Posted: 8/4/2011 9:22:54 PM EDT
| Who/Where is the best place to purchase high quality 1911 mags at this time? Any recomendations of which mags are the best? |
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Midway. They always have a sale on CMC mags, it seems.  Midway indeed. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=566190 Just had two of these show up, going to run 200 rounds through them in the morning. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=720215 I really like when these are on sale. |
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Tripp Research Cobra Mags are going to be pretty hard to beat.
Wilson Combat 47D's CMC Powermags I also like old school MetalForms with the Dimpled follower for range use. As they say, arm yourself with knowledge. Look into the different feed lip profiles, and various spring/follower combinations, and you will become expert on what you want and need in a 1911 magazine. I've found the Hybrid tubes, with Tripp Flex Followers, and Wolff XP springs give an excellent feel to the magazine. Solid and smooth as butter. |
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There's doesn't work, crap mags. Ok, they work most of the time mags. Factory, GI style mags that will feed most types of ammunition. There's an over sized mag that's on sale at MidwayUSA all the time. Both Wilson and Tripp make updates for them if'in that tells ya somethin. There's new and improved GI kinda mags with good spring and followers that work well. Then there' s high end, high quality magazines that ride high in magwell, designed around every type 45acp cartridge available commercially and tremendously improve controlled feed cycle of 1911.
Unfortunately this forum fails in distinction and opts instead for a Kolor of the month or on sale this week magazine. True magazine quality is rarely discussed and why one would want one over the other. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
| As another poster suggested, buy ONE magazine of a type, shoot the piss out of it and see if your pistol likes it. If so, get more. If not, ditch it and try another type. When you find one that works well be sure to test it with whatever ammo you intend to carry. |
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Flavor of the month.
Good magazine, has thin tubes.47d, 8 rounders have weak spring tension compared to 7 round 47d magazine. Better magazines made and Bill Wilson will agree. But, hey ! You can catch a sale every now and then and stock up. Not being an ass here. Just asking why ? Why is that your choice for magazine ? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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As another poster suggested, buy ONE magazine of a type, shoot the piss out of it and see if your pistol likes it. If so, get more. If not, ditch it and try another type. When you find one that works well be sure to test it with whatever ammo you intend to carry. Really ? Which magazine to buy first ? Start at what price end ? How do I arm myself with facts so I can make good buying decisions ? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: Regardless of any magazines's reputation, make sure that they work well with your particular gun before buying them in quantity. Egg-zactly! I have a Colt Combat Commander that refuses to function with Wilson 47Ds. Those same mags run 100% in my S&W. Do some testing; figure out what the gun likes first, then figure out which of those mags YOU like, then proceed to stock up. |
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Regardless of any magazines's reputation, make sure that they work well with your particular gun before buying them in quantity. Egg-zactly! I have a Colt Combat Commander that refuses to function with Wilson 47Ds. Those same mags run 100% in my S&W. Do some testing; figure out what the gun likes first, then figure out which of those mags YOU like, then proceed to stock up. Interesting. I had a LW Commander tuned by T.J. It always ran. I only used 7rd. Wilson mags. That did work well for me. I sold the pistol to someone who complained the gun would not run reliably. He had bought new Wilson 8rd mags for it. That was the culprit though I do not claim to be able to diagnose the problem with that combo. |
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Flavor of the month. Good magazine, has thin tubes.47d, 8 rounders have weak spring tension compared to 7 round 47d magazine. Better magazines made and Bill Wilson will agree. But, hey ! You can catch a sale every now and then and stock up. Not being an ass here. Just asking why ? Why is that your choice for magazine ? I'm sitting here, scratching my head, trying to figure out what the hell you're talking about...and I've bought plenty of 1911 mags. ON TOPIC: I'm a fan of CMC Powermags. Don't buy the Power Plus mags, they're the only CMC's I've had problems with. Wilson 47D's seem to work well, but their springs are almost mushy straight out of the package. Haven't gotten around to buying any Tripps because I've been focusing more on shooting my pistols rather than accumulating crap this year. All I've bought is powder, primers, and bullets. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Best thing to do with 47d is toss the springs for Wolff +10% magazine springs.
