1911 Metalform 7rd magazine problems

[Hdonly]

Having some problems with my RIA 1911 A1 CS when using 7 round Metalform magazines. I have two of these mags. Both have problems with last round hold open. The mag that came with the gun occasionally has this problem, but the Metalform mags fail to lock open every time. All the mags lock when manually cycled. I am wondering if it's a gun problem since the factory mag sometimes fails to lock. Any ideas? Gun and magazines are less than 6 months old and I have only fired about 400 to 500 rounds through the gun total.

[Aguila Blanca]

Do the magazines fail to push up the slide stop, or do the mag followers override the slide stop lug?

If it happens with multiple magazines and multiple brands of magazines, my first thought is the slide stop, but the answer to the question above might change that.

[Hdonly]

While inspecting the magazines and gun to answer your questions, I discovered that because the way that the Metalform follower is made, it can move forward or backward when empty. If I push the follower all the way back and insert the mag, I can cycle the slide back and forth with full travel. If I push the follower just any amount forward and insert the mag, it will lock open every time. The factory mag follower can't move back and forth because of how it is made. The radius on the front of the followers are also different. Looks like the position all the way back just lets the follower over ride the stop. Definitely a magazine problem it appears.

[g.willikers]

It's easy enough to determine if the mags you have are the problem.
Just buy one brand name mag that's known to be reliable.
The least expensive are the Chip McCormicks, either 7 or 8 versions.

[sousana]

Mag rebuild kit with enclosed follower. I had the same issues with Metalform mags in a Nighthawk, but after replacing the magazine spring and follower with an extra power spring and an enclosed follower the issue dissapeared.

[RickB]

The mags have G.I. followers, or a follower of Metalform's design?

[Hdonly]

Here is a picture of the magazines. Do you have an example of the mag rebuild follower that you mentioned.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=105060&stc=1&d=1494877514

[RickB]

The angle of the followers looks weird; are you sure you have the springs installed correctly?

See how the followers all ride nearly level, here?

http://how-i-did-it.org/magazines/img/lineup_angle.jpg

[Hdonly]

Springs are in correctly. That is part of the problem. You can move the followers all around. They will line up as you load, but if it comes up all the way to the back of the magazine after the last round, it won't catch the slide hold open. It appears that as the slide extracts the last round it pulls the follower all the way to the back of the mag and misses the slide catch. I just ordered a couple of different followers and will see if that fixes them. I have read where some other people are having problems with Metalform magazines doing the same thing.

[RickB]

And the angle of the two legs of the followers is correct?
I have four of those mags, and the follower doesn't ride low at the back, like that.

http://gunsmithinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1911-Magazine-Follower.png

[Aguila Blanca]

I agree that something is very funky about the follower angle in your magazine. When empty, the follower should top out, as in the two magazines toward the foreground in RickB's photo.

[Hdonly]

Because of the way the lips are bent, this is as far as the followers will come up. The way they came from Metalform. The single magazine is the one that came with the gun. The follower does come up much more than the others. It also works correctly. Lots of people talked about how good Metalform magazines were. Not so sure I believe them now.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=105064&stc=1&d=1494901767

https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=105065&stc=1&d=1494901767

https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=105066&stc=1&d=1494901767

[Jim Watson]

If you have new followers on the way, you can experiment with the originals.
Maybe file them narrower so they come up higher in the lips.

My FLG was very strong on Metalform magazines, preferring the round follower, but he said the last batch he got was not as good.

I have some Metalforms that do ok but my last purchases were McCormick. First their regular Power Mag, then a couple of the new RPM.

[Aguila Blanca]

If you know how to disassemble the magazines, remove the followers and check the angle formed between the vertical back leg and the top surface. With the top surface parallel to the feed lips, the vertical rear leg should be parallel to the rear spine of the mag body. I suspect your followers don't have the correct bend.

Here's what the follower looks like (this one happens to be an image of a 9mm follower, from Brownells web site). The vertical leg I'm referring to is the part on the right in the image.

http://cdn-us-cf2.yottaa.net/53ff2f503c881650e20004c9/www.brownells.com/v~13.78/userdocs/products/p_620000012_1.jpg?yocs=p_&yoloc=us

Metalform is still (as far as I know) an OEM magazine supplier to Colt, so their product can't be that bad. I used to buy 1911 followers from Metalform for my parts drawers, just to keep a few around for converting other magazines I might get with used guns to the GI configuration. (Don't know if Metalform still sells just the followers -- I now buy them from Check-Mate.)

[lee n. field]

Having some problems with my RIA 1911 A1 CS when using 7 round Metalform magazines. I have two of these mags. Both have problems with last round hold open. The mag that came with the gun occasionally has this problem, but the Metalform mags fail to lock open every time. All the mags lock when manually cycled. I am wondering if it's a gun problem since the factory mag sometimes fails to lock. Any ideas? Gun and magazines are less than 6 months old and I have only fired about 400 to 500 rounds through the gun total.

I had a similar problem with my Rock Islatnd GI. Any mag (factory, and tried Chip McCormick and Springfield) would intermittantly fail to hold the slide back. The follower would slip past the tab on the slide release. This would tie up the gun.

I replaced theslide release with a relatively inexpensive Springfield Armory branded one from Midway. This resolved the problem.

[Mike38]

Metalform will work with you on resolving any problems. My experience with them has been great. During a Bullseye match, I had the floor plate pop off of a fairly new magazine. The spring, follower and 3 cartridges came out and bounced off the bench. At first I thought I blew up my 1911. :o I called Metalform, and they put me through to the President of the company. He took my name and address and I had a replacement mag in 3 days, along with a pre paid postage label to return the faulty mag to them. Now that's customer service if I ever seen it!

This was 15 years ago, and I'm still using the same magazines to this day. If the time comes to buy more, they will be Metalform.

[Hdonly]

Got the Tripp followers in and in the magazines. Now the follower comes all the way up and the slide locks back last round every time. I will see how they do after some serious use. Thanks all for your input. Only thing I don't like is that I lost one round of capacity with the Tripp followers being thicker. I can play with the original followers now without worry.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=105077&stc=1&d=1495135523

[Hdonly]

Just thought I would mention that I also found this slide lock at Midway made by Smith&Wesson for a penny less than five dollars. Cheapest I ever saw. Surely they are ok, right. I ordered a couple just in case.