M1911A1 Mags

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Slater

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Which ones seem to be the best and which ones (if any) should be avoided?
 
Wilson the best, I prefer steel basepads. Chip McCormick pretty good, the ten rounders are nice until the plastic gets beat up and you over-insert one. Wilson 10's are the best. Shooting Star pretty good. Factory? Maybe.

Avoid? Anything cheap at a gunshow. Many old USGI mags run great, but it's hard to pick them out of a line-up.
 
Many people will suggest Wilson Rogers, others will say Chip McCormick. Others, like I, will say Metalform: 7 round, stainless steel body, round top follower, and welded base.

You should buy at least a a pair from each brand to do your own tests.
 
Colt horse marked mags have been 100% for me in all calibers I've used including 9mm, 10mm, 40 S&W, 38 Special, Super 38, and 45 ACP.
 
I'm running a mix of 7- and 8-round Wilson Combats right now in my Kimber, but have used Chip McCormick's in the past, too, with great success. Another brand I'm interested in sampling is Wolff.
 
I have more Wilson 47Ds than anything else...I must be getting old...I raised this question in a similar fashion awhile back...I have a hogedpodge of 7 and 8 rdrs...I just make sure they run the gun everytime, inspect and maintain...since they all do- I grab whatever's handy and use them. I decided to quit worrying about everything...I never believed in 'buying' skill and targets...I 'm getting really back to simple and redundant...
Just get a good pair of smooth jaw needle nose pliers pliers..."magazine adjusting tool..." I use Lindstroms' for this...
 
I have 7 & 8 round Wilson mags but I've had the best most consistent performance from the 7 round mags.

As for which ones to stay away from...I have yet to find a 10 round mag that has been 100% reliable ;)
 
I've had 50/50 experience with metalform horse ("M" on one corner) marked Colt's magazines. Two I played with wouldn't run in any gun I put them in. Another two worked perfectly.

Factory Colt ("c" marked with horse) runs 100%
So do some supposedly imported from Israel. Very, very strong springs. Rust resistant mag bodies and dirt cheap. Older imports have ".45 ACP 7 RDS" on the left side. Newer ones have a Star of David and "J.O. ISRAEL ARMS" on the left side.

I've decided not to keep magazines that don't run. They screw up twice that I can trace to the magazine, I put 'em downrange. I've only had to deal with one mag this way.
 
I've got a bunch of Chip McCormick Shooting Star mags that mave never let me down. In 8 round blued flavor, they are very affordable also. I've also got a pair of MecGars that seem reliable and well made but not too many rounds through those yet. Mec Gar does make the OEM factory mags for a lot of guns.

I picked up a big stack of cheap 7 round surplus mags from www.aspitactical.com strictly for range use only. These have been completely reliable except for one that never worked from day one.
 
I think this question is worded wrong. The question should be, "What 1911 type magazines should I avoid?" To that I would simply add, avoid gun show bargains. If you must buy them, relegate them to the range only.
 
I've found that Metalform's "low capacity" magazines (7 round in .45, 8 round in 10mm) work well. Factory Colt mags work well. The best 8-round .45 magazines I've found are Wilsons, but the 1 CMC PowerMag I tried worked well too. The best 10mm magazines I've found are the Colt or Metalform 8-rounders with rounded metal followers. I'm going to try out some Mec-Gars soon too, since I've got a new 10mm that needs plenty of mags. :D
 
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