It's been known that a major point of failure is the actual design of the magazines, for instance. The current mags are an adaptation of something originally designed to be a consumable product, meant to be used once or twice and then discarded.
Magazines for semi-automatic pistols are always a weak point. If they are damaged, bent, etc. they can be put out of commission. This is true for every pistol made.
I'd be interested if you can point me to a source for your opinion that they were intended to be disposable.
Steel magazines for pistols had been in use for about 14 years before the 1911 was deployed. The Borchardt, the Luger, and Browning's own designs had all used steel magazines. They were not intended to be "used once or twice and then discarded" they were built to be durable and used for years. They in fact were. From 1911 till 1916 all magazines for the 1911 were made with a lanyard loop. The loop was to be attached to a soldier so that the magazine would not be lost and so that it could be reused.
The magazines have remained essentially the same from a design standpoint throughout their production history up till today with only small changes to enhance durability. Colt and others still make military type magazines. The production process, grade of steel and heat treating changed some, as did how and where they are welded. They worked well with ball ammo because that was all their was.
The first significant changes to the magazines came in the 1920s and 30s from bullseye shooters who began to adapt the lips of the magazines to more easily feed lead semi wadcutter and full wad cutter ammo.
In the postwar period more changes began to be made as custom gunsmiths made changes to the guns. Some of these magazines were sold commercially as especially made for LSWC rounds. Pachmyer and Al Capone from L.A. began to market their own magazines touted as more reliable often because the guns built by them worked well with their mags but not with GI mags.
Beginning in the late 1970's jhp bullets became more reliable and common.
In the 1980s Charles Kelsey developed the 8 round magazine for the 1911 which had a radically different design follower. His company and the magazines were called Devel. He sold the patent to Chip McCormick and they are known as Shooting Star mags.
The competitive shooter Bill Wilson became a custom gunsmith and opened his own company. He introduced design changes to materials of the follower. These worked well with his guns he marketed them as more reliable. Especially with JHP ammo. He and others also introduced changes in the parts, slide stops, safeties, etc. which made use of standard mags less reliable.
It would take a longer essay to go through the changes in mag design and why they occurred. But GI magazines still work with GI guns and even with LSWC ammo and JHP with only slight alterations to the barrel. Those changes have become commonplace in production 1911s over the last couple of decades.
tipoc
