himurax13 Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) Hello, I just saw these at Brownells and I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to try them out and review them. After wasting a ton of money on the Metalform/Dawsons and the Wilson Combat magazines, I was hoping to find something that works. I do plan on trying some Tripp Cobra 10 rounders sometime down the road but I can't seem to find them for a reasonable price. Any suggestions? Edited March 26, 2015 by himurax13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastluck13 Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubOrbital Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Didn't like my Wilson Combat ETM 9mm mags, but I've had almost no problems with the Dawson/Metalforms. Maybe one mag is slightly out of spec, but that's it. No problems with my single Tripp 10rd mag, though that's a small sample. Interested in the problems you ran into with the Dawson/Metalforms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Although I haven't had a single malfunction with my dawsons, i'm also interested in the mccormicks. they've been great in my 45. I think the dawson mags are built to run perfectly with STI 9mm 1911's. At least everyone I know who uses that combo has had good experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G T Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I have 1 of them and some Dawson's and have had no issue with the cmc mag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastluck13 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. If the Dawson mags are giving you problems with a built in feed ramp in the mag, I suspect there is something other than mags going on. Who made the gun? How many rounds? What is the OAL of the ammo you are running? Bullet profile? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. If the Dawson mags are giving you problems with a built in feed ramp in the mag, I suspect there is something other than mags going on. Who made the gun? How many rounds? What is the OAL of the ammo you are running? Bullet profile? Springfield Loaded. Thousands. I have tried multiple profiles and various OAL's over the year. Loading longer helped but problems remained. I finally decided that ditching the metalfor/Dawson and Wilson mags would be the best course of action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastluck13 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. If the Dawson mags are giving you problems with a built in feed ramp in the mag, I suspect there is something other than mags going on. Who made the gun? How many rounds? What is the OAL of the ammo you are running? Bullet profile? Springfield Loaded. Thousands. I have tried multiple profiles and various OAL's over the year. Loading longer helped but problems remained. I finally decided that ditching the metalfor/Dawson and Wilson mags would be the best course of action. A new mag is a cheap experiment. Could still be something else though. What power factor are you running? There are a lot of 9MM SS guns around here and most seem to run their ammo as long as will fit in a mag and close to 135 PF. I found my gun runs best with a 12lb recoil spring but 10-12 should work. I think keeping the slide speed up to strip the round from the mag quickly is the key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. If the Dawson mags are giving you problems with a built in feed ramp in the mag, I suspect there is something other than mags going on. Who made the gun? How many rounds? What is the OAL of the ammo you are running? Bullet profile? Springfield Loaded. Thousands. I have tried multiple profiles and various OAL's over the year. Loading longer helped but problems remained. I finally decided that ditching the metalfor/Dawson and Wilson mags would be the best course of action. A new mag is a cheap experiment. Could still be something else though. What power factor are you running? There are a lot of 9MM SS guns around here and most seem to run their ammo as long as will fit in a mag and close to 135 PF. I found my gun runs best with a 12lb recoil spring but 10-12 should work. I think keeping the slide speed up to strip the round from the mag quickly is the key. I had 4 of the Dawson/Metalform mags and 8 of the WIlson mags. When clean, they were at best, unreliable. Once dirty, they became totally unuseable. I typically load all of my 9mm from 130 to 145 PF. I use 10 or 12 lb recoil springs. The Springfield/Metalform 9 round mags work well 95% of the time so once I eliminated the 10 round Dawson/Wilson mags from my setup, my rig became somewhat reliable. This issue has driven me mad because I have had more issues with it than all of my other pistols put together x 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. Edited March 27, 2015 by bountyhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superslowmo Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. I have to agree here. Though mine seems to do this more with HP's than FMJ. I picked up a Taurus 9mm 1911 from a buddy (I know, don't say it) that he had resorted to 9rd 38S mags just to get it to run OK. I bought a few of the Mec Gar 9rd mags and it seems to do better. I just bought a bunch of the Wilson ETM's but haven't had the opportunity to go out and run them all yet to see how they/the pistol performs. I have been running 115gr rounds, but will probably step up to 124/147 and see if increased length aids with feeding as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardBlake Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I haven't tried the Chip McCormick mags, but the Wilson ETM's have been great for me so far. I've only had nosediving issues if the magazine is really filled with sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. The nosediving occurs even if you strip one or two rounds. This is a problem when loading to division capacity. I am sure it is a design issue due to being single stacked more than anything. Have you ever loaded any of these mags to 10 and then tried to strip a round out by hand? It is a pain. Honestly I don't see how this issue could be fixed without finding some way to keep the front all of the rounds pointing slightly upwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superslowmo Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. The nosediving occurs even if you strip one or two rounds. This is a problem when loading to division capacity. I am sure it is a design issue due to being single stacked more than anything. Have you ever loaded any of these mags to 10 and then tried to strip a round out by hand? It is a pain. Honestly I don't see how this issue