With the upcoming WA State magazine ban going into effect shortly, I’ve been buying mags for guns I may want in the future.

I’ve been trying to figure out which 2011 magazine is compatible with the most brands of guns, but I’m getting mixed signals from the info out there. A lot of it is pretty old too. What’s the current consensus?

I’m not partial to any manufacturer. I’m even pretty happy with my cheap single stack RIA 9mm, but I do appreciate nice high-end guns too.

There's 2011 magazine and there's the Para/Caspian Double Stack mags. They're both two different platforms. As far as 2011s go, the factory Checkmate mags are the least expensive and fine unless you're heavy into competition and need the special mag followers.

MBX and Atlas claim wide compatibility among 2011s.

Note that P-O/Remington/RIA, Caspian, and Bul are not 2011s, not interchangeable with 2011 or each other.

DanH: I did not know Checkmate made 2011 magazines and cannot find them on their www. You got a link? Or are you saying they make tubes for name brands to assemble magazines on?

If you're talking STI pattern guns, I would take a look at Triarc. I believe they sell their 126mm (17 round 9mm that lock back) magazines for $45 or so (when in stock). They are unquestionably the same OEM as STI/Staccato (identical markings and followers).

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
If you're talking STI pattern guns, I would take a look at Triarc. I believe they sell their 126mm (17 round 9mm that lock back) magazines for $45 or so (when in stock). They are unquestionably the same OEM as STI/Staccato (identical markings and followers).

Good to know. Even their coated magazines are $20 cheaper per mag than STI or Dawson sells them.

Thanks for the heads up!

Bought a box of 2011 parts a while back.

The best mags of the bunch were from SVI. Thought about getting more.

Triarc would be the way to go.

Thanks for the replies!

What I’m learning is that I may have to buy a couple of different sets if I really want to cover the bases.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
If you're talking STI pattern guns, I would take a look at Triarc.

I didn’t know there was an STI-specific pattern, to be honest. I was under the impression that all double-stack 1911s were called “2011s” but I can see that’s not the case now.

It's the AR-10 of the pistol world. Essentially two versions of the same gun. STI pattern frames and Para Ordnance pattern frames. One can make an STI pattern mag work in a Para frame, but not the other way around.

I'm not sure what the new BUL Armory guns use for mags other than it's not STI pattern.

Just to follow up, I ended up getting mags from Triarc on sale. I had no luck finding any for the Para/RIA pattern so I might’ve missed the boat on that. Thanks for the help on this one, guys!