1911 aftermarket mag question

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Rangerrich99

New member
Hopefully this is in the right forum.

A quick question: I have two aftermarket mags for my 1911 (can't remember the exact brand right now. They are both about two years old. Both seem to feed rounds reliably, but sometimes they don't actuate the slide release stop. I know this is inconvenient and probably not a big deal, but I was wondering, should I get new springs? Ditch them? Or is there another fix that I haven't thought of yet?

Thanks.
 
The first thing I'd do is disassemble them, clean them, and lube with a Silicone spray.

They may just be sticking
 
Depending on the follower design of the mags in question, you may be able to tweek the lip that actuates the slidestop.

If you take the slide off and put the slidestop back into the frame, insert a mag into the frame you can see the interaction between the parts
 
Just curious, are you running a shock buffer? My slide stop problem turned out to be my buffer, not my magazine.
 
It is one of the following...

Spring tension, feeding lips, follower or the slide stop itself. Without more info it is hard to tell you what is going on.

Quality 1911 mags are so readily available and cheap I would just replace them.
 
Do you have other mags that work right? I ask because I have a couple 1911s that did that. The problem in both cases were the slide stops not the mags. I changed slide stops and the problem was solved.
 
As an indication of how . . . interesting the problem can be: After ~500 rounds of perfect function, I had a half-dozen issues with rounds not being retained sufficiently in the mag, resulting in the next-to-last round feeding forward and preventing the mag from dropping free, or a "bolt over base" failure to feed the last round.
The followers and springs were new, so I put them in different tubes, and while the decribed problems went away, I then had failures to lock back and failures to eject (the latter only on the last round, so I think related to the failures to lock).
I'd never had any of these problems, before.
In my (prior) experience, I would have recommended that you determine if the problem is the springs not lifting the slide stop, or is the follower slipping past the slide stop?
I've had both; if the former, the mag will still drop free, but if the latter you will have to drag the mag out.
 
Magazines are disposable items, especially 1911 mags. I will put new springs in one but if there is still a problem, I relegate them to range use. You can buy quality 1911 mags for less than $20.
 
Rangerrich99 said:
Hopefully this is in the right forum.

A quick question: I have two aftermarket mags for my 1911 (can't remember the exact brand right now. They are both about two years old. Both seem to feed rounds reliably, but sometimes they don't actuate the slide release stop. I know this is inconvenient and probably not a big deal, but I was wondering, should I get new springs? Ditch them? Or is there another fix that I haven't thought of yet?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
What KyJim said.
One of the perks to 1911s is there are plenty of quality mags for under 20 bucks. The mags that prove unreliable are not worth fixing at that price.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1531697475/chip-mccormick-shooting-star-magazine-1911-government-commander-45-acp-8-round-steel?cm_vc=ProductFinding
 
I'm glad this question came up. I have a relatively new Colt Gold Cup Trophy that came with a 8 round & 7 round magazine. With the 8 round mag, the slide usually doesn't always lock back after the last round is fired. I've compared the two, side-by-side and can't see any difference that would cause this. I'll try Sharkbite's suggestion and see if I can see anything.
 
With the mag locked in the well, align the slide notch with the slide stop, and push upward on the bottom of the mag; if the mag rides a bit too low in the frame, the follower may not be riding high enough to activate the slide stop reliably.
It may not actually be a problem of the tube being too low in the frame, but of the follower not riding high enough in the tube; either way, pushing up on the mag, until it's hard against the frame, could reveal one or the other as the problem.
 
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