could be fixed without finding some way to keep the front all of the rounds pointing slightly upwards. The 9mm case being tapered does not help in the least bit. If it was straight (more like 38S, and 45 ACP), I doubt this discussion would be taking place. eta- I think the steep feed ramp on some of the 1911 patterns is partially to blame as well. Edited March 27, 2015 by superslowmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. The nosediving occurs even if you strip one or two rounds. This is a problem when loading to division capacity. I am sure it is a design issue due to being single stacked more than anything. Have you ever loaded any of these mags to 10 and then tried to strip a round out by hand? It is a pain. Honestly I don't see how this issue could be fixed without finding some way to keep the front all of the rounds pointing slightly upwards. The 9mm case being tapered does not help in the least bit. If it was straight (more like 38S, and 45 ACP), I doubt this discussion would be taking place. eta- I think the steep feed ramp on some of the 1911 patterns is partially to blame as well. Yes, the feedramp on the 9mm barrels is quite steep. However, if the bullets can't get stripped out of the mag while cycling to even make it that far, it is a moot point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I cut half of the spring off my etm's so I can unload them at the end of a stage if I havn't used that mag. It also made the gun "feel" smoother when it was cycling Fortunately I've had no problems with it running even when the springs were full length Good fortune getting your gun running I've always had good success with CMC mags as a whole, was really disappointed when they quit selling their 10mm mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. The nosediving occurs even if you strip one or two rounds. This is a problem when loading to division capacity. I am sure it is a design issue due to being single stacked more than anything. Have you ever loaded any of these mags to 10 and then tried to strip a round out by hand? It is a pain. Honestly I don't see how this issue could be fixed without finding some way to keep the front all of the rounds pointing slightly upwards. I agree. It's the stupid tapered case of the 9mm round. Stack them and the nose of the top round is going to be trying to point downward. I thought that the Metalform (?) magazines had a mini feed ramp at the front edge to re direct the nose of the top round upward, not sure if that works. Edited March 28, 2015 by bountyhunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OPENB Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Not sure if the new Chip mags will help you if Metalforms did not work for you before, as this mag is essentially a Metalform. It is the 9rd "Springfield" mag, lengthened to be a 10 rd. mag, and with a removable base pad. It has the channel in the front of the mag in lieu of the spacer just as the Springfield mag does, and the built in feed ramp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 What issues are the old mags giving you? Nosediving. Is it nosediving on the first round of a full mag? Seems to be a chronic problem on 9mm single stack mags, even Mec Gars. Mine were 9 round mags and would always do it if inserted on a closed side, but would feed the top round OK if inserted on an open slide. The extra "smash" onto the round stack made it nosedive. On mine I put in some "+1" follower/spring sets to increase capacity to ten rounds and then they worked well as 9 round mags, but had the nose dive thing on the tenth round. The nosediving occurs even if you strip one or two rounds. This is a problem when loading to division capacity. I am sure it is a design issue due to being single stacked more than anything. Have you ever loaded any of these mags to 10 and then tried to strip a round out by hand? It is a pain. Honestly I don't see how this issue could be fixed without finding some way to keep the front all of the rounds pointing slightly upwards. I agree. It's the stupid tapered case of the 9mm round. Stack them and the nose of the top round is going to be trying to point downward. I thought that the Metalform (?) magazines had a mini feed ramp at the front edge to re direct the nose of the top round upward, not sure if that works. They do have something that resembles a feedramp. It doesn't help when the round has nosedived below it. I am not sure that cutting a magazine spring would be the way to go since the whole point is to keep the rounds facing upwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 curious, and you have this problem with plain old round-nosed bullets at 1.15 or longer? I asked around and everyone who had an sti and dawson mags seemed to be doing fine, so that's what I got, and haven't yet had a feed malfunction (or any other kind) in a few thousand rounds. I just used the same ammo I was loading for my cz and never had reason to experiment further. I expect this issue is incredibly frustrating for you. If i couldn't fix it with bullet profile i'd probably just find a good 1911 smith to look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 From what I read, you can get some relief from the nosedive problem by using .38S magazines and loading the bullets a shade long. I currently shoot standard 115 grain 9mm FMJ using Mecgar and CMC magazines and they work fine as long as I don't try to insert a full mag on a closed slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bceglinski Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I've had really good luck with my Chip McCormick. They are 45acp 8 rounders but I use them in my springfield 40s&w. they 8 round 45 mags will hold 9 40s&w. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhounder Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 My range is all sand, and I find one grain of sand in the Wilson ETMs and they are useless,never mind the follower gets scrapped up. Only use them at other ranges. No problems with Tripps. Might try the McCormick. Asked if they planned on making mags for 40 and they laughed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himurax13 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 My range is all sand, and I find one grain of sand in the Wilson ETMs and they are useless,never mind the follower gets scrapped up. Only use them at other ranges. No problems with Tripps. Might try the McCormick. Asked if they planned on making mags for 40 and they laughed. I agree. If the Wilsons or the Dawsons got any dirt on them, they were done. This is why I was surprised that they came out with 9mm mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now