In a Nutshell
In our testing, we found that the Wilson Combat 1911 mags performed the best out of all the models we tested. They reliably drop free, feed, and lock back on empty. Though they are the priciest out of the bunch, their performance earns them our coveted Editor's Pick rating.
You can never have too many magazines, especially for something like a 1911, which already has a relatively low capacity by modern standards.
Extra magazines allow for faster and more convenient reloading while at the range and give you a backup should you need more rounds in a defensive situation.
Of course, extra magazines are only helpful if they work.
The 1911 isn’t known for always being a paragon of reliability…that means you don’t want to exacerbate any potential issues with low-quality mags. Luckily there are plenty of reliable mag makers out there.
We’ve compiled a list of 1911 magazines we’ve tested and that proved to be reliable across multiple 1911 models — .45 ACP, but also for 9mm and 10mm versions.
By the end, you’ll be able to buy your next set of mags with utter confidence.
THE QUICK LIST
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Editor’s Pick
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Budget-Friendly Mag
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Best Follower Design
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Best Factory Mags
Table of Contents
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How We Chose the Best 1911 Magazines
We’ve spent countless hours researching and analyzing 1911s and their accessories to determine what works and what doesn’t. For this review, magazines had to meet the following metrics:
- Smooth loading into the magwell
- Feed reliably
- Compatible with most 1911 models
Input into this article came from the PPT editorial team and our writers. Together we have a combined shooting experience of 30+ years, including instruction, competition, and multiple shooting disciplines. Every model on this list has been hands-on tested by someone on our team and met the standards above.
We had to make some tough calls. If you don’t see your favorite magazine brand, it doesn’t mean we hate it, just that we couldn’t include it this time.
Best 1911 Magazines
1. Wilson Combat Elite Tactical Magazines – Editor’s Pick
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
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Pros
- Feed reliably
- Durable construction
- Easy to load
Cons
- Expensive
Want a brand with an excellent reputation for not only its 1911s but also 1911 magazines? Look no further than Wilson Combat. They’re arguably the best in the industry!
These magazines benefit from the same care and attention to manufacturing and machining that make Wilson Combat’s 1911s so good.
Wilson Combat has developed its own end-to-end process that is nearly all proprietary processes. That includes developing a new type of industrial welding system that’s more precise and introduces less heat into the thin magazine material!
“Thin” is relative, however, because they actually use the thickest material in the industry for their mags, making them more resistant to deformation and wear.
Wilson Combat also developed its own automated deburring process and a proprietary multi-step tumbling and finishing process. These processes keep magazines smooth and eliminate friction.
Overall, this makes mags easier to load and more reliable when it comes to feeding and dropping free.
The mags also include a self-lubricating polymer follower that virtually eliminates snagging and magazine-related feeding problems.
Overall, these magazines drop free, feed, and lock back on empty reliably. They are expensive, make no mistake, but the reliability and extra attention to detail may be worth it if you’re looking for some of the best 1911 mags.
What do you think of Wilson Combat magazines? Share your rating below.
2. Mec-Gar 1911 Magazines – Best Budget-Friendly Mag
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
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Pros
- Affordable
- Feeds well
- Holds onto rounds when dropped
Cons
- Can be a bit stiff
Despite making industry-standard magazines, Mec-Gar isn’t as familiar of a brand as some others. However, they are a decent option for budget-friendly magazines.
Not to mention, they produce magazines for a number of high-profile gun manufacturers, including Rock Island Armory. And they carry a wide range of magazines for .45 ACP, 9mm, 10mm, .38 Super, and .40 S&W.
Most of their magazines come in your choice of either a blued steel finish or a nickel finish over steel. Each one is reliable in pretty much any 1911, regardless of manufacturer, and with pretty much any load.
They fit into virtually any 1911 smoothly and drop-free with equal smoothness.
Mec-Gar mags hold onto rounds when dropped. But also feed them easily into the chamber when needed.
For the price, the value of Mec-Gar magazines is hard to beat — especially since you can find them on sale fairly frequently!
3. Ed Brown 1911 Magazines – Best Follower Design
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
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Pros
- Good follower design
- Heavy-duty spring
- Special surface finish designed to prevent powder residue
Cons
- Very stiff and hard to load
If you’ve investigated upgrading or tweaking your 1911, you’re likely familiar with the Ed Brown name.
Ed Brown produces a variety of 1911 accessories. The company also developed a reputation for quality and affordability over the years. Like some other manufacturers on this list, they’ve put their own spin on the 1911 magazine to help ensure reliability.
First and foremost, they use a tried-and-true follower design that’s been tested and proven to work. This improved follower is specific to Ed Brown mags and has been very good at preventing feeding issues in our experience.
