On 07/31/09 I emailed Chad with CProducts and requested he mail me some 8-round 1911 magazines.  I told him I wanted to test them to see how they stack up against the 7-round Wilson Combat mags I usually use.  I told Chad I would post a fair and impartial review of the magazines here and mail the mags back once I was finished.  Chad was nice enough to ship me two magazines, which I received on 08/06/09, and he told me to keep them when I was done.  Pretty nice I'd say, to send magazines to a complete stranger for free on the assumption they will test and post a review.

Well I am a man of my word, so here is my review, but first, some pics of what was sent:



Like I said, I received 2 stainless finish 8-round magazines on 08/06.  I put both mags in my Baer TRS (>500 rounds fired) and checked to see if they'd lock back the slide on empty.  Both mags fed smoothly into the mag well and locked firmly in place (when empty) and both mags locked the slide back and ejected smoothly.  I noticed a few things at this point, both positive and negative.

Positive: Unlike the Wilson mags, which show part of the mag body below the magazine well, only the base pad is visible when the CProducts mag is inserted.  Not a big deal, but I don't really like how you can see a tiny bit of silver peaking through when using Wilson mags w/o a enlarged magazine well.  I usually just bypass this by using black magazines.  

Wilson Magazine:


CProducts Magazine:


Negative: The in service handgun training I taught for my PD on 08/05 and again today, 08/12 incorporated one-handed malfunction drills.  It helps to have a magazine with a bit of a lip on the base pad for clearing a double feed malfunction one handed, well...even two handed.  Not to mention, every now and again, a magazine just won't fall free when the release is pushed, which requires stripping the magazine out of the pistol.  This is also easier done with a bit of a lip on the base pad.

The Wilson mag's base pad extends slightly beyond the front strap of my Baer.  The CProducts mag's base pad is recessed slightly behind the front strap.  This makes is impossible to clear a double feed one handed as there is nothing on the magazine to hook or snag to remove the mag.  It is also harder to strip the magazine from the pistol then with the Wilson mags.  I sold my factory Baer mags for this same reason.  I would not carry these magazines on duty because of the base pads.  I tried putting a Wilson base pad on the CProducts mag.  Using the Wilson's base pad locking plate, the base pad would lock onto the mag, but the mag wouldn't slide far enough into the pistol to lock into place.

Also, the finish on the supplied CProducts mags is bling bling shiny.  Too reflective for duty use.  My stainless Wilson mags are more of a dull finish which doesn't reflect the light as bad.  If one were to use CProducts magazines for duty I would recommend getting them in black.  

Wilson Base pad:


CProducts Base pad:


On 08/06 I loaded the CProducts mags to their 8-round capacity.  One magazine loaded easily, the other was much harder.  It felt like the follower was too big for the magazine body and the 8th round was especially difficult to load.  Once loaded, I tried seating the magazines with the slide closed.  I found it took a very, very hard smack on the bottom of the magazine to get the magazine to fully seat.  This is something I had not encountered with other 8-round 1911 magazines.

I left the magazines loaded until 08/11.  I unloaded the magazines and checked to see if they would lock the slide back on my Baer.  NOPE.  Not at all.  I tried ripping the slide back and pulling it back every so slowly to see if the slide stop moved up at all.  Nothing.  In looking inside the ejection port it appeared as if the followers were not even touching the slide lock.  Not good.  I'm disappointed the springs took such a set in 5 days time.  I pulled the mags apart and stretched the springs a bit and put them back together and tried again.  This time they both locked the slide back...but barely.  The slide lock was about 50% engaged with each magazine.  Using a 7-round Wilson magazine I'd had for 3 years, which was carried loaded the entire time with the exception of quarterly qualifications, the magazine would fully engage the slide lock each time.

Wilson Mag's slide lock engagement:


CProducts Mag's slide lock engagement:


Once at the range, I loaded up the mags and put about 50 rounds through each magazine.  I'd wanted to do more but time restraints wouldn't allow.  Each magazine fed smoothly.  They were still a pain to load, despite the weakened springs.  Each magazine was still difficult to seat on a closed slide.  Each mag locked the slide back albeit only with 50% engagement.  

Once home, I tested the slide locking abilities of each magazine again.  Each magazine again failed to lock back the slide.   I did a side-by-side comparison of my 7-round Wilson mag with the CProducts mag.  The Wilson has a longer tube then the CProducts.  It seems CProducts was trying to cram alot into a little, which I think accounts for the difficult loading.


I pulled the mags apart and compared the mag springs.  The Wilson's spring is significantly longer the CProducts.  I think this accounts for the Wilson being more reliable in the slide lock function.  

CProducts:


Wilson:


Wilson top, CProducts bottom:


Followers compared.  The CProducts follower is made of what appears to be a more brittle plastic then Wilson's.  The lack of flex caused plastic shavings to come off when I was trying to get the follower pack into the magazine tube.  

Wilson bottom, CProducts top:


The following pics are just some side-by-side comparisons of the Wilson and CProducts magazines:






In summary...I'm not impressed.  For a 1911 magazine's spring to take such a set over the course of 5-days is unacceptable.  Additionally, I like the presence of a lip on the base pad that extends past the front strap.  I'll not gripe about the magazine's finish as its just a personal choice.  For the $$, which isn't alot, I can purchase a $13 Springfield 7-round magazine from Brownells or Midway that functions 100%, I've had a ton and they're all great.  I'll stick with those and my higher cost Wilson's, simply because they've never failed.

