All posts tagged reliable 1911 mags

Metal Magazines still have their place, but consider Chip McCormick Magazines over knock off USGI Magazines

Chip McCormick MagazinesThere is something to be said about having metal magazines around, whether they are USGI AR15 magazines or metal handgun magazines.   If you look at the materials being used in so many modern firearms, like Glocks or even Magpul Pmags, they are extremely durable designs and have a lot of advantages over steel frame, but the one thing they don’t have is longevity.   You won’t find any Glock firearms functioning 100years from now because the material will have broken down.  I even have a few local Police telling me they have Glocks that are over 20years old and they can see the decay.   With plastic Pmags, those are going to become brittle over time and they will loose strength after a few decades have passed.  Kind of strange that this is the case because there is a major flaw, but what is perfect?   What lasts forever?

Operator induced malfunctions cause the majority of firearm malfunctions and the other is lack of maintenance and magazine rotation is one of them.   There are things you can do especially with a 1911 type of magazine where you can pull the springs out and stretch them that can buy you time.  You have to be careful about gun show specials, I’ve got a lot of Korean 1911 magazines that I use as range mags but it’s also because they do jam on me and it’s a great way to do malfunction drills.   They seem to have really short lives and the springs wear out and become weak, so even if the mags drop free, using Wolf gun springs or better quality magazines like Chip McCormick magazines is a much better idea.  Personally I prefer Wilson Combat for My primary magazines, but they are more expensive but Chip McCormick has a very good manufacturer warranty on their products if that isn’t an incentive for a first time buyer.

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Lots of magazines coming in stock, and even the 1911 mags were hard to get!

chip mccormick 8rd magazines We just got in a shipment of the Chip McCormick power mags, even these were getting hard to get because States like New York were going to restrict magazines to 8rds.   The Chip McCormick 10rd power mags were in high demand and we watched our distributors run out of these for several weeks.  I have used these in my 1911 handguns for several years and had good experiences with them.  The one thing I did noticed about these is that they dropped free from my Springfield GI Mil-Spec guns.  There is something more natural about these metal magazines and there is also a factory warranty with them.  I’ve taken apart my 1911s from recoil springs, hammer springs and magazine disassemble.  I normally run wolff gun springs in all of my gun mags.

Keeping your guns running means proper maintenance and now I am using Slip 2000 on all of  my handguns.  These Chip McCormick 8rd magazines work like a champ and I never really had to urge to work with 7rd magazines like the WWI and WWII guns were using.   I use Slip 2000 gun grease on some of my firearms especially if I’m going to be storing them for a long time or I know I’m going to be really heating them up.  There are so many makes of 1911s yo do have to be careful you don’t create problems for yourself but Chip McCormick gun mags are very reliable and well made.

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Has anyone made plans for a Mapgul pistol mag?

I’ve been getting good at sensing changes in the gun industry and I think we’re on the precipice right now.   Synthetic stocks are far superior to what was out a decade ago and machining has improvement so well on the AR15 design that even the direct impingement guns are superior to what was out a decade ago.   I think  if you have the money to spend, you can get a good DI gun that is as reliable as a piston gun.   On the discussion of rifle magazines, once you get to the point that you can drive your car over a magazine and then still reliable shoot it in your gun, you have arrived at the top of the mountain.

I think Glock magazines are pretty tough, but I’ve never seen somebody drive over one with a car and still have it run.  If anyone has seen a pistol magazine as tough as the Magpul Pmags let me know? Wilson combat magazines are the most reliable gun magazines, but I don’t think any 1911 magazine would hold up to a 200lb person standing on it let alone a 2 ton truck.   Maybe we don’t need gun magazines to be this tough, but I sure think that if we can improve the light bulb, we can improve the handgun or pistol magazines.

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Tactical vests and firearm retention

Gun vests are as diverse in application and gun holsters are.   There are various types of vests for specific missions and some of the best ones to get are the ones that you can configure yourself.   Not everyone needs to carry 12 gun magazines for their M4 Carbine and most of that would even be considered extreme for a combat soldier.   I am a big fan of leg holsters because my primary fighting weapon is an M4 rifle and I don’t like the idea of putting a handgun up on my vest because it’s one more thing for my rifle sling to snag on.   Eotac and Woolrich Elite vests suit me better because they are softer and don’t have a holster for retaining a firearm, it’s all magazine and gear and the pistol magazine holder is inside the pockets, not outer pouches.

I am also not a fan of vests that carry tons of rifle and pistol ammunition, it’s good to be able to carry a backup handgun incase your primary goes down, but I’m more inclined to bring a spare bolt and firing pin so I can replace most broken parts on my M4 in only a minute.   Having 2 or 3 Wilson combat magazines for my 1911 is all I need for most practical purposes.  If I need more handgun ammunition than that, I might as well pack a few grenades and be able to call in an airstrike, too.  If you are wearing a tactical vests, in my opinion, it’s cross draw, or it’s a leg holster for your handgun.

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Wolff gun magazines and Wilson Combat

I finally got to pick up a few of the Wolff gun magazines that some of my friends have raved about and I’m still trying to find out how I didn’t know about these for so long.  I guess getting stuff made in the  gun accessories and firearms industries is getting easier now and many companies can go out there and just find somebody with the tooling.   These did feel more like Chip McCormick magazines and they were fairly close in design.   The one thing I know to monitor on 1911 metal magazines are the followers which is something I’ve had problems with in the past.  Usually it was the less expensive and practically considered to be thrown GI 1911 magazines.

Something I’ve seen happen on less durable 1911 magazines it that they will not hold up very well at all if you one up the guns.  If you have an 8rd magazine and put one in the chamber and then load it back up to capacity, you are putting slightly more tension on the magazines and the cheaper mags, and the magazine springs will fail you.  Wilson Combat magazines, Wolff 1911 magazines and Chip McCormick magazines will hold up.  I had problems with Colt magazines, GI magazines and some MecGar magazines when I did this and always had 2nd round malfunctions.   I’ve learned to not on up the guns, but single stack magazines seem to handle this better than double stack.

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