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I just acquired a new SIG 1911 9mm full size that came with two 9 round mags with metal followers. I want to purchase a bunch of aftermarket 10 round mags.
Which type of followers would you get, metal or plastic?
(I have a concern (perhaps irrational) that the metal followers might have the potential to bind up more than the plastic ones, even with routine mag disassembly and cleaning).
My only concern with a metal follower is if the mag is used in an alloy frame pistol without a ramped barrel. Otherwise I don’t know how much it matters. I have heard repeatedly that the plastic followers are “self lubricating”. Maybe, but I don’t “lubricate” mags anyway.
The new design Wilson 10 round 9mm 1911 ETM mags work much better than my old 10 round ETMs with the composite followers. They also feed HP ammo with complete reliability; something my old ETMs would never do.
The shooting stars function OK, but they have a couple of issues.
The eight round .45 acp mags have a Devil style follower, which rocks forward beyond the front of the mag tube as the last round in the mag feeds. That binds the mag in the gun, requiring that it be pulled out from the bottom, rather than dropping free. Also; on alloy framed 1911s; that steel follower rocking forward will damage the frame ramp.
I traded 2 Glock 48 mags for 2 shooting stars, have not been to the range but just dry cycling rounds they suck. I've tried squeezing the top a little to better hold them in, but when I insert the mag and then release the mag one or two rounds fall out, but I've also noted how the follower does protrude some. I believe these could be old mags. There's no insert in the mag or indent on the sides thought they were 45 at first but there same size as my other 9mm mags. Other then the follower saying shooting star there are no other markings, ie 'Chip McCormick'.
Just venting a little, I'll use them at the range misdeed practice.
I have no Sig 1911's at the moment; mine are currently all from Colt. In my experience, I've found that the all-steel Colt mags are 100% reliable. I also have a pile of Wilson Combat mags with plastic followers and they have also been 100% reliable.
Obviously, different guns may have different preferences, but if you select quality mags from Colt, Wilson, McCormick, etc. you'll probably be OK. The overall design and the quality control standards seem to be more critical, rather than follower material. There is no shortage of other all steel and plastic-enhanced options, which are not nearly as reliable.
I don't think the follower material makes a lick of difference. As others have said, Wilson Combat mags with plastic followers are among the most reliable 1911 mags one can find. Plenty of other mags use metal followers and those can work fine too.
I think the far bigger determining factor than material is design.
As with Post_14, I'm mainly using mags & followers from Tripp Research.
The followers I use are "hybrid" with a polymer body and a metal portion where the slide-stop touches.
While my 1911s are all in .45ACP, unfortunately Tripp Research doesn't have these followers for the 9mm mags (I don't know why). Tripp uses the "Flex" follower for 9mm mags
In my experience, it doesn't matter as long as they're anti-rotational followers. I've never had any failures with Wilson mags, and I've owned many. They all had plastic followers
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