Flush fit 7rd mags for full size 1911

[Bread is People]

Looking for recommendations on flush fit 1911 mags for full size frame.
The local shop has stainless check-mate mags for 20$ - should I jump on them?
What other manufacturers should I be looking for?
I know Wilson combat, colt & mec-gar are good ones, but are there any others?
Also, they need to be flush fit to be eligible for classic division in 2 gun, which is what I'm planning on using them for someday.

PS - I was seeing 1911 mags at the local gun show made by a company called triple K. They were pretty cheap, like 10$ a piece.
I passed on them as too good is no good in my book, but has anyone actually used them before? Are they really junk?

[Steve_in_Allentown]

Triple K mags are junk.

Checkmate, Tripp, Wilson, McCormick, Mec-Gar, and Metalform are solid performers. Keep in mind that some 1911s don't work well with some magazines. You'd be best served to pick up one example from several manufacturers to see if your pistol has a preference. Sell the ones that don't work well and buy more of the ones that do work well.

Everyone has their personal favorite. Mine is Checkmate. They have been very smooth feeders in a variety of 1911s. In fact, they feed smoother than any other manufacturer's mags across more 1911s and with a wider variety of factory and reloaded ammo.

If you do get a Checkmate, I recommend avoiding the ones with the standard GI follower. Get the ones that have the Devel style, bullnose followers.

[gunnerblue]

I've only used Ed Brown flush-fitting mags. No issues

[Steve_in_Allentown]

I've only used Ed Brown flush-fitting mags. No issues

Those are manufactured by Checkmate and rebranded with the EB logo at the bottom of the tube.

[duece71]

Tripp Research. A little pricey but well worth it. Tripp also sells their “Super 7” mag kits for 8 round magazines. I have used the kits in Colt marked check mate mags and they work very well.

[Pappabear]

My pistol smith that does a lot of work on 1911's only uses standard Colt 7 round mags. Thought that was interesting. Chalk up Colt for 7 round mags.

PB

[Dukr]

My pistol smith that does a lot of work on 1911's only uses standard Colt 7 round mags. Thought that was interesting. Chalk up Colt for 7 round mags.

PB

Checkmate makes a lot of the Colt magazines.

[Wildcat]

Might also look at Metalform.

Brownells offered some 7-round mags that looked like they were made by Metalform for Brownells; or at least copied the Metalform follower. I bought several of them to replace some craptastic gun-show-specials that were knocking around in my gun bag. It doesn't look like the Brownells 7-rounders are available any more (which is disappointing because they work fine) but Metalform 7-rounders are, and are reasonably priced.

[WillBrink]

Triple K mags are junk.

Checkmate, Tripp, Wilson, McCormick, Mec-Gar, and Metalform are solid performers. Keep in mind that some 1911s don't work well with some magazines. You'd be best served to pick up one example from several manufacturers to see if your pistol has a preference. Sell the ones that don't work well and buy more of the ones that do work well.

Everyone has their personal favorite. Mine is Checkmate. They have been very smooth feeders in a variety of 1911s. In fact, they feed smoother than any other manufacturer's mags across more 1911s and with a wider variety of factory and reloaded ammo.

If you do get a Checkmate, I recommend avoiding the ones with the standard GI follower. Get the ones that have the Devel style, bullnose followers.

Had all of those, bold was always the most reliable in my 1911s.

[Steve_in_Allentown]

Had all of those, [McCormick] was always the most reliable in my 1911s.

I ran McCormick exclusively during my IDPA competition days and never had a problem.

Then one day when I apparently had nothing better to do I began experimenting with all the different brands of magazines I had on hand, all the various types of factory ammo, and all the different 1911s on the bench. That morphed into a 3 day marathon of testing every combination of magazine, ammo, and pistol. During that test I stuffed somewhere around 5,000 rounds of ammo into magazines and ended up with a seriously sore thumb at the end of it.

Without going into all the details, the result was I traded away nearly all my McCormick, Tripp, Wilson, etc. mags for 8 round, extended tube, hybrid feed lip Checkmates. There may come a time when I discover a better mag but for now they are my go-to-war choice.

One thing I found that I did not like about CMI was their spotty quality control which tainted their performance on occasion. Once I identified the potential failure points and developed a method for inspecting for and correcting them, I've not had a single failure since. I consider the small time investment involved in this to be well worth it.