To aid that follower, they use a super heavy-duty spring that stays…well, springy for the entire life of the magazine.
It can be a little bit difficult to load the mags to capacity, especially if you don’t have the best hand strength. So, you may want to invest in a mag loader.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
-
25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
Copied! Visit Merchant
Beyond that, the inside of the magazine is coated with a special surface finish designed to prevent powder residue and other gunk-causing corrosion. So, the inside stays super slick even when the mag is dirty.
These mags are available in 9mm, 10mm, .38 Super, in either short-frame or standard frame lengths, and include a wrap-around-style polymer base pad.
This is the perfect option if you know you want a lot of spares!
4. Colt 1911 Factory Magazines – Best Factory Mags
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Pros
- Classic look
- Easy to find
- Work well
Cons
- May take time to break in
Don’t dismiss factory mags!
Colt’s 1911 Factory Mags are actually pretty great and will work with any 1911 — whether it’s made by Colt or not. Fortunately, they’re sold individually, so you don’t need to buy a Colt 1911 to get your hands on them.
They are available in stainless steel and blued finishes and in versions for .45 ACP, 9mm, and 10mm. The .45 ACP style can be found in either 7 or 8-round iterations. Though the former is more traditional and, according to some reviewers, slightly more reliable. While the 9mm has a 9-round capacity and the 10mm has an 8-round capacity.
We like the very classic appearance of these magazines and how they resemble the military issue magazines for the 1911 — which makes sense since Colt developed those as well!
These budget-friendly mags aren’t anything fancy, but you can count on them to get the job done.
5. CM Products Railed Power Mags – Most Durable 1911 Mags
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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25% off all OAKLEY products - OAKLEY25
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Pros
- Railed design prevents hiccups
- Patented follower feeds JHPs and semi wadcutters
- Numbered witness holes
Cons
- Pricier
For a long time, Chip McCormick was the chief competitor of Wilson Combat in the 1911 world.
Well, a while back Chip sold his company to his competitor (and friend) Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat, so while they are no longer rivals, both companies still make outstanding products.
The number one offering from CM is probably its Railed Power Mags — designed specifically to feed almost flawlessly. Any mag is subject to have issues, but these are some of the most reliable around.
Anyways, the “railed” part of the name comes from the way the feed lips are bent over and rolled to form rails for the cartridge to slide over. If you know anything about mags, you know that the feed lips are the most common source of issues.
The strengthening you get with this design helps prevent feeding hiccups.
A polymer base plate rests on all these mags. You also have the option of a stainless or black fluoropolymer finish. Mags ship in either and in 8 or 10-round versions.
They’ve also got Chip McCormick’s patented follower, which helps to feed hollow points and semi-wadcutters — both of which tend to be temperamental in 1911s with lower-quality magazines.
The numbered witness holes let you quickly know how many rounds you have remaining, while the polymer baseplates slide off easily for cleaning and maintenance.
Overall, Wilson Combat and Chip McCormick/CM Products mags are the two standards of the 1911 magazine industry, and you can’t go wrong with either.
Caring for Your 1911 Magazine
Just like cleaning and caring for your 1911 is important to keep it working optimally, it’s important to clean and care for your magazines as well.
Most 1911 magazines on this list come apart easily when it comes time to clean them, so you won’t have any problems there. But beware: the base plate is essentially spring-loaded, so use caution when you’re removing that.
Ask us how we know…
Beyond that, clean them about as often as you clean your guns or whenever you notice a problem. If you want to make things especially easy, pick up an ultrasonic cleaner and some cleaning solution to get them quickly back to that factory shine!
(Check out the Best Ultrasonic Cleaners for our full, hands-on review!)
Just make sure your cleaning solution is okay to use with any polymer parts, or remove those parts and clean them manually.
Finally, you should inspect your magazines frequently to check for dents, feed lip deformation, and other issues that could keep them from functioning reliably.
You really don’t want your gun to malfunction when you need it most. But you especially don’t want it to go down and then find out (or have your loved ones find out from the police report) that you could have prevented it.
Final Thoughts
From Wilson Combat to factory Colt mag, the mags that made our list have all been hands-on tested for reliability and function…even in the most adverse conditions.
Whether you’re after budget-friendly mags that we’d call good for range or competition use or high-quality mags we’d carry to war if we had to, there are plenty of 1911 mags to choose from.
Which of these mags do you like the best? Do you own any, or are you thinking about getting any? Let us know in the comments! Looking to own a 1911? We’re sharing the Best 1911s for the Money! To stock up on ammo, head over to Best .45 ACP Ammo.
Latest Updates
July 2024: Removed Brownells 1911 Mags.
