WTB SASS legal 1911 mags

[Sheriff Dill]

Looking to buy some SASS legal mags for my Tisas 1911 .45 acp. Wanted to see what anyone has laying around that they aren’t using before buying elsewhere. 
 

SD

[Buffalo Belle]

Only blued available now, but still a good deal.  https://gunmagwarehouse.com/springfield-armory-1911-45-acp-7-round-magazine.html

[Tall John]

14 minutes ago, Buffalo Belle said:

Only blued available now, but still a good deal.  https://gunmagwarehouse.com/springfield-armory-1911-45-acp-7-round-magazine.html

this is a helluva good deal.  Have you used these?

[Sheriff Dill]

Thanks

 

That is a good deal for sure. If buy new blued is what I want.
 

I found the same ones on Gunbroker for .30 more than that. Will be going to that site if I can’t find used. 

[Windy City Kid]

2 hours ago, Tall John said:

this is a helluva good deal.  Have you used these?

That's a REALLY good price. I exclusively use these in both my Springfield and tisas, zero issues.

[Sedalia Dave]

Springfield Armory magazines are made by MetalForm or Mec Gar. Metalform 1911 magazines get better reviews than Mec Gar magazines. As to who made the one's currently available from the website who knows.

 

The question to ask yourself is how important reliability is. If 100% reliability is the goal, then buy magazines that are known for their reliability. If you can tolerate the occasional hickup then buy the less expensive magazines. 

 

When I was buying 1911 magazines I bought Tripp as 100% reliability was my number one criteria. Got them on sale so I saved a couple bucks. 

[Badlands Bob #61228]

If you want quality, two good brands are Chip McCormick Shoot Star magazines and Tripp magazines.  Those are the two brands I invested in and they have worked well for years.  Make sure you get the kind with the welded on base plate.  If it's got a removable base plate, it is probably illegal.

[Bladesmith, SASS 113085]

You might check with KingSnake. They aren’t used, but he sells magazines with your alias engraved and a leather base pad that are ready to go for Wild Bunch for a very reasonable price. You can scroll down and see an example and his contact info in this post: 

 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

3 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

If you want quality, two good brands are Chip McCormick Shoot Star magazines and Tripp magazines.  Those are the two brands I invested in and they have worked well for years.  Make sure you get the kind with the welded on base plate.  If it's got a removable base plate, it is probably illegal.

First question would be why? would a magazine with a removable base plate be illegal. If the empty magazine weighs less than 3 ounces, has a pad no more than 1/4” thick (not extending beyond the outer edges of the base plate), can be loaded with up to seven when charged and is standard length it is legal. 
Regards

    

Gateway Kid 

Edited August 5 by Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life
Grammar

[Kid Rich]

12 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

If you want quality, two good brands are Chip McCormick Shoot Star magazines and Tripp magazines.  Those are the two brands I invested in and they have worked well for years.  Make sure you get the kind with the welded on base plate.  If it's got a removable base plate, it is probably illegal.

I have some Kimbers  and a couple of others with removable base plates and they are not illegal.

kR

[Badlands Bob #61228]

9 hours ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

First question would be why? would a magazine with a removable base plate be illegal. If the empty magazine weighs less than 3 ounces, has a pad no more than 1/4” thick (not extending beyond the outer edges of the base plate), can be loaded with up to seven when charged and is standard length it is legal. 
Regards

    

Gateway Kid 

Perhaps I need to go back and check the rule book.  I know they now allow gluing a leather pad on the bottom of magazines.  It has been a while since I looked at this issue.  

 

This is all I could find in the current Wild Bunch Shooters rulebook.

 

A base pad may be added to the magazine if it meets the following requirements: it must be made from natural leather material only. It must be no larger than the contour of the base of the magazine. The total thickness of the pad may not extend more than ¼” beyond the original base plate.

Edited August 5 by Badlands Bob #61228

[Buffalo Belle]

23 hours ago, Tall John said:

this is a helluva good deal.  Have you used these?

I do.  I shoot a Ruger and they perform as well as my Ruger mags. 

[Three Foot Johnson]

Check-mate or Tripp. 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

8 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

Perhaps I need to go back and check the rule book.  I know they now allow gluing a leather pad on the bottom of magazines.  It has been a while since I looked at this issue.  