Why I have Wilson's 47Ds is simple when I got into shooting we bought mags on word of mouth. Almost every single CDP shooter recommended Wilson 47d 8 rounders. So thats what I have. All my feeding issues could be traced back to bad reloads (never did get that chamber check guage) and all my failures to go into slide lock were placed on week magazine springs (Wolff fixed that issue). |
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As another poster suggested, buy ONE magazine of a type, shoot the piss out of it and see if your pistol likes it. If so, get more. If not, ditch it and try another type. When you find one that works well be sure to test it with whatever ammo you intend to carry. Really ? Which magazine to buy first ? Start at what price end ? How do I arm myself with facts so I can make good buying decisions ? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile Well; for one thing, Hilton Yam recommends trying Chip McCormick Power Mags and he knows a thing or two about the 1911 pattern pistol. 
http://www.10-8performance.com/pages/1911-Magazines.html |
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I have a couple of wilson 47d, and a mec-gar or whatever it's called, a couple of factory colt mags and some factory Springfield armory mags and the factory ones that came with my ruger...
Guess what they all work 100% with swc hard cast rou d nose hard cast ball and jhp's some just are smoother when loading or racking the slide... Now none of these I leave loaded they are range toy's that may have something to do with it... The mec-gar mag will spread when loaded to 8 rounds and will not drop out freely but it feeds. The wilsons I have had work in every 1911 I have had and I like the plastic follower they drop free loaded or un loaded. I have bought them at gun shows for as little as $20 new in the pkg. My guns are mostly stock and are cleaned and greased every trip out too, The cmc power mags work well too I have had a few of them but have traded and sold stuff off since then.. |
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.I'm sitting here, scratching my head, trying to figure out what the hell you're talking about...and I've bought plenty of 1911 mags. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I thought I was clear. I'm talking about the difference between magazines that "work" and "quality" magazines. I've bought lots of magazines through the years, enough anyway to say there is a difference between "quality", "works", and just plain"crap". How does someone new to 1911 distinguish what's quality and not. "On sale this month" and "works for me" hardly qualifies a magazine has quality. Also, Wilson 47d magazines aren't the same magazine as Wilson ETM. ETMs are built around a higher standard of quality and function. I rate ETM on the same level of performance as Tripp Cobra magazines. These two magazines are "quality" magazines. There's other magazines that rate as quality but don't operate on same level of performance. The difference is what poster should concern himself with. OR This can be just another "well I use". thread. 
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.I'm sitting here, scratching my head, trying to figure out what the hell you're talking about...and I've bought plenty of 1911 mags. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I thought I was clear. I'm talking about the difference between magazines that "work" and "quality" magazines. I've bought lots of magazines through the years, enough anyway to say there is a difference between "quality", "works", and just plain"crap". How does someone new to 1911 distinguish what's quality and not. "On sale this month" and "works for me" hardly qualifies a magazine has quality. Also, Wilson 47d magazines aren't the same magazine as Wilson ETM. ETMs are built around a higher standard of quality and function. I rate ETM on the same level of performance as Tripp Cobra magazines. These two magazines are "quality" magazines. There's other magazines that rate as quality but don't operate on same level of performance. The difference is what poster should concern himself with. OR This can be just another "well I use". thread.
Or it can be another sarcastic " i know it all thread and I'm not interested in what anyone else including acknowledged industry experts have to say thread".
You really need to share what you know with Hilton. |
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Here's a good read that demonstrates how various types of magazines function.