12 Leave a Reply
The Mec-Gar double stack mags in .45 ACP do NOT hold the advertised 14 rds! They hold 12 rds ok, 13 rds meeh and the 14th round only goes in with brute force! If loaded with 14 rds, the gun does not accept the magazin, as the feed lips or top round hit the slide. You can insert the mag with the slide back, but when the slide goes forward, the gun jams! Brand new RIA Tac Ultra FS HC .45 ACP with three mags. All mags are the same. Seems like the producer is misleading customers here.
Love my 1911's. I have always relied on Colt magazines even though all my 1911's are not Colts. Never had a problem with them in any 1911.
Great review. About 20 years ago, I bought my first full size .45 cal 1911. Make and model aren’t relevant. I set this weapon’s 7 round factory mags aside and have used 8 round single stack stainless steel Wilson Combat (WC) 47D mags in this weapon from the get-go. You’ll find that the WC website calls the 47D the Full-Size 8 Round Standard Base Plate magazine. I have always run economically priced brass cased factory loaded FMJ rounds from a range of reputable manufacturers in these mags. I have never had this weapon smithed to improve its performance, and I have never had a failure to feed. After about 15 years of use, the original plastic base pads in my WC 47D mags did crack, and I replaced them with WC metal base plates. This setup - the combination of 47D mags and stock FMJ rounds running in a full-size grip 1911, is 100% reliable for me.
Hey! Good article.
Was looking for a 1911 45 jacketed hollow point, failure to feed article + mag recommendations. Specifically, info related to a Kimber 1911 Pro CDP II, chambered for 45.
Yours is pretty close to what I was looking except with 9mm. My two cents...
JHP's grind everything to a stop on my gun whenever they hang up at the slide which is every mag. I polished it up until it was shiny like a holiday. Still, it FTF.
Gunsmith polished it. Same thing. He says it's the mags and recommends Act. Right now they're not available after an extensive search, especially in 8 round flush varieties.
Have been running Chip McCormick flush 8 rounders. And ball ammo works fine in all of them, just like with everyone else's K45 and 1911.
Looking only for flush mags because that little thing hanging off the end makes a great looking gun look cheap + it prints sometimes when concealed, just like Glock mags with that plastic outrigger thing on them do.
Don't want to buy one mag at a time to test and then bet my life on the result. Except for more research - and I'm getting pretty tired of the dead-ends, buying to test seems to be the one thing left.
Your article and comments helped. Got a colt 8R and a mec-gar 7R on the way. Thank you.
Any positive comments would be appreciated!
Megan nice review. Only thing I disagree with is your generalistic view of 1911 reliabilty. You know not what you talk about. However, your young and will realize not all 1911's are equal.
God bless you. Enjoy your youth and be safe.
Thank you Megan. My training was old school revolvers as a security officer. Now learning the semi auto world. You have been helpful.
I just bought a Dan Wesson Commander Classic. The gun is perfection. The mags seem sloppy. I just bought a couple Wilson Combat mags. The difference is night and day. Why would a high end manufacturer NOT include the best magazines?
Tripp Research Cobra's is what my SIG C3 .45 1911 seems to run the best with. I plan on seeing if my Colt Officers Enhanced likes them also. As soon as I get it back from a "Customizing" job at Brubaker Arms Manufacturing in Yakima WA. :-)
I use the Tripp Industries follower/spring kit in colt factory mags for flawless performance.
I shoot a Springfield mil spec 1911 I have the Wilson combat magazines and also have a couple of KCI mags that work really well in my gun and of course the Wilson is the best you can get
Ok. I would agree with the choices here for 1911 mags and what could be proven to be the best. But Mec-Gars? Over CMC or Wilson? The Mec-Gar mags I have are loose fitting in 3 of my 1911’s. All 3 pistols are from different manufacturers. While they were cheap, they rattle and don’t actually “seat” as good as the other brands I have.
Now you should have mentioned the Act-Mag 1911 magazines. The 4 I have and use are all stamped with Rock Island Armory on them. But they’re Act-Mag brand, from Italy, and probably the best fitting and feeding mags, of the 20 or so mags I have from different brands. I prefer the Act-Mag over others, even though the Colt’s are tried and true, for a steel magazine that has a polymer base that fits great and doesn’t rattle and drops free easily, then now you know.
You’re probably the only person I’ve ever heard that’s had a “problem” with Mec-Gar mags. Despite your issue with them rattling, how do they run? New mag springs will likely solve that rattling issue. Every Mec-Gar mag that I own for any of my pistols whether it be my 1911s, my SIGs, my CZs, my Walthers, or my Caniks; the factory and aftermarket Mec-gar mags that I run in all of these (and I have a lot) just work and I never think twice about running anything else.