 

This is all I could find in the current Wild Bunch Shooters rulebook.

 

A base pad may be added to the magazine if it meets the following requirements: it must be made from natural leather material only. It must be no larger than the contour of the base of the magazine. The total thickness of the pad may not extend more than ¼” beyond the original base plate.

 plenty of folks use leather pads (I get mine from Mernickle ) that are glued on with Barge cement to lessen damage when dropping them on the ground. I use Kimber pro tac, Springfield armory, Colt and Tripp interchangeably with no problems. 
 

Still curious why a removable base plate would be illegal?

 

Gateway Kid

    

[Sedalia Dave]

47 minutes ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

 plenty of folks use leather pads (I get mine from Mernickle ) that are glued on with Barge cement to lessen damage when dropping them on the ground. I use Kimber pro tac, Springfield armory, Colt and Tripp interchangeably with no problems. 
 

Still curious why a removable base plate would be illegal?

 

Gateway Kid

    

 

By it's self, the removable base plate is not illegal. The problem is that all 1911 magazines, that I am aware of, with removable base plates, the magazine body extends below the magazine well to allow for the base plate to attach. The reason for the extra length is because they attach to slots on the sides of the magazine body.

 

This is what makes them illegal. If the the overall length of the magazine body, without the pad, didn't extend beyond the the magazine well they would be legal.  

 

There may be a 1911 magazine brand that has a removable base plate that doesn't extend past the magazine well but I haven't found it.

 

 

 

Edited August 5 by Sedalia Dave

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Top photo removable base plate -legal

1/4” leather base pad - legal

plastic pad - not legal

Fits flush - legal

1/4 “ pad in gun - legal 

rules specify pad may not extend longer than 1/4” BEYOND original base plate. Hence if magazine is flush then pad could stick out 1/4”. 

BTW would you please share the rule specifying “flush” with magazine well?

Standard means standard military specs

ie no 10 round magazines or the like but an 8 round magazine loaded with 7 would be legal so long as it is “standard” length. 
Regards

Gateway Kid

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Top to bottom (I shoot modern senior because of bad wrists)

Kimber Pro Tac 8 round

Ruger (unknown maker came with gun) 7 round

plastic base magazines

left stainless Chip McCormack shooting star

right blued MecGar 8 round

In gun (springfield range officer) Kimber 8 round pro tac no pad

Same gun with Mernickle pad

[Sheriff Dill]

Mags From left to right Ruger,

Mec-gar and pro mag ( came with the gun ) all stick out between 1/4”-1/2” below bottom gun frame. If the plates are removable can they be replaced with thinner ones ? 
 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Absolutely…. Maybe! 

might be cheaper to just get good mags. Saw an ad for Springfield at $13 or so. Midway has Kimber pro on sale for $21-23 (my favorites) about every two-three months, sometimes with free shipping. Tripp are great but at about $47 or so they should be. Most people changing base plates are going from skinny type slip in to something that has a gripping point for your pinky. Maybe attend an IDPA match and see if someone has a few to buy or trade for. When you get busy looking watch the followers, I like the kind that are fully in contact with the body if I can find them. Some can “rock” as they push up causing an occasional jam or failure to feed. When I get back home I’ll post a picture to better explain. 
Gateway Kid

[Sheriff Dill]

1 minute ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Absolutely…. Maybe! 

might be cheaper to just get good mags. Saw an ad for Springfield at $13 or so. Midway has Kimber pro on sale for $21-23 (my favorites) about every two-three months, sometimes with free shipping. Tripp are great but at about $47 or so they should be. Most people changing base plates are going from skinny type slip in to something that has a gripping point for your pinky. Maybe attend an IDPA match and see if someone has a few to buy or trade for. When you get busy looking watch the followers, I like the kind that are fully in contact with the body if I can find them. Some can “rock” as they push up causing an occasional jam or failure to feed. When I get back home I’ll post a picture to better explain. 
Gateway Kid

Yeah I was thinking it would be cheaper to buy new ones. Tall John posted a link for a great price on some. Was hoping to find some here to buy from a cowboy/girl first before going to a merchant 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Not the best WB shooter around but do have three overall state WB titles. (Thanks to my competition for taking those weekends off!!! ) Personal opinion only but it seems 99% of all the problems I have had come from the magazines. Exaggerating I know but if even partially correct taking care of potential issues by getting decent magazines is a good idea IMHO. Next up is ammo. Find a bullet profile that feeds 100% of the time and a powder charge that delivers adequate power factor. I shoot the same 230 gr. round in IDPA and WB at power factor of about 170 to qualify in IDPA (requires 165) and hedge my bet in WB. Will have to develop a new load soon as I am about out of clay dot and clays. My shooting buddy uses 200 gr at about 780 fps (156 pf) and has no issues. 

