Mag Followers

[ken grant]

Tuner---Fuff----Dave
I have a box full of 1911 mags and am into the process of upgrading them with Wolf springs.
I am polishing the feed lips as I go and also setting the follower angle as per Hallock's book[leaving the dimples as per Tuner]
This leads into my main question!
What do I do about the DEVEL type followers?[ Colt and Shooting Star Mags]
I have about 15 of these and want to know about setting the followers on them.
Same as Hallock's book?????
Top leaf? Bottom leaf or both ??????

THANKS
Ken

 

[Black Snowman]

I'll give my worthless opinion on this one based on the magazine threads I've read and my limited personal experiance.

Do the mags work OK?
If yes, then let be.
If no then I believe replacement of the followers may be in order, although it might cost you a round of magazine capacity.

 

[Dave Sample]

DITTO! Leave the Devel followers alone. They work just fine the way they are. I have never had one problem with them. Make sure you put the spring in right so the followers will be tipped up right. I like to change mine with the Wolff +5%.

 

[1911Tuner]

2% of a Buck

Howdy Ken,

Since nobody answered your question...

Set the bottom leaf to the angle in Hallock's book. If the top
round still takes a dive, bend the upper leaf up a little more.


Now for the 2 cents worth...

I don't like the Devel follower. Had trouble out of about 1 in 5 magazines...
including Powermags... that wouldn't respond consistently to any tweaks, but were cured with a standard follower and a Wolff 11-pound spring.

I do like the Powermag's slam pad for a spare magazine. If ya get to the point that a reload is necessary, you'll need all the insurance in seating that
magazine that's available....but I still replace the followers and springs
in'em.

Your results may, of course, vary.

 

[Bill Z]

I don't understand all of these magazine problems people seem to have. Every now and then I will have one that won't lock the slide back, but I've never had to do anything other than replace a worn spring. I mostley use the CMC shooting stars, Ive got a few powermags, a dozen surplus mags and some wolffe mags, I actually go out to the range with 30 mags. They all work just fine, I've never 'tuned' a mag and have never had trouble. Maybe I've just been lucky, or had guns that were built right, I dunno.

 

[ken grant]

followers

I am not having any problems with the Devel type followers but as I am changing springs and polishing feed lips I thought I would check the follower angle
I set all my other followers to the angle in the book but didn't know about the Devels
THANKS
KEN
P.S.-----still want a TUNERIZED Commander

 

[Dave Sample]

I often wonder about people who do not have any luck with things that give me no trouble at all. Could be I am just a luvky son of a ................gun?

 

[saltydog452]

Devel followers??

A 'Devel' follower has been mentioned several times in this thread. Just how does this Devel folower differ from any of the others? I can understand why the mag fed lips are different for hardball vs. wadcutter, but other than an attempt to make a seven round mag into an eight round mag, why use anything other than original followers in a full length slide Gov't Model?

The full skirted Metalform follower would seem to be less likely to bind against the inside of the mag when moving the ammo stack up into the feed position. It seems as this might be a little faster for short slide ACPs. Or, am I mistaken?

Just as Walther PPK mags work best in Walthers, Ruger mags work best in Rugers, Glock mags in Glocks, etc. well you get the idea. What is wrong with Colt mags (and springs and followers) in Colt? There are so many aftermarket mags, springs, followers out there, a person would need his own ammunition production plant just to try out the various options in maggazine parts to find out what works in one paticular 1911.

Are all of these dfferent magazine optionsreally needed, or are they a marketing attempt for a paticular 'smith to market their own product?

salty.

 

[45auto]

Not to "muddy the waters", but has anyone field tested the Cobra mag.

As I understand it, the mags allows the casing to sit "higher", more inline feeding, and has more internal "room" for a heavy 8 round spring.

On paper, they sound like a true improvement....extra insurance??

But, my 1911's are not magazine sensitive...had very good performance with CMC and Wilson.

 

[1911Tuner]

Cobra

Howdy 45Auto,

I've tried two of'em. I like the design of the follower better than the 47D
because there's metal where it needs to be. Other than that, I wasn't too impressed with either. The springs were too light to provide the needed oomph needed to get the last round into position in time to meet the slide,
and neither one would lock the slides reliably on several of my pistols...
pistols which lock without fail on all my other magazines.

