1911 mags

[Flint Hills Dawg]

I just purchased 6 - 8 round mags to use trying WB. The mags stick out below the mag well by almost a full round, are these mags legal or did I just spend money for no reason.

[Hoss Shoer]

Can you post a picture?  Also extend magwells are illegal. 

[Burt the Undertaker]

Just looked up the rules.

Mags must be "standard" length and weigh a maximum of 3oz.

I would guess that your mag sticking out the bottom of the mag well wouldn't qualify as "standard" length... 

You could use them for practicing or possibly local matches but they would not be allowed for sass competitions.

 

 

[Garrison Joe]

Not legal, if they extend below the frame.   Can you return 'em?   Good thing to read the rules before buying, or attend a match, or even ask here. 

Buy good quality mags  - 1911 is a finicky gun with the wrong combination of ammo and mag and then perhaps a factory stock (non-tuned) gun.  

With Tripp mags I can run almost any ammo.  Colt, most.   MANY other mags - always a problem of some sort.

good luck, GJ

[Boggus Deal]

Checkmate makes mags for Ruger, Colt, Ed Brown and many others. They have run the best for me. 
You have to pay extra to have Tripp weld the base plate on their mags just to make them stay on. You’d think on the most expensive magazine on the market it would work without having to pay extra… 

Using 7 round mags keeps you from accidentally overloading the mag. 
 

Keep your 8 round mags for every day carry, if they’re good mags or use them for other shooting games.

[BradyT88]

On 3/9/2025 at 5:41 AM, Boggus Deal said:

Checkmate makes mags for Ruger, Colt, Ed Brown and many others. They have run the best for me. 
You have to pay extra to have Tripp weld the base plate on their mags just to make them stay on. You’d think on the most expensive magazine on the market it would work without having to pay extra… 

Using 7 round mags keeps you from accidentally overloading the mag. 
 

Keep your 8 round mags for every day carry, if they’re good mags or use them for other shooting games.

For those Checkmate mags are you using the 7 rd or the 7rd GI mags? I'm not sure what the difference is. Does it matter if they are black or stainless?

[Boggus Deal]

I use the 7 rd stainless ones with hybrid lips and GI dimpled follower.

[Boggus Deal]

@BradyT88 I meant to tag you in the above post.

[Garrison Joe]

This Artful Bullet article shows some good pictures of the three common 1911 lip designs.

https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/1911-magazine-feed-lips.9672/

Magazines with lips which uniformly narrow for the full length from the back plate of the magazine up to the release point of the round - those are THE BEST for a "round ball" load.  That was what was provided in both WWs to shoot military ball.  Often called GI-Ball or tapered lip design.

Magazines with wadcutter type lips, also called controlled feed lips, usually have a good chance of feeding non-ball loads.  Especially made for short stubby nosed wadcutter loads for target shooting.  These wadcutter loads will often pop up the round too fast in a military (tapered) lip mag and lead to point-up jams against the feed ramp.  The wadcutter lips are usually parallel at the rear for a short way, then open to a clean release of the cartridge at a specific point engineered for best feeding of wadcutters and the stubby hollowpoints.

Most good quality magazines today are made as the hybrid design, combining a shorter taper section at the rear, and then an opening of the lips which allows almost the same type of controlled feed of the wadcutter magazine.

Like Boggus, I like a magazine with hybrid lips for Wild Bunch, especially with bullet designs other than a 230 grain round nose.  Hybrid lips give the most reliable feeding with a wide selection of bullet shapes, in my experience.

good luck, GJ

Edited Wednesday at 03:54 AM by Garrison Joe

[Whitey James]

I had been only buying Wilson Combat mags prior to shooting WB. I have found that, for the money, it's hard to beat the Metalform mags. They are an OEM manufacturer of many brands.