Best 1911 Mags for the money?

[Disposable Heart]

Chip McCormick and ACT-Mag. Karl, I have used the cheapo mags like you described in my tuned up Taurus and they work better then my ACT mags in that one. In my now cobbled together parts RIA 1911 (had a frame and slide and scrounged up a functional 1911 with spare parts), I HAVE to use the good mags.

I had a Wilson mag. Got mad at it and ran over it with my Sentra. Needless to say, the Sentra won.

[Cwood]

Ill have agree the Chip McCormick mags work great in my pistol. I bought a few of them a couple of years ago and haven't had any problems out of them.

[BrownDog]

I also have Chip McCormick mags and like them alot. I also like the mags made by Virgil Tripp...

trippresearch.com Online Store 1911 Magazines

He also sells upgrade kits to fit other 1911 mags. It has a new spring and follower that improves the lock back and feeding issues. I have installed these kits in my Wilson mags and am quite happy with their perfomance.

[SilentWarrior1]

Yeah, but I wanted something that works out of packaging and doesn't cost $20+ per magazine. I'm working on a blue-collar paycheck and lots of bills. Preps come with available cash, while is coming back more and more into play, is currrently scarce.

[BrownDog]

If you have or buy used mags that have a good tube you can make it a reliable mag by using the upgrade kit. From what I read most 1911 mag issues deal with the internals (spring and follower). So if you have a mag tube with no cracks or deformed lips you can a have a reliable mag with this kit. So maybe you can buy some mil-spec units (Sportsman Guide has some SS units for 11.67 apiece) and spend 8.95 a kit (price goes down to 7.45 if you buy 10 or more) and have yourself good reliable mags for $19-20 bucks. Maybe you can find used mags even cheaper and bring the cost down some more.

His article explains about his kits

Our upgrade kits fit 1911 specification magazines. These mags may be older mil-spec units or they may be more modern magazines from manufacturers such as: Metalform, Wilson, McCormick, MecGar, Novak, ACT, Baer, Wolff, Kimber, and others. Some mags have issues related to follower design or longevity. Some mags work fine in the beginning but the springs lose strength too quickly and can begin to misfeed or fail to lock back. All plastic followers can round off the ledge that contacts the slide stop which creates problems.

The purpose of our upgrade kit is to increase reliability in your existing 'other brand' magazine. We do this by combining our proven chrome silicon spring with our proven hybrid or flex follower to take some of the chance out of your system. As we have mentioned elsewhere on our website, magazines act in a system in your particular firearm. What we and many shooters have discovered is that these upgrade kits help a lot of different mags behave better. Often, someone will buy a few upgrade kits to try out, only to return and purchase more upgrade kits to outfit the rest of their mags.

Obviously, we manufacture and sell complete magazines of our design and hold a company bias that they are the best 1911 magazines available. However, we recognize that there are already many, many pre-existing 1911 magazines of other brands out there. We are quite happy to supply upgrade kits to better the performance of these units. When people need to buy replacements for their exhausted springs or followers, we are pleased to provide a quality solution. When people need improved performance from their existing 'other brand' magazines, we are pleased to provide a quality solution.

In our upgrade kits, hybrid followers use the .048 wire diameter spring. Flex followers use the .042 wire diameter spring.

[obijohn]

in the 1911 platform i use mostly wilson mags. the cmc mags are fine as are many other. some mags will work better in your gun than others, even different copies of the same brand. any reasonable quality mag that presents the cartridge in the proper orientation, consistently, will work. it is tough on a budget, btdt, to try several different mags, but that would be the definitive answer.
if a certain mag doesn't work well in you particular gun, it may be the magazine catch. this part, in addition to the location of the cutout in the mag body, control the placement of the mag.

[esrice]

I don't own a 1911 but this thread makes me want to buy Chip McCormick mags!

[TomN]

Originally Posted by esrice

I don't own a 1911 but this thread makes me want to buy Chip McCormick mags!

Why don't you own a 1911?? Are you a communist?

And I'd pick Wilson's or McCormick's also.

[rhino]

For what it's worth, buying cheap magazines for a 1911 is false economy. If it's a carry gun, it's just downright foolish.

The best mags I've used have been CMC Power Mags and their duplicates (made by the same contractor) for Mitchell Arms that CDNN used to sell for $10-11 each. You can't get the latter anymore, but you can find 8-rd Power Mags for $17-18 each if you look for a sale.

[bwframe]

Originally Posted by rhino

8-rd Power Mags for $17-18 each if you look for a sale.

...paid that for mine @ Midway when on sale. $24 now. Put them on your wish list there and they'll send an e-mail when they go on sale.