Armscore & Magazines

[Dean Hoffmann]

While I have had an Armscore for some time, today's trip to the range finally prompted this post. I have several different brands of mags, Kimber, Metalform, Wilson, Novak, Cmc, and at least one of each of these brands, except Kimber won't go all the way into the mag well, and if you do force them in, you have to drive them out with a cleaning rod from the top. Here's the kicker though. There are no rub marks on the tight mags, I can't find any in the mag well. I've miked all the mags and there is about .003 difference between them as a group, but it isn't the larger ones that won't go in. Has anybody else had this problem? I can't figure it out. First I thought it was the mainspring protruding into the mag well. Not! I removed the spring and follower from one of the tight ones thinking it was the follower. Not! Latch cutouts. Not! If I could at least see some place they were rubbing I could fix that. I may just polish the whole mag well and see if that fixes it. Its the last 3/8 inch that is the problem. Help!

[Diamond]

Does your mag got a pad and your 1911 has a mag well? It might be the pad catching on your magwell on the rear of your magazines.

[Dean Hoffmann]

Only the Novaks have base pads, but the mag won't go in far enough for the base pad to be a factor. I am trying to figure a way to measure the curvature of the front of the mag. This is the only dimension that I haven't compared. Color me baffled.

[Diamond]

I assume your Armscore is a single stack model. My experience with the 8 rounders mag is the lip easily expand as you keep using it. Use a marking pen on the lip then insert the mags and see where it left a mark. I usually hit the portion of the mag with a mark lightly using a plastic hammer or a mechanical pliers with a protective cloth over the mag lips to correct the problem. Hope this will help you!

[Dean Hoffmann]

Its a single stack. I already checked the lips, and am now pretty much convinced it it the curvature at the bottom of the mag. The mags that won't fit have a slightly wider curve. The math whiz teenager next door helped me measure the curve, and there is a difference in the ones that don't fit. The back to front measurement is nearly the same, .0032, but the curvature is slightly different, and I do mean slightly! I took some jeweler's rouge and polished the mag well just slightly with a dowel wrapped in moleskin, and the mags began to slide in better, and I kept at it until they all fit. The gun was purchased, "pre-owned", so I don't have any stock Armscore mags, but I get the feeling that this fit problem may have been part of the reason it was traded in. The detective job was perhaps the most interesting part of the job. When I looked at the suspect mags under UV light with a 30x stereo scope, the rub marks became visible but were invisible under white light. I didn't think this up on my own. I saw them do it to a car bumper on CSI. Who said there's nothing good on TV? Stay Safe. Dean