As Chad was kind enough to send me the magazines to test, I'd like to pass them along to someone else on the condition that if you don't keep them, you send them along to someone at no cost rather than selling them.  First person to IM me with an address will get them at no cost to you. Adirondack47 asked first, so the mags are going to him.

If your looking for a good 8rd mag that sounds like what youre looking for the ACT PSI 8rd mags for $13.50 at Brownells are the best deal going. I prefer them over the Wilson actually. Check them out.

any macro setting on ur camera?


nice review though, thanks

Yeah, I need to break out the camera manual, not very good at the pics.

Adirondack47 asked first, so the mags are going to be passed on to him.

They've gone up a few dollars recently to $24.35/$15.70 - SKU #:625-000-030

I seem to recall some past reports of issues with cracking/failing baseplates though - not sure if this is an issue that still exists or if it has been corrected.

Ive got a well worked over Miller Custom Springer that Im gonna run the CP mags through to see how they work. I run Wilson ETM's & 47D's as well as Kimber & Mec Gar 8 rounders through the gun routinely without issue (to this point of course) so I think I have a pretty good baseline to judge them by. Stay tuned for more in a couple weeks

Hopefully your camera-fu is better than mine

I emailed a link to this thread to Chad with CProducts, we'll see if he chimes in on the magazine spring issue.

First off I would like to thank operator81 for taking the time to evaluate and post his findings. Honest results and honest feedback are how a company can improve their products. This report is in the hands of Engineering, where we will evaluate it and make the proper changes necessary to make it the best magazine on the market.
As of right now I do not have any answers only questions as you guys do, but we have the best metal engineer in the world and we will get it resolved.  I will post our findings and when we are finished I will send operator81 another magazine to evaluate at that point.



PS. As for the spring issue, this is one of many things we will take a look at, and it would not be appropriate to comment on it as I am far from an engineer. I will however share our findings once it becomes available.


Chad

They still sound like a decent range mag for the price. Good 8rd mags are few and far between at even twice the price. Id leave them as is for the price and offer them for sale with a metal follower and Wolff spring upgrade for an upcharge.

Just telling you what Id like to see available from a 1911 mag company.

Fix those problems and I'd be happy to test a couple Rev. B mags.

I don't own any CProducts mags but if the spring situation gets fixed I might consider some 8 round 1911 mags.

Really? I get mags in the $10 range all the time from CDNN that work perfect.

CProductsChad, it's great that you are letting individuals test these mags and that you are very responsive to their feedback, but I have to ask why did you guys release these mags without thorough testing? Of the two reports here, both have had issues with the mags.

I'm sure in time and with more testing you'll get the issues ironed out, but just wondering.......

CProductsChad, it's great that you are letting individuals test these mags and that you are very responsive to their feedback, but I have to ask why did you guys release these mags without thorough testing? Of the two reports here, both have had issues with the mags.

I'm sure in time and with more testing you'll get the issues ironed out, but just wondering.......




If you comb through the threads on here you will find many people who we sent magazines to did not experience any issues and loved the magazines. We sent these out to regular customers trying to get some honest feedback on this product, which we did. Now we will go back to the drawing board and see if we can't get this mag perfected. We thought we had all the bugs worked out on our end from the testing we did but we were wrong. Now we need to figure out what is working in some and not in others. There is always room for improvement.


Chad

These are the kind of issues that only show up in extensive testing. I give CProducts kudos for doing this.

Here's my modest write-up, as posted in the original thread on the CProducts mags:
Larry sent me 2 mags, a Blued one and a Stainless one.





Right out of the box, I noticed the Blued one had a follower that would bind up after being pushed down about 1/2".





The stainless one seemed to function fine.

Finally got to try 'em today, in a TRP Operator and a Kimber Pro Raptor 4"





Blued one: Would not lock back slides, sticky follower, I'm not sure if
the body is bent or what, but it would not drop free out of my guns, as
a matter of fact, I had to pry it out of my TRP.





Stainless one: Worked fine for about 120 rounds, that's all I had time
for. Slides locked back every time, no problems encountered.






Blued one, stuck in the TRP Operator.








Stuck follower on the Blued one.






Stainless one, no problems noted.

I'm betting the blue ones aren't "blued", but Duracoated, or simular substance? That would explain the stuck follower and the sticking in the TRP. I don't like useing any paint like product on my guns because it builds up the tolerances and causes jamming.

I'll check that out when I get home tonight. Hadn't thought about that.




 

I wasn't aware of many other test reviews other than the two posted here. If you have a reference to them I'd be interested in reading. Good luck on revising the magazines.  

I fail to see how you feel these issues only show up in extensive testing.

Good grief...

These problems were caught in beta testing by outside sources that was more extensive than their internal testing.

There –– was that so hard?

I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, but if the two reviews here are more, as you say "extensive than their internal testing", I have to wonder what kind of testing C Products actually did. That's all I'm saying.







Operator81 had the mags for 5 days and fired 50 rds through each. Monkey Wrench had problems right out the box. I hardly call that extensive.

Well, that's between you and CProducts since I only know of these guys requesting mags from CProducts to test, and posting their results.

If I had more time I'd request some myself to use in my 1911s. Maybe you should too - the more testers with a wide variety of guns, the better.

Cheers.

I applaud(sp) CProducts for sending mags out for testing to regular customers. They could be like a lot of mag makers, and just turn out garbage to the public. This shows their commitment to producing quality, and building strong relationships with their customers.

Anymore updates on these mags?

I was told publically by Larry Panka that I would be getting mags for review on this forum.  They never showed up.  

good review sir, thanks

too bad about the mags though