All posts tagged Wilson Combat Magazines for sale

Ranger plates on gun magazines? Yep, that’s why base platers matter

Wilson Combat Magazines

Wilson Combat Magazines

I’ve been around the gun community for so long that there are certain things that just start to click, and then  you feel like you’ve arrived.   I didn’t understand why people were so particular about 1911 magazines and all of the various pads and plate lengths.   We’ve been selling AR15 parts and accessories for more than 7yrs and and I never felt the need for putting ranger plates on my pmags or GI magazines until I started shooting competition events.  Just those fractions of a second difference and primarily, the ability to securely grip or clear an empty magazine was improved if you had an extended base plate.  Sometimes magazines don’t drop free because of the shooting angles you are on and this seems to be very common with some 1911s.

I have stuck with Wilson mags for my Colt and Springfield Armory guns and haven’t looked back.   Some people like the 7rd magazines but I have never had an issue with any of my Wilson Combat magazines in 8rd, especially the ETM magazines.  The Black Elite Tactical magazines seem to be the hardest one for us to keep i n stock because our distributors don’t seem to get very many of them.   There are design improvements that are primarily geared to the competition shooter. The National IDPA event ususally gets a lot of Wilson Combat supporters and I was fortunate enough to attend some of those.   45acp is a great round for shooting steel and if you need a good magazine for your 1911, stick with the best.

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What the difference between the Wilson Combat 47D and the ETM magazines? Why switch?

Wilson Combat Magazines

Wilson Combat Magazines

The first thing I said to myself when we started carrying the ETM magazines was “why would I bother” and then I looked up the info and reviews about them and found  out that it was really all about competition shooting more than it was about another reliable 1911  magazine.   The Wilson combat magazines are the most expensive magazines that we sell for the 1911 but in the 16yrs I’ve been using them, I have had a very long and good experience in using them.   I have seen people crack them but I have never had that happen, over time and magazine is going to wear out and even the Magpul pmags I have in my inventory have shown some cracks after about 8yrs.   The best thing about the Wilson magazines for the 1911 are that the followers are very well balanced.  They move up and down without tilting which makes a very big difference when feeding FMJ into the throat of a 1911 handgun.

Rotating your magazine in your inventory is very important if you want to keep on top of your reliability.  For people that are  shooting thousands of rounds of ammunition through their guns each year, knowing when  you need to change out the springs on  your Wilson Combat magazines before they start to fail is really a good policy.   I have a few other parts on my Colt 1991A1 that could use some checkups on but I’ll probable take it to a gunsmith to replace hammer springs ect.  I have not run hollow point ammunition through my 1911s in a long time, but to prevent over penetration I probable should do some research into getting some of the

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Wilson Combat Magazines vs everyone else

I’ve mentioned many times in my blog posts that my first handgun was actually a Colt 1991A1 and I got a screaming hot deal on it.  $375 out the door for as far as I know an unfired firearm that was brand spanking new.   My first experiences with it were like many, it did not run out of the  box and I had to do some minor tweaks to my approach for carrying this firearm, what type of ammunition to use and what type of magazines.  I only had 1 magazine with it when I got it and it did not last more than a couple reloads before the magazine lips started to bend and the gun would close on an empty chamber, the problem was that I was using USGI magazines that are in all practicality, throw away magazines.

There are many new fancy 1911s out there Kimber is what I consider fancy as well as Les Bauer.  I have seen plenty of feeding problems for people that did not use Wilson Combat Magazines and eventually they figure it out and go to an online discussion forum and find out what works best. We recently noticed that some companies have upgraded their standard magazine capacities have learned the technology to do that, I have not found any truth that the Wilson Combat 8rd magazines were less reliable than the 7rd magazines.  I think an 8rd 45acp is the best option since 10+ rounds of 45acp tends to make the guns too heavy.

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What is our best selling, least complained about 1911 magazine?

The best selling 1911 magazine is hands down the Wilson Combat 1911 magazines.   We couldn’t narrow it down to just one magazine because there are several different types of magazine bases that competition shooters  might want something that a CCW owner doesn’t want or need.  The Wilson 47D is our most popular 8rd 1911 magazine and the #47 is the most popular 7rd, but the Elite Tactical Magazines have gained ground for the competition shooters.   The ETM magazines have a number base plate and the windows are in a different cut than the tradition Wilson magazines.   They are higher priced than the Chip McCormick Magazines which come in as a close 2nd as far as sales.

The thing that many 1911 firearms seem to have trouble with are the magazine follower/hold open tabs.  Many of the GI magazines wear and bend but the one piece Wilson Combat Magazines have a more reliable balance and catch that holds the firearm open when the last round has been fired.  I personally don’t have an issue carrying 45acp ball ammo because when I carry that gun it’s usually when I’m up in the mountains and more likely going to have to use it against and animal than in a highly populated area where over penetration might be an issue.   I have heard rumors that 8rd magazines are not as reliable as the 7rd magazines but I have never witnessed that.

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Be careful about about how much screwing around you do with your 1911s

I’ve had many family members and friends ask me to go shopping with them to help them pick up a firearm.  There have been many times that I have warned people about buying a certain gun even though it looked like it was a good price.  Many of the times it was a firearm that had obviously been customized.  The biggest warning sights are usually when the triggers have been changed.   That can mean that somebody was lessening the trigger pull weight and it’s also a hint that it was turned into a target gun and there may be other parts like springs or buffers inside it.   I have a family member that purchased a 1911 because he had one in the military and the one he eye balled at a gun store had exactly these issues.

After we took this firearm to the gun club it actually jammed up on us several times, I tried to take it apart to see what the spring looked like but it had a full length guide rod and I did not have any familiarity with that.   We even tried several of my wilson combat magazines that usually solve many 1911 problems but the gun still hung up.   We later found out that there was a tool we needed and there was in fact a buffer that was decaying inside the gun and causing all of the malfunctions.   There are so many new 1911s out there, Sigs, Les Bauer, Kimber ect. that you have to watch the amount of tinkering people do with them because not all of the 1911 parts and especially holsters are going to work with them.

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What’s the deal with the Elite Tactical Magazines vs Wilson Combat 47D mags?

I first found out about the Wilson Combat Magazines after having not so good experiences with the Colt magazine that my  1911 came with.  At the time I knew nothing about the  throating on the barrel or the way 1911 firearms fed bullets and the limitations of ammo selections.  The 1911’s of today are not the 1911 of the 1940’s.  Those guns got the job done, but the effectiveness of the firearm’s caliber was more important than whether or not it took hollow point ammunition will run in the gun.   What is available today in not the round nosed 45acp lead rounds that were issued in World War II.

Sometimes we shop because we want the best and others we are frugal and just want the product that gets the job done and doesn’t kill our pocket book.   We’ve had extensive periods of range use with Wilson Combat Magazines and that’s why we’re going to say they are our best magazine, but you can get the well used and proven Chip McCormick magazines for about 10 dollars less.   I have personally not used those but there seems to be a  lot of complaints about some magazines not being flush fitting or not dropping free for various firearms.  There are so many variations in 1911 productions now that sometimes you might have to do some research about parts and accessories operator in the way that you want them to.

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