Best mags for a Colt 80s Series Gold Cup 1911

[Hauptmann]

I inherited a Colt 80s Series Gold Cup 1911. Unfortunately, the original Colt mags are not with the pistol, and it came with some cheap knock-off 8rd mags. Mechanically the pistol seems fine, but it does tend to have a failure to feed on usually the 7th round in the mag with the two mags that came with it. I'm guessing the weak link to be with the magazines. Can anyone who is experienced with 1911s recommend me some high quality 7 or 8 rd mags? Thanks.

[JTQ]

There are a lot of different opinions on the best 1911 mags. I like Wilson 47 mags, their 7 round full size mags. http://shopwilsoncombat.com/7-Round/products/370/

CheckMate also has some good mags. Top Gun Supply is where I buy my CheckMate mags http://www.topgunsupply.com/magazines/1911/check-mate.html

For 8 round mags, folks typically like Tripp https://www.trippresearch.com/store/index.html

Wilson ETM http://shopwilsoncombat.com/8-Round/products/371/

McCormick PowerMag http://www.cmcmags.com/Powermags.html

Here are some data points, for what they're worth.

The late Stephen A. Camp on 7 vs 8 round mags http://hipowers-handguns.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-is-best-7-or-8-shot-1911-45-acp.html

Hilton Yam on 1911 mags http://www.10-8performance.com/1911-magazines/

Vickers & Hackathorn on Wilson Combat. Mag stuff in the first 3 min or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwzM2G9AFCE

[45dotACP]

Wilson combat is the standard by which all 1911 mags are judged. Get yourself the 47D or the ETM 8 rounders and you probably will be just fine

Sent from my VS876 using Tapatalk

[Drang]

I'll go all rogue, and say that I haven't had a problem with the el-cheapo 7 round magazines that come in what appears to be US GI wrappers I picked up at gun shows. I only use them for training/range sessions, though, for serious usage its Colt mags, the two Pachmyer mags I got with my Combat Commander, or Wilson ETMs.

[Paladin]

Another vote for the Wilson 8 round ETM mags. On a related note all things Wilson come with their amazing customer service and warranty.
Rick

[vcdgrips]

Wilson 8 Rd ETM for carry. If the gun will run CMC Power Mags, you can save a few dollars per mag and use the CMCs for training.

[45dotACP]

1911 mag design is a hugely complicated subject...there are tapered lips, parallel (wadcutter) lips and hybrid lips...most mags use wadcutter lips...Wilson and Chip McCormick specifically. The hybrid and tapered lips, in my experience are less reliable and more fragile.

The important thing is this...If the gun is correctly set up, a dimensionally correct mag from any maker should work. Mag springs weaken over time and you'll see inertial feeds....

Chip McCormick shooting, stars have been my main mags while buying more Wilson ETMs are for 18 or so bucks, they have never disappointed...and after the springs die, I'll replace them with Tripp super 7 kits.

Brownells 8 rounders have worked for me as well.

The follower on my gun is smaller...it sometimes skips the slide stop, making it necessary to strip the magazine manually. Same with the 10 round Powermags. The dimensions of the gun are off, so it is "mag sensitive" I just deal with it. It's not a huge problem to me.

Just to reiterate...a properly set up 1911 will NOT be mag sensitive, assuming the mag itself is not broken.

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[Hauptmann]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I might send it to a 1911 armorer and have them refurbish it, and buy one quality Wilson Combat mag to see how it runs.

[jetfire]

For carry/competition guns, I am absolutely on board for the Wilson Combat ETM 8-rounders. For guns that you're just going to shoot at the range, OG Colt 7 rounders work really well.

[LockedBreech]

In the brief time (a little below 500 rounds) that I owned a bare bones Rock Island GI .45, I used the 8-round ETMs. Never any sort of bobble, built very soundly.

