Threads on 1911 mag preference recycle every few months. The answers vary little from year to year, with the usual suspects being predominantly mentioned.

I've used the mags that came with Colt, Kimber, Brown, and Wilson 1911s. All of these mags worked perfectly. I've purchased additional mags from Wilson when they were on sale, and all of these have worked perfectly, too. To me, the Wilsons seem to load and eject a little more smoothly.

A number of manufacturers have the 1911 magazine production thingie down now, given that the design has been around for just a few years. Pick what works for you.

I've had good luck with the Novak/ACT magazines that came with my GSRs. I think more important than what brand you choose depends on your particular 1911. Not all 1911s like all magazines, even quality ones like Wilson. Once you find a brand that works well with your individual 1911, then I think it's safe to stock up on that particular brand.

I used to swear by Pachmayr magazines. Then I found out my Colt Special Combat didn't like the slide stop shelf on the Pachmayr followers. I switched to Wilson and the Shooting Star mags (which came with the pistol from the factory) and never had a problem since. When I got into GSRs, I was turned on to the Novaks and I've had really good luck with them.

I really like Wilson Combat mags. Never had a problem with any of them and so I’ve never found a reason to roam.

I do own a few Mec-Gar mags for the range and I also really like those. I’ve shot enough rounds through them that I’d trust my life to them but since I’ve got enough Wilson’s I’ve never carried the Mec-Gar.

Kimber mags and McCormick shooting stars are fine. Range only for me though as I’ve had failures with both. And I’ve got a lone Colt mag that’s never failed me and for a long time it was my only mag. It’s seen a lot of use.

Metalform stainless 7rd, with flush welded baseplates, and rounded metal followers.

I won't bother with anything else, after having tried them all, or most at least..

Various companies use or have used these, including Ed Brown.

My least favorite popular ones are the Wilson 47D. They're cheaply made, by comparison, and I've never understood their popularity. Plus I can't stand plastic baseplates or the other types of followers.

I generally use Wilson. Almost all of the newer magazines from top end makers will perform as advertised. I prefer the Wilson magazines because all magazines wear out. When my Wilson magazines start to fail, I ship them back to Wilson. They in turn, based on their lifetime warranty, send me brand new ones. Expensive? Yes. But it can be a once in a lifetime purchase.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mlazarus,

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
Threads on 1911 mag preference recycle every few months. The answers vary little from year to year, with the usual suspects being predominantly mentioned.

I've used the mags that came with Colt, Kimber, Brown, and Wilson 1911s. All of these mags worked perfectly. I've purchased additional mags from Wilson when they were on sale, and all of these have worked perfectly, too. To me, the Wilsons seem to load and eject a little more smoothly.

A number of manufacturers have the 1911 magazine production thingie down now, given that the design has been around for just a few years. Pick what works for you.

Possibly because manufacturers change and quality of a given maker can change. It seems there are always some people who have had issues with products others swear by.

If enough people swear by mags they have used extensively, it's a better endorsement. I've used most of the mags others have brought up, but light use.

I'm checking to see what is out there I might not know about, or what might have changed.

A year or so ago, Gun Tests did a year long test of 1911 magazines. As I recall, they did everything from leaving magazines loaded for the year to drop tests, etc. Wilson scored at the top but their best buy was Mec-Gar which as I recall, performed just as well as the best Wilson mag for substantially less $$$.

I’ll see if I can find the article. It was one of their few tests of late that I thought was really well done.

I use Wilson ETM mags with the low profile steel base plates and they work great in my CQB and Les Baer P-II. Have half a dozen of these, and also some of the 47Ds which work fine.

Wilson Combat -- anything else seems to be a certain level of gamble...

never, ever, had any trouble from the 1911 mags that came with my Colts, new or used. I did have some trouble with FTF on Wilsons.

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
A year or so ago, Gun Tests did a year long test of 1911 magazines. As I recall, they did everything from leaving magazines loaded for the year to drop tests, etc. Wilson scored at the top but their best buy was Mec-Gar which as I recall, performed just as well as the best Wilson mag for substantially less $$$.

I’ll see if I can find the article. It was one of their few tests of late that I thought was really well done.

I shot Single stack USPSA with the 8 round Mecgar .45 mags, hybrid follower, for a long time. Dropping them on gravel, sand concrete, etc. probably 5-7k rounds have been through each mag.

They have been flawless.

I also bought metalform 8 round mags with the metal follower last year. The metalform mags have issues with the follower tipping and not locking back with less than a year of use, probably 2k rounds each.

Interesting. I have thousands of rounds through the 7rd Metalforms, all good.

MecGar in 7, 8 & 10 rd = No problems

I assume top 1911 shops would not want to include questionable magazines with their guns.

Wilson has their own mags
Nighthawk has ACT-MAG
Les Baer has their own
Ed Brown not sure

SIG used NOVAK/ACT-MAG with the GSR, then went to Checkmate which some people at the time thought were cheap mags. But Dan Wesson also uses them. As I recall there were some complaints about the mag bodies splitting on the SIG NOVAKs though I never had any issues.

Dan Wesson Checkmate. They have used Chip McCormick when they first started out in 2002 "after much research". Then some Mec-Gar for 10mm I believe, also some Metalform for 10mm.

Mec-Gar seems to be almost ubiquitous for SIG and other makers in the non-1911 arena. ACT-MAG makes the P220 .45 mags I believe as well as the 10mm mags I have.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
Interesting. I have thousands of rounds through the 7rd Metalforms, all good.

Ditto. I have several years of USPSA on my Metalforms without issue. They have U snapped followers and I don't see how they can tip?

The McCormick's L shaped followers would do that to me, "tip" , stick out past the front of the magazine and refuse to drop free. All the time, which is why I got rid of them.

I have been underwhelmed by Wilson magazines in my experience. I have tried 3 47d’s and 1ETM.

The first 47d worked well and is in my freinds ammo bag now. Good mag.

The second 47d caused intermitted feed failures but that was in a fairly shitty Springfield that was not relable anyway, call that test inconclusive. However I remember Mas Ayoobs claim that using a Wilson Mag often will make a balky 1911 reliable. Horse shit. That Springer sucked both before and while using the Wilson mag.

The third 47d was defective and could not be loaded to capacity without binding. By the the time the 5th round was in the mag the bullet would orient upwards to such an angle that it would not feed. That one was junk.

The only feed failre I ever got from a relaible 1911 was with the ETM. Ditched it after that range session.

On the other hand the 20 or so KimPro 7 tactical round magazines work well in my 2 kimbers and 3 Colts.

The three Metalform Elite 8 rounders i have are also working reliably but I have not shot them that extensively yet.

Checkmate or Metalform for me.

Wilson Combats

I have a couple of Colt mags, one Les Baer, and a Wilson, the other eighth magazines are the cheapest Metalform magazines I could find.

I shot on a Indoor Bullseye league that required five rounds per mag, having twelve mags allowed me to shoot the match without having to reload a magazine.

All magazines ran flawlessly.

I don't know about most reliable, but I have several Check Mate magazines that I've used for several years with zero issues.