Best 1911 Magazine?

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Dave Markowitz

Dave Markowitz

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I just bought my 1911 yesterday, a full-size Springfield. It came with two magazines but obviously, I need to get more.

In your opinion what is the best magazine for a full-size 1911 in .45 ACP? By "best," I mean most reliable and durable.

TIA.
 
The simple answer is Wilson, but then nothing in life is simple.

You will get an argument over which is better, the 7 round Wilson or the 8 round version. I have a drawer full of 8 round Wilson magazines that have worked flawlessly in a variety of 1911s (Colt, Kimber, Caspian, even Remington-Rand). There are people who will insist that the 7 round Wilson magazine is more reliable than the 8 round. I don't understand how they can be more reliable than the ones I have which always work, but I don't argue about it.

Get Wilson magazines.
 
Wilson mags are the best. I prefer 8 rounders since they work fine so why give up a round?

Second best are the Chip McCormick Corp. 8 round Powermags. The Powermags are usually about 5-8 dollars cheaper than the Wilson and work very well.
 
what is the best magazine for a full-size 1911 in .45 ACP?
Click to expand...

The one that works the best in YOUR pistol. Pick up a few of the ones recommended here and try them out. Figure out which one your gun likes best and buy a bunch of those. Don't rely on what other people say will be reliable in your particular gun, find out for yourself. The mags recommended here are all good mags and will probably all work fine. Figure out which one You want.
My kimber likes the 8-round PowerMags, but Wilson will do in a pinch. My son's Daly only likes Wilsons. I've not yet tried the Les Baer mags, but considering El Tejon's enthusiastic review, I might have to give one a try.

Dave
 
Don't forget Metalform .. I beleive they are the people who Make either the Chip McCormick or Wilson mags ..

if you look over at http://www.1911forum.com/forums/ and at the Magazine section someone is putting together a group buy on them now .. I highly suggest you take a look ..
 
For .45 ACP, Wilsons. The 8 rounders always worked fine for me.
For most other calibers, Colt or Metalform.
 
I'll say Wilson first however, I have an 8 rd that sometimes flips the last round loose early, I broke a 10rd insertion stop oof one and several other 10rdrs. have a penchant for partially pushing the slide stop out of my gun.

Chip 8s and 10s okay, I'm leery of the plastic bottom on the 10s and feel they need a proper overinsertion stop welded on. Speaking of plastic, I've broken Wilson plastic basepads. So right now for me THE ULTIMATE (tm) is a Wilson 7rd with steel basepad. Will try some Baers as soon as I can buy a Baer pistol.
 
Metalforms and Wilsons.

If it matters to you, the FBI originally was using Wilsons with their Springfields but switched to Metalforms after they had some problems.
 
For my Colt, I have the two Colt mags, Chip Shooting Star and a Power Mag, and two Hi Standard mags I got from Midway for $4.95 a piece. All work flawlessly.
 
I have a WC 8rd and five CM 8rd. The WC was about $35.00 (I know, I paid too much) and the CMs were $12 each. I have never had a failure to feed with any of them but I have to admit I keep the WC in the pistol for HD.
 
I have tried a lot of different magazines over the years. Right now I have 10 of the magazines that Midway is selling in bulk packs for practice and I have a half dozen Wilson Combat 8 rounders that I carry and take to shooting skuls. Before that I used Chip McCormick Shooting Stars, before that I used USGI mags I bought at a gun show. Along with those I also used Colt factory mags, Springfield factory mags and all kinds of odds and ends thrown in. The only mag I ever had a problem with was a 25 round mag my uncle gave me. Everything else ran fine and I still have all these mags in a box; I just don't use most of them.
The only reason I keep buying magazines is because of threads like this. Now I might have to try the Les Baer mags.
 
I've never had any problems with my Chip McCormick 8 and 10 round power mags. I usually carry with a Chip McCormick 8 round power mag.
 
So far I've only used Metalform and the O.E.M. mags from Midway. They've worked great in my old Springfield and my new Rock Island. (psssst... if you want some of the O.E.M.s for a good deal, PM me)
 
Thanks everyone for your feedback.

I placed an order today with Brownell's for a Chip McCormick and a Metalform mag. If the Metalform works well I plan to order several more -- they're only about $7 each.
 
SA will inform you that Wisons are not the besat fit for your gun. SA's were supposedly designed around CMC's. Buy them for up to a third less than Wilsons and have fun!
 
I'd go with the OEM ones from Midway. The 8-pack was the best deal I've ever gotten on mags.:cool:
 
I've got 5 Wilson 8 rounders with the plastic base that have yet to fail in my Kimber Custom. - but then again - neither the original mags, nor the the Mec-Gars I use as range mags have failed either.
 
I do not remember ever having a problem with Chip McCormick magazines. I also have bought the Midway OEM magazines for range mags and they work well.

But like StuporDave said, the best ones are the ones that work in YOUR guns.
 
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