[Cap]

and buy one quality Wilson Combat mag to see how it runs.


good idea .
Don't buy a boat load of any particular brand/style til you know it runs in your "particular" 1911


Having said, without a doubt, parallel feed lips work best for me in every 1911 I've owned ....and that's well over 50 of 'em (I quit counting some years ago after 50) from 7 or 8 different manufactures ranging from cheap ($350) to mid priced ($1500 retail)

Hybrid feed lips were the BIGGEST disappointment ever


Wilson
CerTac (got turned on to those a couple years ago) so far they've been bulletproof thru appx 5000 rnds
Chip McCormick Powermags

have been the most reliable for me


..L.T.A

[Dagga Boy]

I have not had good luck with 47D's over time. I run McCormick or stock Colts. Kind of funny, I had several Colts that didn't like 47D's, and my buddy's Kimber didn't like McCormicks. You really need to just figure out what works best for you and do not get married to a single brand or magazine.

[SecondsCount]

Chip McCormick Shooting Stars work great in my 70 Series Gold Cup.

I ran a lot of rounds through his Power Mags in my 4.25" Les Baer. Occasionally I had failures to lock back when they got really dirty but never any feeding issues.

[Trooper224]

Forget the Wilson 47D's. It's a problematic design and Wilson should really drop it from their product line. Their ETM 8 rounder is good to go. My go-to 1911 mag is the Checkmate 8 rounder with extended tube and removable base pad, with hybrid feed lips. I've had excellent service with them in several 1911's. I also have a box full of the Checkmate 7 round GI type mags, they're good to go as well.

[NETim]

As my 47D's die (weak mag spring), I drop the Tripp 7 round conversion kit in them. Works great in the Chip McC's too.

But the ultimate mag IMHO is the Wilson square spring ETM HD/+P. My carry mag of choice.

[farscott]

The magazines that work in most of my .45 ACP 1911 pistols are Colt-marked Metalform bodies with Tripp Super 7 follower kits. The next best for me seem to be the Metalform seven-round units with the round followers.

[45dotACP]

Forget the Wilson 47D's. It's a problematic design and Wilson should really drop it from their product line. Their ETM 8 rounder is good to go. My go-to 1911 mag is the Checkmate 8 rounder with extended tube and removable base pad, with hybrid feed lips. I've had excellent service with them in several 1911's. I also have a box full of the Checkmate 7 round GI type mags, they're good to go as well.

That's interesting. My experiences have been mostly the opposite...A wilson 47D was the first 1911 mag I ever bought, and while I've moved on to better (Currently in love with the ETM), the 47D still keeps on going. My two Checkmate 7 round hybrid mags give up the round way too early and the hybrid lips will regularly give me inertial feeds (live round in the chamber, gun trying to strip a live round out of the mag) and when I drop them on the concrete, they just spit the round out of the tube. To be fair, I've never tried their 8 round extended tube mags...but once bitten twice shy I guess. Never tried the GI style mags, but I've never thought it necessary to use a 7 round mag when I have a huge amount of 8 round mags available to buy....except for when my 47D and CMC Shooting Stars decide to kick the bucket and will then get Super 7 kits.

My experience with practically every mag with parallel lips has been overwhelmingly positive. My workhorse mags are Brownell's 8 rounders and they've worked unbelievably well actually...I've got a lot of them at home but I've been phasing out the vast majority in favor of the Wilson ETM mags. There are a lot of great choices out there and I'd say Nyeti's advice about not getting married to a set of mags is good advice.

On a different note, there's a local shooter at some of the matches I go to who runs Wilson Bureaucrats and I'm regularly surprised how trouble free they have been for him, whereas my CMC 10 round powermag a problematic mag. I'll be checking out one of the Wilson mags and putting a Tripp Super 9 kit in the Chip McCormick. My brother also says his Wilson 10 rounder has never given him an issue.

[JonInWA]

I've been a genuine aficionado of Check-Mate's magazines, but I have to make my obligatory disclosure up front: I'm one of their sponsored shooters. That said and out of the way, I've found the magazines to be excellent performers, and we've been able to have our team input results from our protracted field-testing and use incorporated into some beneficial production changes.

My usual preference is towards their hybrid feed lip/skirted and dimpled follower/high-performance sprung variants, but I've also had success with their semi-wadcutter and GI profile magazines.

In my experience, 5" Government platforms are the easiest and most problem free to run (and with a broad spectrum of magazines/magazine feed lip profiles); once you go smaller, the performance envelope is significantly compressed, and problems crop up if everything isn't in synch. My personal protocol for my 4.25" 1911s is to run only magazines with high-performance springs and with dimpled and skirted followers; the hybrids and semi-wadcutters seem to work best here.

