In the spring of 2013 I decided to shoot USPSA Single Stack division for a change. I had two factory Springfield Armory magazines for my TRP but those only held 7 rounds. I also had a bunch of Chip McCormack 10-round magazines that I had used for Limited/10 a few years ago but for Single Stack I needed some 8-round magazines. I looked around at Wilson Combat and CMC, both of which have very good reputations, but I noticed quite a few people were mentioning Mec-Gar as a good alternative to the big-name mags.
Most people don’t realize that Mec-Gar is the manufacturer of magazines for most of the major firearms manufacturers world-wide. They’ve been in business almost fifty years and that’s the only thing they do. I’ve purchased their magazines for other pistols but I was a little reluctant to invest in their product for the 1911 platform. I needn’t have been concerned.
I contacted Greg Cote who was unfortunately in the process of relocating to Florida due to the hysteria-fueled gun/mag bans going on in Maryland but he was still able to sell me several of the nickel version of the 8-round mag and I received them within a few days of placing the order. I was greatly relieved to see that the beveled base pad was a perfect fit in my Springfield Armory TRP and seated and ejected without issue. My CMC 10-round mags required a fair amount of dremel work to fit the magwell so it was nice to see these were perfect right out of the box. The plastic follower was also an item of concern but I quickly realized it would work just fine. In fact the design eliminates the dreaded follower tilt that has been a concern with folded metal followers. These followers are superb and even include a metal insert where the slide lock engages.
After shooting quite a few rounds through these mags in practice I headed to a USPSA match to try them under pressure. I am pleased to say they worked perfectly every time. All this for less than $20 each is an extremely good value in my opinion. Shortly after Greg got settled in Florida I ordered several more of the stainless variety and they work equally well at less than $1.00 more per mag. Reports are that the springs have good life, which if true makes these magazines a great value.
I shot Single Stack for two months in the summer of 2013 and these mags provided excellent service. I’m hoping to shoot some IDPA CDP using the same setup this summer (2014) and have no doubt these Mec-Gar magazines will get the job done without any trouble. If you decide to try them please do let Greg Cote know that I sent you.
And who doesn’t like shooting .45acp out of a 1911?
Firearms4u 