bread and butter: 1911 mags and recoil springs

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chopinbloc

chopinbloc

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i have an auto ordnance gi model 1911 that's giving me issues. yeah, i know the general opinion on auto ordnance, that's not the point and the funny thing is, it used to run great. of course the first thing to check is gonna be magazines and i have a feeling that maybe i should change the recoil spring. soooo....

what are your favorite 7rd 1911 mags?

what weight do you recommend for a recoil spring? i'll probably use wolff but if anyone knows a good reason to go with another company i'd like to hear that too.
 
My favorites are the factory stainless Colt magazines upgraded with the Tripp Super 7 spring and follower. These magazines turned intermittent guns into 100%. I also like the seven-round Metalform magazines with the round followers.
 
What is the functional difference between the flat and round followers?

Also, is the only difference between their 7 and 8 rnd mags spring longevity? Or do reliability issues come into play?
 
Ain't popular, but...

I get 100% from my MecGar mags. The only thing I don't like is the spring life. Every so often I get a mag that will let the top round feed when I seat the mag, then double feed when I send the slide home. I get several years from them and replace the springs. Obviously, that is a function check for me when I leave the house!
 
I am a big fan of the 47D wilson mag
works well for me !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Wilson 47s. They aint cheap, but they're worth it IMO. I have, at minimum, four for every 1911. I do own a mix of other brands for range use (mainly GI mags from ammoman - with a few OE mags from Colt, Kimber, SA, and Randall), but the Wilsons are used for carry.

The standard recoil spring for a 4.25" or 5" 1911 is 16 lbs. 3.5" guns are 22 lbs, if its a single spring setup. 4" guns use 3.5" recoil springs. I use wolff gunsprings, mostly standard weights (the exception is the 18.5lb spring in my SA, 16lb springs were out of stock).
 
what are your favorite 7rd 1911 mags?
Click to expand...
What are you using them for? Obviously you want quality, reliable magazines for SD work, but I don't see a problem with $3 GI mags just for range work. I give carry mags a short workout at the range to be sure that they work right, but for plinking and general target shooting, I rather like the el-cheapo ones. Wolff springs are... what, about $8 a pop? Used, decent GI mags run about $3 at a gun show.

Of course, YMMV. If you prefer the high-quality ones for everything, and you have more money than I do (and who doesn't?), then go with the good ones.
 
I use stock Springfield Armory 7 rounders for 7 rd. duty, made by Metalform (dimpled follower). They work great.

I don't have a huge number of mags lying around- 7 total, (4 7 round, 3 8 round CMC PowerMags). I would rather have fewer mags that run 100% than a bunch that run 85%; I don't want to go grabbing for a mag that won't work when I need it to. If I can't get it don't with the 7 magazines I own, then I: 1) shouldn't be using a pistol to do it, and 2) probably am hosed anyway, since I am greatly outnumbered or that bad a shot.

You don't ever regret buying quality. That doesn't mean you need the most expensive magazines out there, but it does mean that a little bit of cash up front will save a great deal of aggravation later.
 
You didn't mention what issues you were having but if your pistol is factory assembled and not a component assembled gunsmith project, before you jump to magazines or the recoil spring, and I'm only guessing you are having a functioning problem, check the extractor and ejector.

I have always felt Auto Ordinance produces very good frames, slides, internal springs and the barrels aren't half bad either but the internal parts just plain suck.
The factory production internal parts will work OK, for a while, but the stuff tends to run soft and longevity isn't the strong point of the internal parts.
Actually, there is no strong point of Auto-Ordinance internal parts.

Since Auto-Ordinance, like everybody else, bought outsource magazines, they probably aren't the problem.
 
thank you for all the responses. the issues are usually failures to feed and occaisonally failure to extract. the weapon ran beatifully for quite a while with any brass cased fmj and even jhp but after a "gunsmith" butchered it, it developed problems. i am going to have a gunsmith that i trust take care of the extractor side of it, but it will require an oversized, hand fit firing pin stop. this is alot of work to go through for an old, beat up pistol but i am a stubborn sob sometimes and i just don't want to give up. it is not a carry pistol ( that honor goes to a g23 ) so i'm not in any particular hurry, though i expect every weapon i have to be dependable enough to bet my life on, were it necessary.
You don't ever regret buying quality. That doesn't mean you need the most expensive magazines out there, but it does mean that a little bit of cash up front will save a great deal of aggravation later.
Click to expand...

after trying the el cheapo route on other occasions, i am a firm believer in the above.

on recoil springs: zach, you say the standard is 16lbs for a full size, what effect does a heavier spring like the 18 1/2 lb spring you used have on function? i imagine it delays unlock longer and slows slide velocity. in theory, this would give a weak mag spring longer to elevate the next cartridge. is this correct? i don't see that 2 1/2 lbs difference would be enough to prevent the slide retracting all the way, but are there any other negative effects to be concerned about or am i better off with a heavier than standard spring?

thanks, again, guys.
 
Generally, you are best off using a 16lb spring unless you find the empties are being tossed into the next ZIP code, the slide is battering the frame, or it isn't going completely back into battery.

I went to an 18.5# spring because, after I got my gun back from Springfield, the frame/slide fit was tight enough to reduce slide velocity to the point where it wasn't returning fully to battery. The heavier spring fixed that.