In all of my 1911s, I run both 7 and 8 rounders, and welded baseplate and extended tube, removable baseplate variants.

Best, Jon

[JAD]

I have 47Ds that are older than half the people on this forum, that have been fully loaded for now decades, that run fine in 5" and 4.25" guns. I think ETMs are better and 47Cs are /money/.

For the OP I would buy 1 47C to validate the gun. If it won't run with that, gunshow it.

Then I'd buy 3 ETMs for carry. If it won't run with them, gunshow it.

Finally, I would try a blue 7 round metal form, and if it runs buy 20 of them.

[L-2]

I thought I'd already posted this response here in this forum, but I was mistaken. Here it is:

1911 Mags
Everybody will list their favorites. I'll give you my experience with several.
-stock Kimber 7 round which came with my TLE II Custom or Warrior: This is my longest running mag, but now has its spring & follower replaced with a TrippResearch.com "Super 7 Upgrade Kit". Even so, a welded-on floorplate mag is not preferred by me.

-ACT Mag. This came with another 1911. It didn't last long with a weak spring and feed lips spreading beyond .390".

-Kimber KimPro Tac Mag. I had a few of these. Feed lips spread relatively early. The follower design intermittently jumped my slide-stop lobes in a couple of my 1911s. I retired these mags relatively early.

-Wilson ETM. I only have a little experience with these. The followers also jumped my slide-stop lobes in a couple of my 1911s. I traded these for the 47D models.

-Wilson 47D. I generally like these mags but use the "Super 7 Upgrade Kits" in them, which makes them 7 round mags. I find the 47D springs weaken relatively early (within a year of my use). Mag bodies good and feed lips have generally held true.

-CMC Power Mags. I also run "Super 7 Upgrade Kits" in these. I found the followers also intermittently jump my slide-stop lobes after the followers get chewed up a bit with use. Mag bodies good and feed lips also holding true.

-Tripp Cobra Mags. Since I'd been using their upgrade kits, I decided to try their own mag designed as a full 8-round mag, similar to Wilson ETM's bodies, a bit longer. These have become my main magazine. They already have the hybrid polymer/metal follower I prefer and the mags have proven reliable in my four 1911s. Highly recommended by me.

Some folks won't like the looks of a Cobra Mag as it is a bit longer and its basepad (similar to Wilson ETM) is widely shaped. I have magwells on all my 1911s so they're not very noticeable to me, plus, the function, so far, is outstanding.

I'd written this a few years back. It's just my personal experience with a few brands/models. After ~$600+ in 1911 mags and finding ones which worked for me, I haven't had the need to be buying more. I did have a couple of Wilson 47D mags whose feed lips spread too much. Wilson replaced these by me merely sending them back with its warranty return form available on its website. Within 2 weeks of mailing them back, a new mag(s) will arrive in the mail. This is a great customer service and way of handling the life time warranty.

I also had a bad batch of mag springs in some Super 7 Upgrade Kits from TrippResearch. These springs actually fractured within the magazines during use. TrippResearch quickly sent me new springs and I've since been using them without issue for years now. I suspect the OP is the same person found on at least one other website I visit and has already seen my same/similar reply. 10-8Performance.com also has a great article (http://www.10-8performance.com/1911-magazines/) on selecting 1911 mags.

I'm somewhat surprised to see many folks, not necessarily on this forum, want the classic, welded-on baseplate 1911 mag. Whether it's for concealment or the classic looks, probably a combination, I only have a few of these. The one I'll normally use is that older 7-round Kimber mag with the TrippResearch upgrade kit. I also screwed on a base/bumper pad since I have magwells on most of my 1911s and slap the mags in from the bottom. Without a bumper pad, even with no magwell, I'd otherwise need to press the mag into lock with my thumb, which is not the way I want to reload. Except for this mag, I also don't have any risk of welds breaking loose and dumping the contents of the mag. That's all for now.

Let us know what you get!

[SecondsCount]

...

