March 29th, 2024
5minute read
Magazines matter.
you might usually trace back issues with a jammed-up 1911 to the magazine.
And, as many of us know, good quality almost always seems to mean a high price.
The Never Unarmed .45 ACP 1911 magazines offer great reliability for anyone carrying John Browning’s classic pistol. Image: Carson McDaniel
But is that always the case?
I mostly ended up getting burned.
The weld is nicely done.
The author found the Never Unarmed 1911 magazines are very affordable at less than $18, and have very nice features such as a bumper pad. Image: Carson McDaniel
The spring is designed for high tensile strength and sag resistance.
The bumper and anti-tilt follower are molded from glass-reinforced nylon.
The follower has a natural lubricity, so it slides easily inside the steel magazine body.
Never Unarmed uses high-quality magazine parts including a high tensile strength spring and a metal body with eight witness holes. Image: Carson McDaniel
That worked for 230-gr.
ball ammo with a large, rounded tip that easily maneuvered up the feed ramp of pistols.
This Never Unarmed magazines follower design appeared as though it would preclude that from happening.
The Never Unarmed magazines worked well with both FMJ and JHP bullet profiles. Image: Carson McDaniel
In hand, the Never Unarmed 1911 magazine has a quality feel to it.
Most of the shooting was with the Springfield Armory Loaded Marine Corp Operator.
Inferior magazines will spill cartridges when dropped from certain heights.
Fully loaded Never Unarmed 1911 magazines were dropped from waist and chin height. The mags never spilled a round. Image: Author
They slammed hard on the concrete floor, but never lost a round.
I dropped them multiple times and they hung solidly onto the cartridges.
Thats a good sign.
Reloading a Springfield 1911 with Never Unarmed magazines proved to be a smooth process with positive seating. Image: Author
I had a few other 1911s in the shop along with theMarine Operator.
One was an older Springfield TRP with an extended magwell.
I had no issues seating the magazine with the magwell of that pistol.
I also had a selection of 1911s from other makers on hand.
For ammo, I chose 230-gr.
FMJ ball ammo, which any 1911 magazine should feed without issue.
These rounds have bulbous bullet noses and usually feed easily in 1911 pistols.
I also included some defense loads with 185-gr.
These bullets have a sharp taper and a flat nose.
These rounds can be the bane of a 1911, especially when fed through an inferior magazine.
Shooting for speed at 7 yards on an D-1 Tombstone target, I loaded the magazines partially.
I wanted to test reloads and check on slide lock with the mags.
The slides on the Marine Operator and the other 1911 pistols I used all locked back.
Reloads were smooth and quick.
The Never Unarmed mag tube is slick when inserted in the pistol, and that no doubt helped.
Are They Worth It?
From my perspective, Never Unarmed magazines perform as expected.