I wouldn't assume that a heavier spring would automatically fix a failure to load, unless the slide was stopping just short of battery position. You can give it a shot (heeheehee) and see how it behaves, but my first guess is usually magazines. Maybe even just a Wolff extra power magazine spring to see if that helps, but a new mag entirely might just be easier.
 
that's my feeling. the recoil spring seems a little weak when i retract the slide so i figured while i was at it i would replace it. can't hurt anyway. i ordered a couple wilson mags and a couple wolff mags. i think i'll probably order a couple sa mags as well and see which ones work the best. thanks for all the help.
 
Chopinbloc, Using a heavier recoil spring will cause you to have more feeding problems if the magazine springs are not up to snuff. You have to remember that the spring works both ways - it will cause the slide to have more velocity going back into battery thus not letting the magazine have enough time to push the next round up. It's best to stick with a 16 lb spring. The Wolff magazine has the 11 lb extra power spring and proper dimpled follower in it and should take care of your magazine needs. You can order the extra power Wolff springs for replacement of your worn out mag spring...your mag does have the dimpled follower, right??

You can order an oversized firing pin stop from Brownell's and with a little careful sanding, custom fit it yourself, the EGW o/s FPS also has a squared bottom that you can put a light radius on and this will aid in delaying the slide's rearward movement (the original design) if wanted or you can put more radius for ease of racking the slide with the hammer down like a "normal" FPS. Some 600 and 800 grit sand paper laying on a flat hard surface is all you'll need to polish off a little at a time til you get it just right.

I use Cylinder & Slides extractors cause they're made of spring steel like the design calls for...however, a properly tuned Wilson Combat or Ed Brown machined steel extractor will work too. 1911Tuner has posted all the info you need on replacing these parts yourself and has guided me through the same changes....if I can do it, well, just about anyone should be able to, just go slow and check the fit often and all will be well.

Technosavant, If your frame and slide are tight enough to cause it to drag then I'd suggest that you use some of 1911Tuner's "slurry" and smooth things out...a well fit slide to frame should still operate smoothly.
 
So far I'm getting very good service from the 7-rnd Mason-Rust GI forgeries available for ~$7 ea. that have flat followers with dimple, and some "GI" 7-rnd mags from sportsmansguide.com that were ~$5 ea. and have round followers with dimple.

I also have a bunch of 8-rnd CMC "tactical" (aka shooting star) ~$10-12 ea. with flat followers and no dimple that work well in all my guns. As well as a bunch of 8-rnd Mec-Gars that were ~$10 ea and also have un dimpled flat followers..

Can't say I've tried every mag in every gun as I have enough mags to show up at the range with 500 rounds pre-loaded, but if a mag gives trouble in two guns I toss it and move on. Occasionally I'll replace a spring if the slide stops locking back, its been the cure a few times and made no difference a few times so I junked the mag and kept the spring. If a gun has trouble with multiple mags I get it fixed. Unfortunately If you only have one 1911 my QA/QC system don't work. Basically I usually only clean my guns after I've started have problems -- usually not going fully into battery or extraction/ejection failures. The 3" guns sually need cleaning every 500 rounds or so, but my full sized 1911s usually easily go 1500-2000 rounds before I have to take them down. I shoot mostly Wolf and reloads using Unique -- almost exclusively reloads until Wolf came on the market at a price I can't reload jacketed ammo to match. Wolf is definitely cleaner that the "old" Unique and maybe about the same as the "new cleaner burning" Unique.

I've had few problems beyond obviously broken minor parts that are easily replaced and none of the breakage happened at low enough round counts for me to conclude much beyond guns break eventually if you shoot them enough. I replace recoil springs only if the brass starts flying so far away I'm losing most of it in the weeds. Big believer if in "if it ain't broke don't fix it!"

Now double stack 1911 .45 mags are a whole different story for me.

--wally.
 
on recoil springs: zach, you say the standard is 16lbs for a full size, what effect does a heavier spring like the 18 1/2 lb spring you used have on function?
Click to expand...
None, that I can tell. It worked before, it works now. As stated above, the 16 lb springs were out of stock, which is why I used an 18.5.

With decent range loads (WWB, BB, etc) its stone reliable. With some of the cheaper/weaker stuff (wolf) its pretty obvious that the 2.5lbs does make a difference. But the pistol gets a steady diet of Remington Golden Sabers and runs 100% with them.

As Ken said, its probably best to stay with the standard spring, which is what is in the rest of my 1911s.
 
that's why i love this place - i almost always get lots of great advice. does anyone have a link to the thread that 1911tuner made on handfitting the firing pin stop? somehow i think i'd get quite a few hits if i searched "1911 firing pin stop hand fit." thanks.
 
Since I have only one 1911, I used the Loaded Coupon from Springfield and bought 10, blue mag for $9.00 each. Replace the factory spring with Wolff's 11# spring. these have been very reliable mags.
 
Save the ignorant- is there an easy way to mount a pad on a standard 7 rnd mag, specifically the ones that would come with a springfield from the factory? These mags (or at least one) work in my loaded model pretty well, but I hate having bloody palms when I do a reload in IDPA.

Thanks!
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Save the ignorant- is there an easy way to mount a pad on a standard 7 rnd mag, specifically the ones that would come with a springfield from the factory? These mags (or at least one) work in my loaded model pretty well, but I hate having bloody palms when I do a reload in IDPA.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If SA hasn't changes the mags, they come pre-drilled with two holes in the baseplate. You should be able to attach a "normal" baseplate to them rather easily. I think Brownell's carries the appropriate ones.

Note: I haven't installed such things on mine; I just bought CMC PowerMags that have baseplates already installed.
 
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