1911 magazines

matt,

For that price range, and the ones I use a lot and never have had any problems with, however, there are several out there for plinking that are a lot cheaper, but for over all shooting, I use these.

Chip McCormick Power Mag 8rd w/bump pad $21.00

Mec-Gar w/bump pad $24.99

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=783573



papabear

I only use 7 round mags but I like the following real well.

Wilson 47s
Les Baer
Ed Browns
Wolff Springs
MecGars

There is another brand from Champions Choice the name of which excapes me that is darn good - oh yeah, Metal Form.

Old GI mags when you can find them and the older Colts.

Right now, my "active" magazine supply is made up of several of each of the following:

Chip McCormick Power Mags (8-rd)
Chip McCormick Shooting Star (7-rd and 8-rd)
Wilson 47 series (7-rd and 8-rd)
Metalform-made/Colt-marked (8-rd)

I would say those are my favorites.

I also have a couple each of:
Mec-Gar (8 rd)
Act/Novak/S&W (8-rd)

All are at least OK for range use and function fine as far as feeding bullets into the chamber goes. That may sound silly, but there are a couple other little details or minor problems show up when using SOME of them in SOME guns although they feed fine.
Two examples:
1) The Wilson 8-rd mags will sometimes fail to lock open one Springfield Armory pistol when empty (Wilson 7-rd mags work fine); and
2) two of the Metalform/Colt mags will sometimes fail to lock open my S&W Gunsite, and some of the Shooting Stars are a snug fit in the same gun and don't always drop out when released.

That shows me that it's an absolute that each individual magazine has to be tested in each individual gun.

I use all of them for practice, but carry only the Power Mags as spares. I do use a proven Metalform in the gun for it's flat baseplate. The Power Mags work fine in every 1911 I have, and they have a very smooth and rounded baseplate, which is comfortable for carry in the mag pouch. I'd have to say they were my favorite.

I would, however, buy more of any from the first group I listed if they were cheaper. I would just have to be careful not to carry them with certain guns, so it's simpler for me to keep buying the Power Mags.

But that's how it's been for me.

8 rounders I have good luck with:

Wilson 47D
McCormick Power Mag (not regular McCormick which I have had feeding problems with when dirty)
CDNN "IPSC" (probably made by Mitchel but closely resembles McCormick Power Mag - I suspect the bodies are made in the same place). These sell for less than $10!!!!!!
Mag Pac (but they are hard to get now).
Mec-Gar

I would note that most of my Wilsons have lost some tension and often fail to lock the slide to the rear on the last shot...not a thing I worry much about but some do.

I recently purchased 10 Colt 8 rnd mags (I dont think they were metalform made but they are definitely Colt brand not a "knock off")...the base plates have already came off of two. Otherwise they fed OK. I will not be purchasing any more.

Jim H.

Hi there all,

I made an interesting trip to the range today with a friend of mine who was practicing to qual for his upcoming CWP class here in SC.

While I was in the range prepping to shoot, he walked back after making a purchase and had purchased two Triple K magazines. When shooting, neither would lock the slide back and he quickly returned them when he finished his session.

I came home and ordered 3 Mec Gar 8 rounders for him from www.midwayusa.com and hope that these will do the trick. I believe the OEM Taurus magazines are made by ACT, but they didn't have any on their site.

My prefered magazine is the SA (metalform) factory magazines and I have had very good luck with them.

Any more thoughts on Mec Gars?

Chris