Best 1911 magazines

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buckshot

Single-Sixer
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Mar 7, 2011
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I am more of a revolver guy but I finally took the plunge and ordered my 1st 1911, it should be here Tuesday. I love my Rugers so its a SR1911 CMD in .45 acp. I have absolutely no experience with 1911s and I was wondering about magazines. Should I spend the money for Ruger mags or will aftermarket work just fine. My only autos are Glocks and 3rd Gen S&W so with those I have always used factory mags, but with a 1911 I would think there would be no need to pay the premium for factory Ruger mags. I'm sure some makes are better than others and some you are just paying for the name. What are your suggestions of mags? I have no interest in cheap junk that doesn't work, I will pay for quality and reliability. Should I just stick with Ruger mags or not? Thanks in advance!
 

gunzo

Buckeye
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Kentucky
If the new commander will be a lightweight, the standard McCormick Shooting Stars are not recommended due to the follower design & it peening the feed ramp in the frame. Otherwise, they are good mags.

No personal experience with the Power Mags.

The standard Wilson 47D is always a wise choice.

And..... the thread title said "best". Many would consider that to be the Tripp Cobra.

Edit; Not having complete info when this was first written, I mistakenly quoted the McCormick mags might peen the aluminum frame of a light weight. We've since learned that Ruger has gone the extra mile & included an insert in the frame that will alleviate any problems with this particular issue.
 

bsnake

Single-Sixer
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May 23, 2009
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Arizona
"And..... the thread title said "best". Many would consider that to be the Tripp Cobra."

Best 1911 mags, IMHO, are Tripps. That's what I use for competition.
For most folks just going to the range to shoot paper, less expensive mags will probably work just fine.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2005
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On the beach and in the hills
I have 1911's from at least six manufacturers. I've found that using the magazines from that company in that company's pistols work great. Switching between brands, or even using some of the highly touted brands of after market mags is always a crap shoot. Heck I've had some magazines that wouldn't work in any of my 1911's yet worked in someone else's.
 

daveg.inkc

Hunter
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Kansas City, MO
I use Ruger magazines in all my auto loader. Never fail to work. I tried Ruger 1911 mags in a Taurus 1911. Would not feed. But, with 1911's, I would think most would interchange.
 

Pat-inCO

Hawkeye
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Oct 17, 2009
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In the AZ oven (Phoenix basin)
This is a subject for one-ups-manaship. There are those that INSIST that
inexpensive is no good. Most often that will come in the form of "my
super-whiz-bang $$$s are the only ones that work", while others are less
emphatic.

I have some expensive ones, and some that were $9.95 each. I guess I
must be one of the luckiest people alive, because I have yet to have a
failure from any, except CMC. Everything else has worked as you would
want/hope. The generic nickel plated ones that are from a place I know
nothing about sure seem to do quite well for me.

Would it be nice to have dozens of Wilson's? Sure would, but I've been
successful without them.

YMMV. :D
 

Cholo

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With one exception, I've always bought factory mags for my handguns and have been very pleased. I'd go with the Ruger mags.

I did go Mec-Gar for my CZ-75B. Nice! :)
 

cas6969

Buckeye
Joined
Oct 11, 1999
Messages
1,215
I'm underwhelmed by my Wilson mags and don't like how they come apart/clean. (where I shoot, I have ot clean my mags a lot). Had too many problems with CMC mags, also the dissasembly /cleaning issue as the Wilsons. I have a Kimber mag (whoever makes it for them) that has given me enough trouble that I no longer use it. ACT/Novac mags that all split and cracked, one without ever being used to fire a shot. And I have 23+ Metallform mags from their cheaper ones up through to their crazy priced ones and I've had no issue with any of them. Big plus for me is they're easy to take apart and clean.
 

gunzo

Buckeye
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Kentucky
While I have no inside information, I would probably bet my house that Ruger does not manufacture 1911 magazines. And... I'm not a gambler. Wylee Coyote wins the bid this year, Road Runner wins it next year. The manufacturer of the gun has little bearing on the best mag when it comes to 1911's.
 

DGW1949

Hunter
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Apr 10, 2005
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Texas
Any 1911/1911A1-type pistol which is made to spec should run fine with just about any mag you got. Problem is, not many are made to spec these days so it often becomes a matter of trial 'n error.
And on a different but related note...I'm also convinced that ammo selection has as much to do with "which mag is best" as does the gun. That was a bigger problem in days gone by that today because these days most ammo makers have learned what bullet shapes work and what don't. Still though, it's something to consider.

Hope this helped.

DGW
 

buckshot

Single-Sixer
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
122
Location
North Idaho
Thanks for all the info guys. I finally got to shoot it yesterday, and I love this gun! What a tack driver! I definitely will need more than the two mags that came with it. Thanks again, time to do some mag shopping.
 

lashlaruhe

Bearcat
Joined
Dec 2, 2010
Messages
29
Location
Buckeye, AZ
Any experience with the new Chip McCormack 45 ACP mags with rolled lips??
I have not had bad experiences with Ruger 45 ACP 1911 mags and springs are strong, hard to load last round until broken in.
 

deserttrans

Buckeye
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
1,211
Location
Arizona
I have had great experiance with Ed Brown mags. Priced well and on sale quite often. I only use the 7 rounders.
 

teuthis

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
168
Location
Wisconsin
I think that Ruger mags with the Ruger SR-1911 make the most sense. Reliability is critical. I only use the 7 round mags too.
 

capecuddy

Bearcat
Joined
Mar 27, 2013
Messages
24
Somehow, I picked up a Wilson Combat mag for my full size 1911 45. It is easy to load and operates more smoothly than the ruger mags but it's not night and day....just notably smoother operating.
 

hpman66

Hunter
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Messages
3,807
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ment-commander-45-acp-8-round-stainless-steel
Midway has these 45acp Sig 1911 mags on sale----$19.79. They are made by the same company that makes the Ruger mags and are almost identical to the Ruger mags. The only thing I had to do was to take the magazine apart, file/sand the top of the little plastic toe/tab(in the plastic base plate) that fits into the notch in the bottom of the grip frame. This allows the magazine catch to function as it is supposed to(otherwise it won't catch). IMHO, it's a fairly cheap price for a decent a 45acp 1911 style magazine---about $10.00 cheaper than factory Ruger mags on line from other suppliers($29.99)---$20 cheaper than if you buy mags directly from Ruger($39.99). I don't know why the Ruger mags and so much higher that the Sig mags, it should be the other way around, IMHO.
 
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