They disassemble easily.

They do extend below the butt 1 1/8 inches.

Eleven rounds makes for an awesome 1911 package if you can handle the extra magazine length.

 

[1911Tuner]

Old 64

Edward...Cool! Check your PMs

On the McM Power 10s...I just had a go-round with 19112Xs with some of his.
Wouldn't work worth a toot in anything he had. Tweaked and tuned and finally got a couple to work most of the time. Finally talked him into lettin' me try another approach. I swapped out the followers and springs for standard 7-round followers and Wolff standard 11-pound springs. All problems
mysteriously disappeared, and the mags work fine in all his guns...including a
chopped-down Kimber that was very mag sensitive.

 

[Technosavant]

Some guns work well with some 8 round mags. Some guns just flat prefer 7 round mags. Mine likes 8 rounders just fine, but if it only fed reliably from 7 rounders, that is what I would use.

It falls into the "just one of those things" category. We can pontificate on the merits of 7 vs. 8, but it just comes down to what works in a particular gun.

 

[ulflyer]

Tuner: You Gonna Be Home This Evening?

Might be out scootering around over that way. You haven't seen my 100 year old Colt Mod 03.

 

[1911Tuner]

Scooterin'

I'll be here Ted. Might be messin' with dogs though...Sunday is groomin' day,
and I tend to rest a lot between dogs.

TechnoSavant...

A little tidbit to consider:

"Just because the machine is functioning, is no guarantee that it's functioning correctly."

That silly little dimple is important. Follower length into the tube is important.
13 turns of the spring...and enough tension...is important.

And that's all I've got ta say 'bout that.

 

[WarMachine]

-1911Tuner-

I was just wondering what purpose does that little dimple on magazine followers serve? Just curiosity mainly since the last round kind of "hangs-up" there when I am thumbing out rounds to manually empty a magazine. However, the aforementioned hang-up is never a problem when shooting.

 

[1911Tuner]

Dimple

Warmachine...Glad you asked.

One point to keep in mind...The two rounds in the magazine most critical to reliable feeding are the first and last...when spring tension is at minimum and
maximum.

The dimple controls the last round's forward movement during the inertial forces generated during recoil when spring tension is at its minimum. Prevents having the round ride forward of feeding position and being knocked into the chamber...which causes either a stoppage when the extractor won't snap over the rim...or overstressing the extractor when it does. The pistol was designed to execute a controlled feed on every round...not a push-feed.

A common fairly complaint is in having the slide lock to the rear with the last round laying loose in the port. If the spring is pitifully weak, it will do this trick even with the dimple...but not nearly as often as is noticed when the dimple is absent. So, it's also a sort of backup for a worn or weak spring.
Weakened springs can also cause the next-to-last round to be ejected during recoil, and feed the last one. If you've ever found live rounds among your empty brass...Heeere's your sign!

It also times the release of the last round so that it can be pushed upward and under the extractor at the right time and place. Again, minimum spring tension is at the heart of the problem.

 

[BluesBear]

Are ACT mags good mags?

Act-Mag is an Italian outfit that makes all of the Novak magazines.

You can find them with Act-Mag, Armscor and Novak trade names on the sides.

I've never had a problem with any of them.


As for the dimple, the Mag-Pack mags that were all the rage a few years ago used a springloaded ball that lined up with the cartridge extractor groove to accomplish the same thing.

Too bad the company went belly up. They were very reliable 8rd mags. I had six of them in my storage unit that was auctioned off last year. They had never had a failure in any of the several dozen guns in which they'd been tried.

 

[brickboy240]

I stick to 7rd Wilson magazines and ALL my magazine problems with my 1911s have gone away.

Imagine that.

-Brickboy240

 

[cmbiii]

My WWII era Remington Rand seems to work just fine with 8 round Kimber mags. Have only put a couple hundred rounds through it, but I've had no problems using my hardball reloads.