Jump to content
Practically Shooting

Best 1911 Magazines


BarryinIN

Recommended Posts

Commonly heard question, whether in a gun shop, on the range, or online:

What's the best 1911 magazine?

If you ask 12 people, you might get six different answers. If it comes up on a forum, holy cow, the forum will light up with responses.

Most of them will say "Wilson" (which only narrows it down to four basic models and several more sub-models), with some McCormick Power Mag fans, the occasional Tripp Cobra Mag connoisseur, and always some guy saying that nothing but gen-yoo-ine GI will do, even though odds are they have never seen an actual USGI magazine.

Besides the fact it's hard to say anything is "best" without having tried everything available, there is another problem with answering this question. You can't tell the guy what mag is best for his gun without shooting his gun. You just can't.

What works well in one gun might not work well in another.

There have been dozens of 1911 manufacturers.

There have been dozens of 1911 magazine manufacturers.

They have made millions of guns and magazines.

Not every combination will be a perfect match, even if most might.

No single magazine will work in every gun either.

The Wilsons are wonderful. Specifically, the 47 series is the type everyone is familiar with and has sold by the barge load. They have worked great in almost every 1911 I've had.

But not in all.

I've had two Springfields that wouldn't lock open on the 8-rd version. They fed fine, but wouldn't lock open when empty. The 7-rd ones did. I've seen some other SAs that did the very same thing. Still, they were the exception.

Every other 1911 I've owned, and most I've seen used with them ran fine.

Most guns like them, but some do not.

Chip McCormick Power Mags came out a few years ago and are way better than their old Shooting Star and "Match" models. The Springfields I had that didn't lock open on the Wilsons locked open fine on the Power Mags. I have had no trouble with them in any of my guns, and I use them for carry. But some people I shoot IDPA and IPSC with say they have had trouble in their guns.

Most guns like them, but some do not.

Colt factory mags can come from various sources, but usually seem to be Metalform. Most of these have been OK with me, but not always. It depends on the gun.

Most guns like them, but some do not.

Ed Brown sells a magazine or two. I don't know if he makes it or buys it with his name put on it. I have one and it works fine in all my guns, but I have heard others rank it below the Wilsons. There you go.

Most guns like them, but some do not.

ACT is an Italian company that made the first S&W 1911 mags, and maybe they still do. I have two, and while they feed fine, they are just a little wider than normal and stick in the magwell of some guns when released.

Most guns like them, but some do not.

And on it goes.

My point is, if you buy a new 1911, try a brand of magazine before buying a bunch of them. You may hear Magazine A is the best in the world, but don't order a bucketful before trying any of them or you may be stuck with a bucketful of expensive magazines that "mostly work". You might have had great luck with that mag in another gun 10 years ago, but that doesn't mean it will go well now in the new one.

It is slower, and may cost a bit at first, but I'd suggest buying one each of as many good brands as you can, trying them, then getting more of what the gun tells you to get. If it likes them all, get the one that's five cents cheaper or has a more rounded base pad that doesn't gouge your side as bad.

If nothing else, it might keep you from being another guy who curses 1911s as clunkers "even after buying the best magazine money could buy".

Try before you buy, or at least before you buy in quantity. What's the best 1911 magazine? The one that works in your gun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, you never know. Guns do what they want to do.

I have 1911s that work with any mag, and mags that work in any 1911. And I have some guns that don't like one brand, and mags that don't like one gun. With all the guns and mags out there, it's bound to happen.

The reason I brought it up was because I see people come on forums who just got their first 1911 asking what mags to buy, and everybody and their brother suggest their favorites

What happens when he buys $150-200 of "the best" mags and those happen to be the ones his gun doesn't like? I know what happens sometimes: He trades the gun off and spends the next few years cutting down 1911s because he had one that wouldn't work "even with the best magazines". And thus the legend of "problematic" 1911s gets perpetuated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speaking of the Springfield mags:

I don't know if they still do, but the SA Loadeds used to come with an orange sheet listing things you could buy at a discount within a certain time after buying the gun. One item was the cheapo blued 7-rd magazines, that you could get for something like seven bucks.

I wish I had got a bunch of those. They aren't fancy, the finish can rust if not careful, aren't eight rounders, don't have base pads, etc, etc, but they work in my guns and are great for practice where they get dumped on the ground and walked on.

Hittman, you may be the first I've heard of who likes Kimber mags. It just goes to show you never know what works well in someone's guns.

Are these the plain ones or KimPro?

I have some of the plain ones that came with guns, and I know some don't like them. Whether that's from an anti-Kimber bias, they just think they look cheap, or if they actually used them I don't know. I would rate them as fair, or maybe good, but not great. I've never had any KimPro mags because they cost as much as, or more than, the Power Mags I have good luck with so don't tempt fate trying them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...