6rd or 7rd mag for Officer?

[Shorts]

I just received my .45 Officer top end and now I need to get a magor two to shoot it. Which mags should I go with? I'm a bit confused. Myunderstanding is the 6rd was the original mag capacity that came out withthis model. But I see 7rd mags available. Do those 7rd mags still sit flush with the bottom of the grip? Is the modification for that extra round an inside-the-mag thing?

Can someone shed some light for me please?

[Hawkmoon]

Yes, the 6-round was the original capacity, and the 7-round is accomplished with a bit of smoke and mirrors inside the mag -- same as various vendors now offer 8-rounders for the gummint model.

I use only Colt 6-round mags in my Officers. I can't get around the suspicion that, as smart as John Moses Browning was, if 8 rounds was a good idea in the government size pistol, he most likely would have designed it that way. But he didn't -- he designed it for 7, and it works. And the officers has a shorter grip, so it's the same story in a different package.

[leatherneck]

I would stick with the 6 round that way it is less likley to cause stoppages. I always use my 6 round mags in mine. Although i do occationally use my 7 round commander mags in it and they seem to work ok.

[Hawkmoon]

I would stick with the 6 round that way it is less likley to cause stoppages. I always use my 6 round mags in mine. Although i do occationally use my 7 round commander mags in it and they seem to work ok.
But Commander mags are full-length. That's different from cramming 7 rounds into a magazine designed to hold 6, and expecting it to work.

[stans]

Officer's frames are short and the corresponding mags are short, only 6 rounds (7 with a modified follower and spring). Commander frames have the same grip length as Government frames and use the standard 7 round (8 with a modified follower and spring) Government mags.

[warmrain]

Have run standard 6 round Colt mags as well as flush fitting CMC, Kimber and Wilson 7 round magazines in my Colt SS officers with not one problem.

[SMMAssociates]

My little Kimber ("Custom Carry" - "Officer's" length grip, but 4" bushingless barrel) came with short seven-round mags. Seem to be reliable. The follower compresses to allow some extra space, and the spring seems a little light.

I've had some odd extraction issues, but they seem to be related to my "you bought what?!" reloads having somewhat flaky rims, and hanging in the extractor.

I think I'd be hesitant to go with the 7's if I was buying them "aftermarket", but since Kimber shipped the gun with one, I didn't panic. (Bought three more when I stopped by the dealer to get one. Hard to believe that Kimber only ships one magazine with the gun.... Naturally, I figured that out after I got home with the gun.)

Regards,

[Shorts]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I went ahead and decided to stick with the 6rders. I ordered two Colt 6rd mags today so hopefully they'll get here quick.

[clare44man]

Just my 2 cts. I have three Wilson 7 rnd mags for the Officers. Never had a bobble with them. In fact, I have never had a failure of any kind with my Officers. I also have six full length Wilson mags. These were originally 7 rounders but after being continually loaded for over 12 years, I broke down and treated them to new springs. (they never failed, I just worried about it) When I did that, I went to 8 round followers and springs and have had no problems in the last 6 years. All of my mags are always loaded. I'll let you know in another 10 years or so how it all worked out. 44 Man

[191145]

I had a Springfield Ultra-Compact V10 (Officer's size) and tried some name-brand 7-round mags in it with reliability problems. I went back to the factory 6-round mags it came with. These little pocket rockets have to be handled with extreme care if you're carrying them for defense. Everything has to be just so. Find what works and stick with it.

[wetidlerjr]

I have Chip McCormick 7 rd. mags with Wilson springs and followers which make them 6 rd. I just converted them and I have not tried them at the range. I installed the plastic Wilson followers to avoid damage to my Defender aluminum frame.

[wetidlerjr]

I have Chip McCormick 7 rd. mags with Wilson springs and followers which make them 6 rd. I just converted them and I have not tried them at the range. I installed the plastic Wilson followers to avoid damage to my Defender aluminum frame.

Tried all my converted mags this past weekend and all worked flawlessly. :D

[Puffy]

Im using the Chip McCormick 7 rd for the officers model as well a 8 rd full size mags and even a few 15 rounders. As long as Chip McCormick makes em there flawless. Even the kimber mags work well. The only mag that has hung was the stock Colt 6rd'er.(Imagine that :p )

[1911Tuner]

Im using the Chip McCormick 7 rd for the officers model as well a 8 rd full size mags and even a few 15 rounders. As long as Chip McCormick makes em there flawless. Even the kimber mags work well. The only mag that has hung was the stock Colt 6rd'er.(Imagine that :p )

Chip didn't make'em. Metalform did. Stick a Wolff 11-pound spring in that stock mag and it'll probably behave. Most "C" and "M" (Colt and Metalform)marked Colt mags came with springs that are too soft for the fast-movin' OM slide.

[dreampiper]

I have a colt CCO with the factory officer 7 round mags. I haven't had any problems. I also have CMC 7 rnd officer and 8 rnd full size mags with the compact base pad. I used all at a 4 day defensive handgun course without incident. The only problem occured when I grabbed an 8 rnd without the compact pad for an emergency reload... :nono:

[Shorts]

I received my mags (colt 6rd) and have since made a range trip where they did well. I imagine I might pick up a few more here and there. As long as they work :)

[trk2ajk]

i was at the range yesterday with my Colt OACP. i shot about 250 rounds of cci hardball through every mag i own. some were 6 round some were 7 round, some fullsize some compact, with no misfires or failures to feed. just see what works in your particular. :scared:

[Ric4509]

I use the original Colt 6 rd mags and probably because of old age had some FTF on the last round. I haven't changed the springs on these 2 mags yet. I bought a MagPak 7 rd mag from Brownells and the FTF on the last rd is no longer happening. I think it's because of the little ss button that holds on the cartridge detent that prevents the FTF on the last rd. Can anyone make a comment on that?

[Hawkmoon]

I use the original Colt 6 rd mags and probably because of old age had some FTF on the last round. I haven't changed the springs on these 2 mags yet. I bought a MagPak 7 rd mag from Brownells and the FTF on the last rd is no longer happening. I think it's because of the little ss button that holds on the cartridge detent that prevents the FTF on the last rd. Can anyone make a comment on that?
1911Tuner already has. He wrote a long explanation of the importance of the little dimple. Try searching the Magazines forum using 1911Tuner as the "posts by" name and "dimple" as the search term

[SMMAssociates]

Hawk:

Tuner and I are arguing about my new Kimber's mags - no dimple. No problems.... :eek:

So far.... He's telling me that'll change. I trust his opinion, but these followers are designed to compress to allow a seventh round in the Officer's length magazine instead of the basic six. As a result, I think, the spring pressure effect on the last round may counter the absence of the dimple. :confused:

I've also got three "GI" magazines that came with Pachmayr followers. No dimple, but the centerline of the entire follower is raised a good ten thousandths. They always behaved fine. Some feed problems with semiwadcutters talked me into swapping in Tripp conversions that have been 100% and feed the wadcutters. And have a dimple.... ;)

I'm convinced there's some strange magic involved in this.... Kinda like the innards of a Para LDA.... IAC, Tuner's explanation is reasonable. :scared:

Regards,