RFI: Are 1911s in 9mm as reliable as those in .45acp'?

[Bucky]

I think Springfield/Metalform then McCormick were onto something with the front spacer and little ramp.
Unfortunately Metalform went to the 1950 rear spacer for ten round magazines, as has CMC under Wilson ownership.

I agree wholeheartedly. The best 9mm magazines I have are these exact mags. The CMCs get the most use, being they’re 10 rounds. When I did dabble in the thought of 1911 9 mm carry, I used the Springfields due to the flush fit. I have 4 and 2 of these respectively. I wish I had more of the CMCs. When I game, I bring the 4 CMC and 4 Tripp. The Tripps are nice if I don’t have to early dump, as they’re the easiest to load. Being the easiest to load, they suffer most from bullet drag (the round being fed partially strips the round below it).

In addition to the above mentioned, I also have Dawson, Metalform, Mecgar, and different variations of Wilson’s, including the Vicker’s duty magazine. I also went through 3 9mm 191s to get one reliable enough to game with. Admittedly, my STI and SW had notable design flaws IMNSHO.

[Bucky]

9mms have enough taper that really single stacking them is problematic.

Also why the Glock 43 is what it is and why the Sig P225, and P239 were what they were.

Agree, even 9mm specific single stacks don’t seem to work as smoothly as even a little bit of stagger. I see this in my Shield and 43 mag, versus the 938, Nano, and Kahr.

[gato naranja]

I think Springfield/Metalform then McCormick were onto something with the front spacer and little ramp.

Agreed. I have had zero issues with the nine-round Leatham-style "front crease" Springfield/Metalform 9mm magazines. They are my go-to magazines in spite and/or regardless of their capacity.

To be fair, I have not really had many problems with any of the various 9-rounders that come with a new Springfield 1911, but the above have been - so far - as good as I could ask for.

[45dotACP]

I've had fairly good luck with the Metalform 10 rounders, but I'll admit to being something of a newb when it comes to 9mm 1911s. When I got my Prime, it was shipped to me with the 10 round ACT mags in 9mm and they've worked well.

My Colt Commander came with just basic, no ramped 9 rounders and the Kimber I have came with Metalform Leatham style mags.

All told I probably have less than ten thousand rounds through the three different 9mm 1911s so the Jury's still out,

But it would be safe to conclude for the OP that you'd probably reap the most reliability from a .45 ACP in government model. I've used a few different .45s for carry, competition, and classes and they've all been outstanding, and my most troublesome 1911 to date (the one I had to do the most to to get working the way I wanted) was a 9mm Commander frame.

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[Hstanton1]

I've had fairly good luck with the Metalform 10 rounders, but I'll admit to being something of a newb when it comes to 9mm 1911s. When I got my Prime, it was shipped to me with the 10 round ACT mags in 9mm and they've worked well.

My Colt Commander came with just basic, no ramped 9 rounders and the Kimber I have came with Metalform Leatham style mags.

All told I probably have less than ten thousand rounds through the three different 9mm 1911s so the Jury's still out,

But it would be safe to conclude for the OP that you'd probably reap the most reliability from a .45 ACP in government model. I've used a few different .45s for carry, competition, and classes and they've all been outstanding, and my most troublesome 1911 to date (the one I had to do the most to to get working the way I wanted) was a 9mm Commander frame.

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I think this is true right up until I decide to pay for a gun from alchemy, nighthawk, or chambers custom, specifically for carry from all I can tell, those makers have reliability in the gun down pat, and seem to sell well regarded mags with them. Currently, I do think it would be worth trying to trade my p30 up into some dan wesson commander, and then using that gun to further work through the platform as a whole. I’m certainly hoping the platform ends up working well enough for carry, but if it doesn’t that’s ok too.

[TCinVA]

Not really.

I had mags that measured fine but would malf.

Wilson would always replace ‘em but I got to the point that it was just something I didn’t want to pursue anymore.

Another thing 9mms do is on a partial mag reload you have to pull the mag out because the top round is partially fed because the rim of the case that gets fed drags the next round out a little bit.

Also they have a tendency to pop out of the mag if you drag the bullet on the front edge of the magwell when you insert the mag. Which I never figured out because you can’t even unload a 9mm 1911 mag by hand when it’s full.

Too many quirks.

That's kind of where I ended up as well.

My Wilson CQB is a good gun, but the magazines were treacherous as all hell. Everything would be fine and then I'd need to do a reload during a scored/timed drill or standard and the magazine would spit the top round out of the magazine and try to feed the next round in the chamber resulting in a stoppage that requires stripping the mag and working the slide multiple times to clear.

And you're right...stripping a magazine by hand is hard as hell leading you to think the top round is being held securely, but at any other interaction the top round in the magazine is doing funky shit like popping halfway out. And if you drop a partially loaded magazine for a preemptive reload, this sort of thing happens with startling frequency:

[Rick R]

I’ve been happy with the CMC 10 round 9mm magazines with the spacer in the back and “feed ramp” front. Brownell’s sells an identical magazine in black, FWIW. I haven’t run into any issues with the top round wandering, though they are impossible to manually unload without some type of tool to push downward and forward simultaneously on the rim of the top round. The OEM magazines will dribble out the top round if not handled with due care.

I have much more faith in my Commander size lightweight SR1911 in 9mm than I had in either of the.45 Colt Commanders I owned in the past. The only two malfunctions that I can remember with the Ruger were both operator error.

[awp_101]

And if you drop a partially loaded magazine for a preemptive reload, this sort of thing happens with startling frequency:

Is HK building 1911s now?

[M2CattleCo]

That's kind of where I ended up as well.

My Wilson CQB is a good gun, but the magazines were treacherous as all hell. Everything would be fine and then I'd need to do a reload during a scored/timed drill or standard and the magazine would spit the top round out of the magazine and try to feed the next round in the chamber resulting in a stoppage that requires stripping the mag and working the slide multiple times to clear.

And you're right...stripping a magazine by hand is hard as hell leading you to think the top round is being held securely, but at any other interaction the top round in the magazine is doing funky shit like popping halfway out. And if you drop a partially loaded magazine for a preemptive reload, this sort of thing happens with startling frequency:

Yep.

I ended up with that exact mess several times. That mag is likely damaged after doing that. Mine were.

[Caballoflaco]

This thread makes me like the idea of a .38super or 10mm @.40 s&w +p velocities for actual use, with maybe a second fitted barrel in 9 or .40 depending on the gun for practice/games.