Old .45 Clips (Magazines)

[adam12]

I've had 5 (stainless) Chip McCormack Shooting Star and 3 (blued) Colt mags in my cellar for the past 20 + years.

Surprisingly upon inspection I didn't see much rust or corrosion. What I could see of the springs looked ok, just not brand new.

Does anyone see potential problems from using these in my new Ruger sr1911's? Should I try to clean the springs with a thin oil? All comments are welcome.

Many Thanks,

A12

 

[revhigh]

Try them ... If they work ... Use them.

I have 1911 mags that look like they've been run over by tanks ... They still work just fine ... Never cleaned them ... Never oiled them. Bought them for $1 at gun shows over the years.

Buying $30 1911 mags is a waste of money.

My CDNN $5.99 mags work perfectly too ... But my 1911 s are Colts and Springfields.

If a 1911 needs $30 mags to work perfectly ... It a pretty crappy 1911 .... No matter what the brand.

Colts just flat out work.

REV

 

[DGW1949]

As you've siggested, it wouldn't hurt to wipe things off with an oily rag. Just be carefull that you get them put back together correctly. Resist the urge to "oil 'em" afterwards. All that will do is cause crud to collect faster.

When I think "Shooting Star", I think 8-round mags....which is something that I never had much luck with relative to reliablity. Other than that, Rev is correct in that any 1911-pattern pistol should work fine with dern-near any 1911 mag. If it don't, the gun in question simply wasn't made to spec, or has had some sort of "custom" work which threw something out of spec, or is need of some sort of repair.

DGW

 

[adam12]

Right! There was never a question about at least trying them out, I was just curious about any "prep" work that might've been needed first. I did wipe them down with an oily rag and cleaned the platforms. They still load great, just haven't shot them yet.

I tell you, loading the new 7 shot mag that came with my new Ruger sr1911 was extremely difficult. I couldn't believe it! Every round took at least 5 tries. So I just HAD to try out the old clips to see if I'd really lost all my strength! Happy to report I haven't, but not quite happy to report on my brand new mag's difficulty.

 

[eveled]

I use an Uplula loader to load the magazines. I also have a bunch of random magazines (some USGI that look to be from WWII) that all work fine in the Ruger.

 

[dakota1911]

Yup, I have a bag of mags. Some bought years ago from an Army Navy store for 50 cents. Still work although I use them at the range these days. I do take them apart, inspect and wipe them with an rag evey now and again. The old surplus ones you took apart to clean out the rocks and little dead critters that were in them.

 

[1ruger]

My 1911 range mags consist of old GI mags that were purchased by my father back in the 50's. I changed their springs about 15 years ago and they still work great when used with 230gr ball ammo. For serious situations I use CMC 8 round Power Mags.