-Tripp Cobra Mags. Since I'd been using their upgrade kits, I decided to try their own mag designed as a full 8-round mag, similar to Wilson ETM's bodies, a bit longer. These have become my main magazine. They already have the hybrid polymer/metal follower I prefer and the mags have proven reliable in my four 1911s. Highly recommended by me.

Some folks won't like the looks of a Cobra Mag as it is a bit longer and its basepad (similar to Wilson ETM) is widely shaped. I have magwells on all my 1911s so they're not very noticeable to me, plus, the function, so far, is outstanding.[/I]

...

Have you had issues with the lips spreading on the Cobra Mags?

After about 2 years ours stopped dropping free which was from the feed lips spreading. With the price paid, I was very disappointed and went back to the CMC mags.

[SecondsCount]

....
My usual preference is towards their hybrid feed lip/skirted and dimpled follower/high-performance sprung variants, but I've also had success with their semi-wadcutter and GI profile magazines.

In my experience, 5" Government platforms are the easiest and most problem free to run (and with a broad spectrum of magazines/magazine feed lip profiles); once you go smaller, the performance envelope is significantly compressed, and problems crop up if everything isn't in synch. My personal protocol for my 4.25" 1911s is to run only magazines with high-performance springs and with dimpled and skirted followers; the hybrids and semi-wadcutters seem to work best here.

In all of my 1911s, I run both 7 and 8 rounders, and welded baseplate and extended tube, removable baseplate variants.

Best, Jon

Is there even a need for the dimple anymore?

None of the followers on the mags that I have used are dimpled and I was told that it was a design that went away with stronger springs and feed lips.

[jetfire]

I'm not a huge fan of Tripp mags. I've seen enough guns shit the bed using them to put me off them in general. I'm sure they're probably fine, but it's one of those things where I don't see the point in switching away from mags I know work to something I've seen crap out a bunch.

[JTQ]

Is there even a need for the dimple anymore?

None of the followers on the mags that I have used are dimpled and I was told that it was a design that went away with stronger springs and feed lips.
The WilsonCombatRep has mentioned wadcutter feed lips typically don't need the pimple on the follower.

My understanding is the pimple on the follower is to prevent last round inertia feed. Interestingly, the only mags out of my eclectic collection of 1911 mags that routinely gives me inertial feed problems are my CheckMate hybrid lipped mags. These mags have the most pronounced pimple of any mag I own with a pimpled follower. The pimple is so pronounced it takes some concentration to insert the first round into the mag and to thumb it out if I'm ever manually unloading the mag.

I have some old MetalForm Colt mags that are basically the same design as my CheckMate hybrids (the hybrid lipped mags are a Colt design. CheckMate is just the most recent to produce them) and they work perfectly with a less pronounced pimple. I haven't had problems with any other mags, and I generally like CheckMate mags and have an example of just about all their products in .45ACP 1911 mags with the exception of their extended tube models. I prefer wadcutter feed lipped mags and I primarily shoot ball ammo.

[B0308]

FWiW,

Circa mid-80s to early 2000s I ran 10-15 Wilson 47s pretty hard, all in Colt 1911A1s and a couple of Colt steel framed Commanders,
all worked over by respected smiths. Some of them started to display feed issues about 2005 or so. I got the feed lips go/no go specs from the old 10-8 Forum based on Hilton Yams data. Long story, not so short, I measured the mags with a caliper, contacted Wilson and they replaced about ten of the mags, all of which I declared well used, but not abused.

That's customer service. New magazines for old! I also run McCormicks and other first tier mags, but they get less use, as I fire my 1911s less often than in the past. YMMV

[SecondsCount]

I inherited a Colt 80s Series Gold Cup 1911. Unfortunately, the original Colt mags are not with the pistol, and it came with some cheap knock-off 8rd mags. Mechanically the pistol seems fine, but it does tend to have a failure to feed on usually the 7th round in the mag with the two mags that came with it. I'm guessing the weak link to be with the magazines. Can anyone who is experienced with 1911s recommend me some high quality 7 or 8 rd mags? Thanks.

I was just going through my mag drawer and found an almost new CM Shooting Star. It is yours if you would like, just PM me an address.

[Hambo]

I've run Wilson 47Ds in Colts, SA, Wilson, and a couple of customs without any problems. I'd go to ETMs now.

