The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Stubborn 1911 magazines - break-in?

spacecoast · September 4, 2013, 06:07 AM

I'm planning to shoot a match this weekend so I wanted to make sure my ammo will go through my new Springfield Range Officer without issue. I found that the supplied Springfield magazines are VERY hard to load with my 200 gr. LSWCs - the follower was sticking repeatedly going down the length of the mag, and the springs seemed extremely tight, even though I usually don't have any problems loading mags on other semis with just my fingers.

I used the end of a plastic pen to run the follower up and down repeatedly inside the mags to put a little wear on them (hopefully removing any burrs) and managed to get them both functioning to the point where I don't think they are going to hang, but they are still really tough to load. I emptied each of them using the gun a few times. Rounds seem to strip off cleanly and the gun goes into battery just fine.

Is this standard behavior for new 1911 magazines? I hesitate to try any lubricant on them.

September 4, 2013, 06:07 AM	#1
spacecoast Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2009 Location: Sunshine and Keystone States Posts: 4,461	Stubborn 1911 magazines - break-in? I'm planning to shoot a match this weekend so I wanted to make sure my ammo will go through my new Springfield Range Officer without issue. I found that the supplied Springfield magazines are VERY hard to load with my 200 gr. LSWCs - the follower was sticking repeatedly going down the length of the mag, and the springs seemed extremely tight, even though I usually don't have any problems loading mags on other semis with just my fingers. I used the end of a plastic pen to run the follower up and down repeatedly inside the mags to put a little wear on them (hopefully removing any burrs) and managed to get them both functioning to the point where I don't think they are going to hang, but they are still really tough to load. I emptied each of them using the gun a few times. Rounds seem to strip off cleanly and the gun goes into battery just fine. Is this standard behavior for new 1911 magazines? I hesitate to try any lubricant on them.