You'll notice that Wilson 47Ds abandon the 1911 pistol's controlled feed design principle in favor of kenetics. They hurl the round into the chamber thereby avoiding three point jams, providing a work around, rather than an actual fix to a pistol's feed geometry issues. http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/feeding-time.html |
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Kinda hard to "hurl" a round in controlled feed. Why ? Because extractor has control of case rim. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile You really do need to read more and post less. I'm completely underwhelmed by the condescending, imperious, attitude you've displayed throughout this discussion as well as with your expertise on the subject of what actually constitutes controlled feed as it pertains to the 1911 pattern pistol. |
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Kinda hard to "hurl" a round in controlled feed. Why ? Because extractor has control of case rim. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile You really do need to read more and post less. I'm completely underwhelmed by the condescending, imperious, attitude you've displayed throughout this discussion as well as with your expertise on the subject of what actually constitutes controlled feed as it pertains to the 1911 pattern pistol. Seriously, Im not having fun anymore. ETA: My fun meter cracked when I realized I started page 2. |
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Really ?
Tell you what I'll do. Take pictures of the entire controlled feed process and post. This just so happens to be something we discuss often in reloading forum. Yep, that's right. We have a little 1911 subforum and we discuss feed principles every day. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Really ? Tell you what I'll do. Take pictures of the entire controlled feed process and post. This just so happens to be something we discuss often in reloading forum. Yep, that's right. We have a little 1911 subforum and we discuss feed principles every day. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile Tell you what you won't do. You won't take pictures of a 1911 pistol with a Wilson 47D magazine operating in the proper controlled feed process because Wilson 47D magazines do not function in adherence to the controlled feed. That's not a criticism of the magazine, because they do serve to make problematic pistols run more reliably; but the fact is they do so by cleverly working around problems by abandoning the controlled feed principle of the 1911 pattern pistol. A cartridge that is released by the feed lips early and is solely under the control of the extractor and dependent on kinetics, is not a cartridge that is being fed in the controlled feed manner designed into the 1911 pistol. http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/feeding-time.html |
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wow this thread has gotten good didnt mean to stir up this much emotion I'm More Than Happy to Help. I have in house Wilson 47d, Wilson ETM, Cobra Tripp, US GI, and some 7 round Springfield magazines from a couple of "for free" 1911s that I'm customizing for two soldiers who are deployed in Tikrit, Iraq. I'm waiting for camera battery to charge. Have some file pictures of my Para Ordnance 9mm feeding in "control feed" cycle. Pictures to follow shortly. Stay tuned and we'll try and crank that "fun meter" back up. |
Controlled feed is pretty simple really. Control passes from magazine feed lips to extractor as case rim slides into extractor claw. As breech face pushes case head forward the bullet's ogive makes contact with feed ramp. Breech continues to push cartridge forward. Extractor maintains case rim control from magazine all the way through extraction. Bullet ogive is controlled from initial contact with feed ramp, through barrel throat, up and into barrel hood and finally chambered. Extractor radius is very important as this is a through, up, over and in process. Have much more to post as we discuss. |
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Here's some eye candy, then some pictures of controlled feed.
Controlled feed by definition is when extractor has control of case rim once stripped from magazine feed lips and maintains control through ejection. "1911 controlled feed" is somewhat different in the fact 1911 uses the aid of feed ramp to guide bullet ogive to chamber. I be thinkin, America_First is saying this is where 47d departs from tradition but it's not what photos reveal. Here are half of sum total to be posted. 
Pictured is two chamberings above, using fGI magazine first and second is 47d. They both go through the same process of control feed as control is released from magazine to extracter So where's the difference ? The rate at which catridge nose is allowed to climb. |
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Ok, Good Morning America !!