[45dotACP]

Just a FYI, but Brownells has a sale on ETM's for 27.99 apiece right now...

Seriously, just buy five and worry no more...

[Hambo]

^^^^ Good advice, but I'd buy ten.

[Hauptmann]

Just a FYI, but Brownells has a sale on ETM's for 27.99 apiece right now...

Seriously, just buy five and worry no more...

Doing it now..... Thanks!

[ffhounddog]

For my custom Dave Sams 1911 he worked on and made his way he suggested Mec-Gar 1911 magazines. To him they are better than others.

Just like everything else in the 1911 world, everyone has an opnion, and their way is the "right way". The reason why I say this is because he told me to stay away from Wilson magazines and people here swear by them.

[JonInWA]

Is there even a need for the dimple anymore?

None of the followers on the mags that I have used are dimpled and I was told that it was a design that went away with stronger springs and feed lips.

I frankly think that it's a wash regarding the dimple, at least in my personal experience. Most of my Check-Mate magazines have the dimple, but I'm also doing some long term testing of CerTac's 8 round extended tube, which uses a semi-wadcutter feed lip profile and a skirted, but un-dimpled follower. These magazines are designed by Christopher Prevost of Cerberus Tactical, and manufactured for him by Check-Mate-they're excellent, too. I haven't experienced any last-round issues in any magazines attributive to dimples-or to the lack of them.

What I DO think is more important is having a skirted follower and concurrently using a high-performance (i.e., stronger) magazine spring-particularly when you go from a Government-size to a smaller/shorter 1911 platform. Hilton Yam really nailed it-when you go to a shorter than 5" slide, your operational window regarding slide reciprocation and component interaction during cycling is shortened, which can increase the probability of operational issues if everything isn't carefully configured and married up-and "everything" can include slide. receiver, springs, lubrication, magazines, magazine springs, magazine followers, ammunition, extractor, ejector....you get the picture.

All of my 5" 1911 platforms have performed pretty much flawlessly with any and all 7-round and 8-round Check-Mate, CerTac, and Nighthawk Custom proprietary 8-round stainless magazines. That includes the gamut of welded baseplate and extended tube designs, split and skirted followers, dimpled and dimple-less followers, standard and high-performance springs; the only exception that comes to mind were the OEM Novak/ACT magazines that SIG-Sauer originally used as their OEM magazines; mine (and others) experienced feed lip splitting at the right rear feed lip. While I never encountered any actual operational issues with them, they were immediately retired from my operational line-up. I was shooting with a competitor and industry rep of a major semi-custom manufacturer who was (and still is) using them as an an OEM magazine where a the feed lip actually broke off and dropped into the internals of his 1911, nicely tying it up completely until disposed of. Fortunately, it was at a match, and not in "real life..." In fairness to ACT, my understanding is that they subsequently altered both their magazine design and hardening procedures.

Where the dimple MIGHT be especially beneficial would be with an aluminum-framed 1911, to preclude the last cartridge from hitting a ramp prior to chambering, potentially over time creating a divot which could induce feeding stumbles-but that's merely supposition on my part, as I have no aluminum-frame 1911s (or 1911s with a feed ramp per se).

I know from talking with him personally that Christopher Prevost had a very talented engineer assisting him in the design and development of his CerTac magazines, and that they used high-speed images to help establish and refine the magazines' characteristics-including not using a dimple on the follower. And his semi-wadcutter feed lip profile aids in cartridge retention if loaded or partially loaded magazines are either carried loose in a pocket, or dropped on a hard surface. Such characteristics can be very appealing to individuals or organizations training in a hard-surfaced bay, for example.

On the other hand, I like the feed characteristics of Check-Mate's hybrid feed lips, and my magazines are carried in a pouch, and I'm normally not training with a bunch of people in a constrained bay...FWIW, my 1911s that I use for carry, competition, and testing are a 5" 2007-vintage SIG GSR XO that has been wrenched on by some very skilled gunsmiths in the SIG shop, a custom-spec'ced 4.25" Nighthawk Custom Talon II, a 5" Colt Series 70 in stainless steel, and a WWII (1945) Remington-Rand (5", of course).

The good news is that between the two magazine types discussed, for most of us there isn't a "bad" decision between the two.

Best, Jon