Rogue Elite

Finding magazines that work in your 1911 shouldn’t be a project.   If you have been using the best magazines on the market, you are down to probable only 2 or 3 manufacturers.     The 1911 pistol design is a very durable design, but part of the problem we see in the gun is it can take a toll on the magazine slide stop tab and some manufacturers have remedied that.   Wilson Combat and McCormick are two that we see.    Chip McCormick  has known the competative shooting sport and knew since his companies inception that the guns were great, but the magazines on the market were all based on the chinsy, slimsy throw away design the military used.

Chip McCormick magazines come in 6, 7, 8 and 10rd variants.   The Chip McCormick power mag is hands down one of the top tier 1911 magazines for durability and reliability.   For those that like the more traditional metal look over the plastic Wilson Combat magazine, this is your mag.   There are also various styles of McCormick pistol magazines.  Some will come with different magazine bases and some come flush fit.   You can decide which mag fits your style.

Modern firearms are pretty much superior to everything that was designed a generation ago.   Some people get stuck in the past and might think that a P51 Mustang is equal to an F117 Stealth fighter and then everyone just smiles at grandpa and listens to his stories.    Manufacturing has become superior to what it was 20yrs ago in many ways, but the rifles and handguns of WWII just don’t hold up to what is getting kicked out in Modern Military terms.

When it comes to personal defense, a 5 shot revolver may be all you need.   A 5 shot semi-auto may be all you want.   One thing you can never write off is 7 or 8 shots of 45acp in a reliable semi auto that is clearly more reliable and polished than what your relatives ran around with in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.   Wilson Combat Magazines increases your feeding of the 1911 and helps accurately guide your ammo into the chamber and send it downrange.   I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of reloading for my 1911s and although I know there place in weapon history, there there when you need them.

My First 1911 was a Colt 1991A1 and It came with 2 Colt 7rd magazines.   I shot about about 500rds through it and I had an occasional malfunction.   The problem I kept having was the slide would close on an empty chamber.   I did some reading and found that it was most likely the magazine slide stop tab was bending and wasn’t full engaging the slide stop.    A pair of needle nose plyers fixed that for a few hundred rounds more then the problem came back.     I found out about Wilson Combat Magazines and picked up a few mags.   The magazines weren’t flush with the bottom of the gun, but I got use to them pretty quick.

After a few range sessions, I didn’t have a single malfuntion and I though it was time to test out some hollow point defensive ammo.   I loaded up the 2 Colt Magazines I had and the 2 Wilson mags and started blasting.    I had an malfuntions with the Colt magazines and none with the Wilson.    I wasn’t too sure of the technical reasons why this was occuring, but after signing  up a popular gun forum known as the www.TheFiringLine.com  I found out why.   Wilson Combat did a great job in designing their plastic followers to hold up better than the majority of the metal magazines you’ll find for a 1911.   The followers and magazine body are aligned properly for better feeding into the barrel and will increase ammo tolerance.

The 1911 Pistol is one of the most popular competition pistols in the shooting industry and on the firing range.   Not only is it about nostalgia, but the 1911 is one of the most tweakable and customizable handguns you can own.   Shooting a 45acp is not always the easiers, but you will have more fun reloading 45acp than any other caliber if you are a target shooter.

One of the biggest reasons people love shooting 1911s is the consistant trigger pull, I realize that the same can be said for Glock enthusiasts and they would also be correct.   We won’t argue about thumb or grip safeties vs trigger safeties here, but there is a big advantage over anyone that tries to target shoot with a DA/SA pistol vs a 1911 or Glock.  Consistant trigger pulls means zero adjustment and better accuracy.   The secret to getting your 1911 to feed ammo correct is using Wilson Combat or Chip McCormick Magazines.

Whenever you get to the point where you are putting hundreds of round down range to train for work of for your concealed carry firearm, you may want to consider getting some secondary gun magazines for training and blasting and save your primary magazines for carrying.   I would strongly suggest that you put enough rounds through your primary mags but there’s no need to burn those out too fast.

Promag and Mec-Gar make decent magazines, I wouldn’t suggest them as primary magazines, but factory new magazines can be pricey.  I would suggest regardless of which number of magazines you are normally carrying, keep 3 or 4 range mags for each handgun you own.

