Linea_de_Fuego
02-16-07, 18:56
I am learning about 1911 magazines. Rather than put this info into Grants post about 1911 Mags I thought that it should have its own thread. Many of you all may have known about these features already, but I did not. There are photos of different brand mags and how they feed etc.
The link for the site is 1911 Magazine Analysis (http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/index.html)
Here is an excerpt from it.
Next, I tested the Colt hybrid mag. This one requires some backstory.
The original design for 1911 magazines calls for a flat, dimpled follower with a leg bent into it; so far we've seen that type of follower design on the Springfield, Colt hybrid, and one of the Metalforms. What none of the mags feature are the fully-tapered feed lips that widen from the base to a release point well forward of where wadcutter magazines release. The result of this design is to turn the nose-down/nose-up gyrations seen in the Metalform photos above into a much subtler wiggle.
Unfortunately, I don't think anyone makes magazines like these anymore, but I can guess why. These magazines are sometimes referred to as "hardball" magazines after the ball ammo they were designed to feed. I would suspect that the fact they released relatively late and high could lead to problems in out-of-spec guns when trying to feed hollowpoints or wadcutters, tainting that particular magazine design with a reputation for use only with ball ammo, and who would want to shoot just ball out of a 1911? All of the above is pure speculation on my part, but I'm told that an in-spec 1911 will function best with any round given an original design USGI tapered-lip magazine.
But this is all academic because nobody makes these magazines anymore. We have the next best thing, though, in Colt factory hybrid magazines. These mags completely release the round eventually, but the feed lips up to that point are tapered, allowing the cartridge to rise higher before the release. The amount of taper is fairly dramatic: The magazine I used went from 0.37" in the rear to 0.42" immediately before the release point.
The net effect of the taper, as mentioned above, is to make the dip into the frame ramp very subtle, too subtle to get a good photo. I was able to take a good shot of the round nosing over the barrel ramp, though.
The link for the site is 1911 Magazine Analysis (http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/index.html)
Here is an excerpt from it.
Next, I tested the Colt hybrid mag. This one requires some backstory.
The original design for 1911 magazines calls for a flat, dimpled follower with a leg bent into it; so far we've seen that type of follower design on the Springfield, Colt hybrid, and one of the Metalforms. What none of the mags feature are the fully-tapered feed lips that widen from the base to a release point well forward of where wadcutter magazines release. The result of this design is to turn the nose-down/nose-up gyrations seen in the Metalform photos above into a much subtler wiggle.
Unfortunately, I don't think anyone makes magazines like these anymore, but I can guess why. These magazines are sometimes referred to as "hardball" magazines after the ball ammo they were designed to feed. I would suspect that the fact they released relatively late and high could lead to problems in out-of-spec guns when trying to feed hollowpoints or wadcutters, tainting that particular magazine design with a reputation for use only with ball ammo, and who would want to shoot just ball out of a 1911? All of the above is pure speculation on my part, but I'm told that an in-spec 1911 will function best with any round given an original design USGI tapered-lip magazine.
But this is all academic because nobody makes these magazines anymore. We have the next best thing, though, in Colt factory hybrid magazines. These mags completely release the round eventually, but the feed lips up to that point are tapered, allowing the cartridge to rise higher before the release. The amount of taper is fairly dramatic: The magazine I used went from 0.37" in the rear to 0.42" immediately before the release point.
The net effect of the taper, as mentioned above, is to make the dip into the frame ramp very subtle, too subtle to get a good photo. I was able to take a good shot of the round nosing over the barrel ramp, though.