1911 Confusion

[pbwalker]

I'm trying to buy some mags for my Springer 1911A1 but have managed to get myself thoroughly confused. I assume all 1911's are clones of the originals (when they specify 1911 Clone)? What is the difference between 1911 Government, 1911 Commander, and 1911 Officer? The 1911A1 seems to me to be like most other full size 1911's. 7 round, .45ACP magazines. I'd like to buy some mags but I want to buy the correct ones.

[SCone]

Government - 7+1 rounds, 5" barrel
Commander - 7+1 rounds, 4.25" barrel
Officers - 6+1 rounds, 3.5" barrel
Defender - 6+1 rounds, 3" barrel

Magazines will interchange up (7 round mag in 6 round frame)

[j_dock2]

The government and the commander have the same length grip, so mags interchange.

The officer has a shortened grip, so it takes shorter mags.

I believe a government/cmdr mag will *still* fit into an officer, it'll poke out the bottom though. An officer mag won't go into the govt/cmdr frame as it's too short to hit the mag catch.

From memory... so pleeeease correct me if I'm wrong. (I am 80% sure of this though.)

[Excaliber]

The government and the commander have the same length grip, so mags interchange.

The officer has a shortened grip, so it takes shorter mags.

I believe a government/cmdr mag will *still* fit into an officer, it'll poke out the bottom though. An officer mag won't go into the govt/cmdr frame as it's too short to hit the mag catch.

From memory... so pleeeease correct me if I'm wrong. (I am 80% sure of this though.)

Government - 7+1 rounds, 5" barrel
Commander - 7+1 rounds, 4.25" barrel
Officers - 6+1 rounds, 3.5" barrel
Defender - 6+1 rounds, 3" barrel

Magazines will interchange up (7 round mag in 6 round frame)

Both j_dock2 and Scone are correct as far as they go.

You can also get 8 round magazines for the full size and commander size 1911's, and 7 rounders for the officer's model and clones like the Kimber Ultra Carry or the small Springfields and Rock River ultra compacts from Wilson Combat and others. These fit just like the standard magazines with only the base plates protruding from the bottom of the magazine well. Ten rounders are also made by Chip McCormick, but these stick out a couple of inches from the bottom of the mag well (not necessarily a big deal for backup magazines).

The standard length magazines will fit into the compact guns, but you have to be careful not to ram them in too hard because it's possible to push them past the magazine catch and end up with them jammed in the mag well, which leaves you with a couple of pound metal club instead of a firearm until you get that sorted out. The 10 round magazines I mentioned above have an oversized baseplate which also acts as a stop to keep the magazine from going in too far in a 5" or commander length pistol, but they can still cause a problem in the shorter 3 - 3.5 inch guns.

[The Annoyed Man]

WTS five 8 round 45acp 1911 magazines DFW

These will work in your 1911A1

[pbwalker]

WTS five 8 round 45acp 1911 magazines DFW

These will work in your 1911A1

I think I found some around the same price, from SA.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... mid=174459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like I may have a winner on this one.

Thanks for everyones help!