There are several well known secondary rifle and pistol magazines, but Factory magazines are usually the best to obtain.    Factory magazines are made by the companies that manufactur the firearms and that’s usually where you’ll get the best magazines.   There are exceptions to the rule with rifles.   Magpul isn’t making firearms, but they do one heck of a job of making a reliable and durable rifle magazine.    Sturm Ruger is the largest firearm manfacturer in the United States.   They make more guns and sell more guns than anybody else.

The Ruger Mini 14 is a rugged and reliable 5 shot carbine and there is still much debate about which magazines feed reliable.   Ruger is now selling 20rd magazines to the public which they did not due for decades.   The Mini 14 was the gun that suffered more under the Assault Weapons Ban passed in Congress in 1994 than any other firearm IMHO.   Everyone seems to want to make this gun and assault weapon, but the reality is the 5 shot Carbine spits a lethal round, but your safest bet for most purposes is to keep the Ruger Magazines made by the factory around since those are defanitely the most reliable.

Promag magazines have gone through the decades being one of the top end of the replacement or after marketa magazines and they are still holding up.    Pistol reliability has drastically increased over the last 15yrs and so has the machining and manufacturer of rifle and pistol magazines.   Whether you have a Keltec P32 or a Mini 14, you can find Promag magazines at a reasonable price and use them for primary or secondary uses.   During the assautl weapons ban of 1994 until the sunset of the  ban, Promag Magazines earned a reputation for being a good option.

Another good reason for trying Promag mags for your guns is there 100% Warranty against any defects and they will repare or replace them if you have a problem.   Some guns may have issues with anything but factory magazines, but we have good things about the company and there service.  Some of our top magazine sellers are the M1 Carbine 10rd magazines which are brand new and make for great range blasting.    Our second most popular rifle magazine are the Ruger Mini 14 magazines which a great for those living in NJ or CA.   The Mini 14 is one of the few guns that won’t give you legal problems and Ruger mostly sells the Mini 14 with a factory 5rd mag.

We’ve all  heard about how the 1911 isn’t as reliable as a Glock, but firearm reliability has increased for just about every semi-auto that is in production these days.    Guns that were made 50-80yrs ago are manufactured better, magazines have become more reliable and ammunition is far more reliable now than it was even 30yrs ago.    When using a semi-auto, we have to think about the purpose for it and what we think we need in a certain situation.   I love the people that think they are going to fight off 50 bad guys with there Glock, but the reality is that if you think you are going into that bad of a situation, bring a rifle.

I consider myself a 1911 enthusiast, but I’d take an M4 over any handgun, any day.   A 5 shot snub nose is good enough for most white colar environments, but if you think you can carry a full size auto, 7 or 8 shots of 45acp is plenty.   1911s are not out dated, but they are also not modern weapons and are being beat out by some of the firearms coming out now, so is the DI M16 by the way.   If you own or know anyone that owns a 1911, you absolutely will increase the reliability of the gun by using Wilson Combat magazines.

When training for a class or tactical situation, dealing with an unloaded magazine or an unloaded gun in the situation is expected, all guns go empty at some point.   Most of us have the ability to plan ahead and carry extra magazines, but there may be a point where loading a magazine up will be necessary.   Maglula from Butler Creek makes a great speed loader that will help speed up the process of getting rounds from a box right into your 30rd rifle in a few seconds.   They will easily cut your loading time by 75% when used properly.

If you have a revolver, you know that bad guys may be walking around with semi-autos with 15-20 rounds and that you’ve got to make every round count if your carrying a 5 or 6 shot revolver.   You may only need 5 or 6 shots to win  a fight, but it is a fact that reloading a revolver can be done quicker than loading a magazine, so carrying a caliber specific HKS Speed loader or moon clips is always a great idea.

Glocks are the toughest handgun in existance according to the most experts.   There are always arguments about the conditions various firearm manufacturers are in and how they will handle it, but the reality is the Glock pistol needs less lubrication, doesn’t rust, and the magazines are designed as reliable as the gun and there are plenty of Glock Magazines on the market to void out the mayhem that aftermarket mags can do to a firearms reputation.

Something like a 1911 has a questionable reliability track record depending on the conditions they are used in and the type of magazines they are using.   Pistol magazines have evolved and improved as much as firearms and the reality is metal guns aren’t in the same category as polymer guns just based on lubrication and climate conditions.    There are many firearms out there that will function reliable if lubricated properly and cleaned properly, but polymer guns are the future.