The sources America_First uses or claims as "industry expert" is an enthusiast like we are and I will leave it at that. His links are good links and the read interesting. The writer of these "opinion pieces" is an admitted "traditionalists" and states he has trouble with any design that departs from Browning's original design. That said, he admits to a lot of design changes in 45acp cartridges from the days of Browning. I'm a fan of Browning, I'm also a HUGE FAN of what works. I'm an even bigger fan of what works "Exceptionally Well". Today's 1911 is tighter than yesterday's 1911. The words "tolerance stacked" are often used. Yesterday's 1911 didn't have a fully supported barrel like so many of today's use. Ammunition runs hotter and companies started covering themselves by tightening barrel chambers. What is the key component in tolerance stacking ?? To understand what makes a magazine quality in today's world of 45acp cartridges you need a close examination of what causes feed issues. I know of no other catridge in the world that uses so many bullet variations. Winchester white box factory 230 grain ball. 1.269 oal, .470 case mouth diam. This round is designed to feed in short recoil (all of today's) hand guns chambered for 45acp. Is what I consider to be base spec for 45acp. For that reason it's my go to round in case I'm having feed issues with gun or reloads. If your pistol won't feed this.... most likely you have a gun smith issue. 
Barry 185 grain Hollow base round nose. oal, 1.264 oal .470 at case mouth 
Ranier 200 grain flat point 1.195oal, .471 case mouth diam. 
Hornady 200 grain combat bullet 1.240, .470 at case mouth.Not a good bullet for push feed pistols. 
Missouri Bullet Co. 200 grain lswc. I hang out in the reloading forum 90% of my log in time. If you're not reloading and wanting to shoot a lot of 45acp, you should be. Above is an excerpt from a gateway thread done for that forum. Here's link. Here is another link to a piece I'm doing that's been toggled for gateway. Link Last linked thread is far from done. Already it addresses some feed issues. When done it will have covered feed from A to Z in every way. |
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4 shots of cartridge height by magazine.
GI magazine 
47d magazine 
ETM magazine 
Tripp magazine 
Being shown is how each magazine holds cartridge. Look carefully at primer, notice difference in depths ? Notice angles ?? Magazine timing, ever wonder why the different configurations in feed lips ?? From right to left as seen in picture. GI, 47d, ETM, Tripp 
Right to left as seen. GI, 47d, Tripp. 
Right to left as seen. GI, Tripp. 
Ice Cream Break. 
eta: back from break. Got a little ahead of myself. Have gone back and added text to a post. Pictured in that post is transfer of magazine control to extracter control for both GI and 47d magazines. Just in case there's confusion, I can post again with captions. Saving the home stretch for this evening's fun meter. 
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http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02950.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02951.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02953.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02955.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02956.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02957.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02958.jpg http://s660.photobucket.com/albums/uu324/daclark1911/control%20feed/DSC02959.jpg Careful; AeroScout23, you might accidently start page three.
OK.... discussion, questions ?? Nicely done sir, Great pics and good analysis. I can honestly say that Ive been exposed to something new. |
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While you're mentally contemplating here's two pictures of followers. Both 47ds
This is one of the first 47ds made. Wilson's sales rep tried to trade me out of it one night for a new one. I was having issues with a new 47d that couldn't hold it's follower up when propped upside down against a tree. I'm like, "you kiddin this is the only good magazine I got."
notice ball bearing, it was to prevent last round from riding forward too far during feed. One of the best followers ever made. This is the newer 47d I had issues with. Wilson had a run of weak springs. One phone call and a new spring was shipped asap, warranty express.
These are both range magazines now and perform fine. They both feed anything I load, including hollow points with an OAL of, get this.... 1.160. They're able to do this because of a quicker release in feed lips.... Too much control in reference to shorter oal cartridges is not a good thing. |
Here's a little of what I know about magazines. 1) A "quality" magazine is timed to the geometry of the pistol and ammunition used. 2) Feed is consistant from first cartridge to last cartridge. 3) Must drop free, regardless of how long magazine has been kept loaded. Except for two of Wilson ETMs pictured. All 8 rounders have been kept loaded 365\24\7 and perform very well. They're timed to my 1911s feed ramps and cartridges. Last two ETMs were bought about 6 months ago and have been kept loaded on carry rig. |