Wilson vs McCormick

[denfoote]

Soooooo. Just as I feared, this has as much of a chance of coming to a definite conclusion as the endless 9mm vs .45ACP debates that we used to have so much fun with over at TFL.

I also guess the likelihood of they're being a concrete engineering based difference between these two is pretty much nil. :banghead:

I probably will end up buying one of each, shooting the heck out of both and finding out for myself!!

 

[Al Thompson]

Interestingly enough, my Kimber chokes with Wilson mags and 200 gr LSWCs. Everything else feeds fine through the Wilsons. Shooting Stars and the 200 gr LSWCs work just fine.

 

[mattk]

The differences

Wilson mags use a slightly thicker and stronger steel. McCormick mags have a tendency to become deformed with hard use(dropped on concrete floors, sandy areas, boardwalks, you know IPSC stuff). The biggest problem with McCormick's is that the feed lips will splay apart slightly and catch empties that that are being extracted from the chamber. I have about 20 1911 mags most are Wilson but I have 8 CMC Power Mags. All the Power mags have had this feed lip deformation. Only one of the Wilsons has had this happen. Its easy to fix but can be a pain if you havent shot your 1911 in awhile and dont check your mags before the load and make ready command.

 

[Sean Smith]

Here is as objective a take on it as I can come up with:

No one mag is "ideal." The Wilson mags have plastic followers that can wear out, but arguably the strongest mag bodies out there. And the solid follower does have the advantage that it doesn't slip & slide around the mag body. CMC PowerMag 8's have stronger springs, but the flat follower can slide around, and they arguably don't have the long-term durability track record of the Wilsons (not counting the follower of course). MecGar magazines have a flat follower design, but the shape of it keeps it from sliding around the mag body as easily as the "shooting star" follower in all the CMC mags. If you only want 7 rounds, the Metalform round-top follower is probably the best there is, it has the advantages of the Wilson follower except that it is made of steel, not plastic. But both the Mec-Gar and the Metalform mag bodies seem flimsier than the Wilson or PowerMags.

If you were crazy enough to try to build a "perfect" mag, I'd guess that the way to go would be to take a Wilson mag body, a CMC PowerMag-8 spring, a Mec-Gar follower and a Wilson low-profile steel base pad. You'd have the strongest spring for an 8 rounder, the toughest mag body, a metal follower that wouldn't slide around, and a base pad that won't break like the standard plastic ones. For a 7 rounder, do the same thing but use a Wolff XP 7-round spring and a round Metalform follower.

Go for it, I'm just going to use Wilsons.

 

[sm]

denfoote...

I'm sorry, didn't mean to contribute to confusion. Best I figure some of this gun stuff is "about" as bad as trying to figure out the opposite sex...I say 'about' because I still think guns are easier...less finicky...expensive...tempermental...Feel better now?

Weird, got a call this morning, someone referred to my gunsmith ordered a bunch of 47 D's , wants to trade for some of my CMC 8 rds. Reason? He has a Marilin camp gun and 47D's won't work, his gun likes the CMC better...main reason...whomever he last attended a training class said to use these. OK, so I'll use 47 D's for 95% , sides these are NEW mine are used...gee not often I get a good deal. Gunsmith has them--yep the real deal with reciept and all. Same guy whom spent 10 k on guns last year because whatever training camp he attended said to use this or that, changes guns everytime...buying targets.

47D's dominate the mags for me it seems ( or will shortly)