A better spring and a redesigned slidestop shelf would improve it a lot.
I know that Tripp offers followers with those shelves set at different heights...and that allows a little tuning...but setting one at the correct height would solve the problem neatly without having to order two
more followers for each magazine.

I swapped a standard stamped, 7-round follower into the worst one,
along with a Wolff spring. Voila! Flawless function.

The tubes are high-quality and well made...and would make for some very good magazines if the spring and follower issue was remedied, although they fed like grease thru a goose until the last round had a turn. Bolt-over-base feeds abounded...but all my guns are tuned to feed, so that's not a real test. The cost per copy is way too high, though. 15 dollars cheaper would make them more attractive.

'Bout all I can tell ya with only two examples examined and tested.

 

[45auto]

Hi Tuner,
Thanks for the info.

Do you feel the "higher" placement of the bullet is a "worthy" change?
Wilson also makes this claim. Straighter shot into the chamber...less bouncing up and down...so to speak. Assuming the correct spring and follower.

OR "much ado about nothing"?

Others use a higher mag catch I am told using the standard mag. JP enterprises and STI I believe.

To a NON gunsmith, such as myself, it sounds like a good idea, i.e. straighter shot into the chamber, but as you have outlined in many posts, sometimes "screwing" with a certain part affects another.

 

[1911Tuner]

Worthy

45Auto asked:

Do you feel the "higher" placement of the bullet is a worthy change?
_____________________

Not unless something is out of spec within the pistol that requires the cartridge placement to be higher. There have been some few guns with maddening stem-bind problems that being able to put the round higher in the well would have been a godsend in that the problem would have a lot simpler and faster to cure. Of course, reverting back to a standard magazine would have produced the same problem. If you can always be sure of having a proprietary magazine for a particular gun, you're golden. If the magazine(s) are lost or damaged, you have an unreliable pistol. There's also the chance that not even all the "special" magazines will work as designed due to variations in dimensions and tolerances.

The mag catch placement is also wrought with Murphy. Some magazines will lock into place and other, seemingly identical magazines won't. It's
still possible to modify a magazine to work in that sort of system fairly easily, but sometimes the time and the equipment is difficult to arrange when it's needed.

Both good ideas, but both band-aid cures...and neither is a substitute for
setting the gun up to feed correctly. Rule of thumb: If a given gun will
only work reliably with one brand or type of magazine, it's time to look
closer at the gun itself, assuming that the other magazines tested aren't junk. Conversely, if a gun will work with about any decent magazine that you try, except for one certain brand or style...the problem is probably
with the magazines...and basing a call on just one magazine's performance...or even on two...isn't a reliable yardstick. When I've checked out a dozen Cobras, I'll have a little better idea about their performance.

Luck!

Tuner

 

[1911WB]

Cobra mags

Tuner- have you tried replacing the Cobra mag spring with a Wolff +5%? Just wonder if that would cure the problems you mentioned.

 

[1911Tuner]

Spring Things

1911WB asked:

Have you tried replacing the Cobra mag spring with a Wolff +5%?

I tried using the 11-pound Wolff springs with the OEM follower, but it didn't
pan out. The shape and dimensions of the follower require a proprietary spring to even get under it correctly. Sorta like the Metalform round followers. The standard Wolff springs aren't compatible with those either.
Pretty sure that Wolff makes a spring that will work though...I just didn't have any on hand.

 

[Dave Sample]

Boy, am I glad I use CMC magazines. I just joined another gun club I won't shoot at so I had better order some more soon! The people are pals of mine and I want to support the Club. Who knows? Mabe I will shoot some matches again and let everyone out shoot me with the guns I tweaked for them.

 

[cowpuncher/pi]

Mr. Steve Camp has posted a review, on most of the forums, of the Cobra replacement mag kit. Spring and follower. I have used the Cobra mags. Nary a problem. I like the powermag just as well. I had some problems with the wolff. I don't like Wilson anything. Tripp research has a interesting site. His is doing the chrome thing again. I'm sure most of you guys knew that. By the way, I have enjoyed the exchange of ideas here. Much better than the thing at the other 1911 club. Thanks and regards