My New Favorite 1911 Clipz? The CMC Railed Power Mag!

[Tokarev]

I remember seeing some stuff about these mags when Chip brought them to market a few years back. But at the time I'd recently picked up a few Wilson ETMs and wasn't really in the market for more 1911 45 mags.

Fast forward a couple years and I'm enjoying the 45/1911 again with the intro of the new SIG 1911-X. That gun has generally been working fine except it simply WILL NOT lock open on CMC Power Mags with Tripp Super 7 upgrade kits. These feed great but just will not lock open. I've had a few instances where the slide will lock open but it is completely random and then the slide stop is just barely pushed up enough to catch the slide. Not ideal.

Curiously all the other mags I've used (Wilson ETMs, Wilson legacy 8 rounders, WC 10 rounders, old school Wilson 7 rounders, unmodified CMC 8 round Power Mags, Tripp 8 rounders and Mec-Gar OEM SIG and a couple Metalform branded as Ruger) have all worked fine.

This got me curious about the Railed Power Mags. I needed to get a few odds and ends from Bud's so I threw a couple of the new CMCs in my cart as well. The mags arrived today and I'm impressed. Construction feels solid. The mag bodies seem pretty rigid and the rolled over feed lips seems like a stroke of genius. If the 10 rounder will survive hard slide lock reloads with a full mag load over the course of a year or whatever it should make them the best 10 rounders on the market. The 8 round formula has pretty much been cracked at this point I'd say with the newer slightly longer body and room for a little more spring but the railed feed lips should make the new CMCs last that much longer over Tripps or Wilson ETMs.

What's probably most impressive is the springs. The mag springs are like something out of an AK! I think stock 8 round springs are usually a dozen or maybe thirteen coils? The CMC springs are 19 coils. 20 coils for the 10 rounders!

Who's using these mags now? Any issues with a particular bullet OAL or style? And nose dive feed problems with the top cartridge?





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[Chuck Whitlock]

Who's using these mags now? Any issues with a particular bullet OAL or style? And nose dive feed problems with the top cartridge?

I've bought 3 of the 8-round stainless RPMs, and then traded 3 MecGar's in on Ed Brown's mag exchange program, but I haven't run them yet. I agree that they seem pretty sturdy just from looking and handling.

[Tokarev]

Another thing to try will be setting up a failure to extract and then ripping a loaded mag out something like ten times. Will this cause the top round to pop out of the mag and/or sort of drag the top round hard against the feed lips? Will the extra spring power keep the top round in place and will the stronger feed lips hold up better in this use event?

I've...traded 3 MecGar's in on Ed Brown's mag exchange program...

I wonder about this. It might be a good way to dispose of the CMC/Tripp mags. Maybe a better route is to just buy some follower and spring kits from CMC and make these old mags back into 8 rounders.

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[Chuck Whitlock]

Another thing to try will be setting up a failure to extract and then ripping a loaded mag out something like ten times. Will this cause the top round to pop out of the mag and/or sort of drag the top round hard against the feed lips? Will the extra spring power keep the top round in place and will the stronger feed lips hold up better in this use event?

It seems that most here like low profile base pads on 8-rounders. I'm certainly no high-volume user, but I like the base pads they come with.....something that your fingers can grab. My pistols don't have checkering down the front strap, so the plastic being chewed up isn't an issue for me.

[SW CQB 45]

I bought a single 8 round RPM to test it out some yearsss ago. It took the roll of a spare mag for duty use and kept it loaded for years.

I bought 3 10 round RPMs to test out and possibly carry on duty.

I was getting an occasional 1st round stuck on the feed ramp using a short ramp Springer .45 MCOP. I dont recall if a power stroke did the same thing.

I have since got my feed ramp "touched" but I find 8 round mags sufficient for duty use.

I did have a recent issue with worn out WC plastic followers and switched to 8 round Checkmate mags for duty use. While the Checkmates have been reliable, the 8th round is a bich to load. Vulgarity helps.

I started using the single 8 round RPM more in training and it ran without a hitch. Easy to load all 8 rounds.

I decided to buy 4 more and the springs in the newer mag are stout compared to my original RPM which sat for years loaded in a mag pouch. The older RPM spring is shorter by 3 coils.

Here comes my disappointment with CMC.

I contacted CMC by email and requested a new RPM mag spring to an older mag. I wanted to match the performance of the new mags I just bought.

There first response was confusing. All I wanted was a new spring and they responded saying they did not have any short springs.

I called CMC and they wanted me to send my mag in. I said that I wanted to purchase a new spring, but they wanted to see the mag. I told them the mag works; I just want to update the spring. Again, they wanted the mag.

I find that a waste of my time. I am thinking about calling again and saying my dog ate the spring, can I buy a new spring.

[Tokarev]

I called CMC and they wanted me to send my mag in. I said that I wanted to purchase a new spring, but they wanted to see the mag. I told them the mag works; I just want to update the spring. Again, they wanted the mag.

That's pretty silly, especially when CMC sells a standard Power Mag spring and follower kits right on the website.

Maybe, in CMC's defense, they are wanting to check your mag and its components to see how much the spring has lost?

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[SW CQB 45]

That's pretty silly, especially when CMC sells a standard Power Mag spring and follower kits right on the website.

Maybe, in CMC's defense, they are wanting to check your mag and its components to see how much the spring has lost?

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Maybe your right.

I feel they are going to say there is nothing wrong with the mag. There is not, I just want a fresh mag spring.

CMC take my $$.

[Tokarev]

I just want a fresh mag spring..

Hopefully it is just a matter of getting the right person on the phone.



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[JTQ]

That's pretty silly, especially when CMC sells a standard Power Mag spring and follower kits right on the website.

Maybe...

Here is what CMC offers, just one option for spring/follower https://cmproducts.com/magazine-conv...p-8-round.html

In the past, they had specific, and different, springs for the Shooting Star and the PowerMag, and perhaps also the Match Grade mag. Now they just have one option.

The RPM uses a different follower than the Devel/Shooting Star follower (also different than the PowerMag Plus follower) and has a longer tube, so the RPM springs are most probably different than the springs for their other mags.

[JTQ]

While the Checkmates have been reliable, the 8th round is a bich to load. Vulgarity helps.

CheckMate has two lengths of 8 rounders, the standard https://www.topgunsupply.com/check-m...-magazine.html

which I consider really too short for 8 rounds, and their spring and follower.


and their Extended tube model https://www.topgunsupply.com/check-m...-s-rb-ext.html