Regards

Gateway Kid

[Sedalia Dave]

3 minutes ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Not the best WB shooter around but do have three overall state WB titles. (Thanks to my competition for taking those weekends off!!! ) Personal opinion only but it seems 99% of all the problems I have had come from the magazines. Exaggerating I know but if even partially correct taking care of potential issues by getting decent magazines is a good idea IMHO. Next up is ammo. Find a bullet profile that feeds 100% of the time and a powder charge that delivers adequate power factor. I shoot the same 230 gr. round in IDPA and WB at power factor of about 170 to qualify in IDPA (requires 165) and hedge my bet in WB. Will have to develop a new load soon as I am about out of clay dot and clays. My shooting buddy uses 200 gr at about 780 fps (156 pf) and has no issues. 

Regards

Gateway Kid

 

If you can find it, WST is excellent in 45 ACP.  Tight Group is what I am currently using with good results.

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

Just picked up 8 pounds cardboard container of bullseye (pretty old but still sealed) any opinions SD?

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

24 minutes ago, Sheriff Dill said:

Yeah I was thinking it would be cheaper to buy new ones. Tall John posted a link for a great price on some. Was hoping to find some here to buy from a cowboy/girl first before going to a merchant 

Just saw that. Hard to beat that price. I have been called “frugal” by some (okay cheap !) but I tend to buy the best quality I can afford at a price I can afford at the time. Springfield works fine and is what I started out with. I switched to the Kimbers years ago when I bought a Target II because it came with them and they worked well for me. Not the top of the line but durable, reasonably priced and (so far) reliable.
Gateway Kid

BTW your grips are pretty!

[Sheriff Dill]

24 minutes ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Just picked up 8 pounds cardboard container of bullseye (pretty old but still sealed) any opinions SD?

I’m new too all almost every aspect of this game. I have only used tite group in my pistol rounds. So far it has done great for all of them. I have other powders for them just haven’t played around with them yet. 
 

My son that got me into this sport bought me the 1911 and picked out the grips. He told me he wanted me to shoot wild bunch as I wasn’t a revolver guy. He now has me doing wild bunch and I have a set of NMV’s at the gun smith right now getting slicked up. He got me hooked and I have a safe full of cowboy guns now. 

Edited August 6 by Sheriff Dill

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

WW231/HP38 was developed for the .45acp cartridge. 

Try 5.5-5.6gn.....

[Sheriff Dill]

2 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

WW231/HP38 was developed for the .45acp cartridge. 

Try 5.5-5.6gn.....

I got an almost full 4 on jug of 231 with my press. From my notes from Hodgdon site and other shooters shoot with the loads range from 4.4 gr to the 5.5-5.6 gr. Most shooters I’ve chatted with use the 5.5. I’ll break out the 231 over the winter and try it out. 
 

My first batch of ammo I made for .45 the OAL was a tad too long and they wouldn’t reliably chamber. My first WB match I remember taking like 12 misses on one stage due to that issue. But luckily with some help and guidance I got it dialed in and everything seems to be running so much smoother now. 

[Tall John]

How many magazines do most of you take to a WB match?  
 

mernickle sells leather base pads for 11.99 for a pack of ten.  They will stamp your initials on them for an extra $4.

 

with shipping it was right at $20 for me, but I live in Texas.  We’ll see how long it takes for them to get them shipped.

 

https://mernickleholsters.com/products/1911-wild-bunch-mag-pads-need-ai?srsltid=AfmBOorKmAxroairJLQlfUCSsPx2yczJNPVzrJ9uZNQj1o5iPWfJo3XE
 

 

 

 

[Flying W Ramrod]

On 8/4/2026 at 9:50 AM, Buffalo Belle said:

Only blued available now, but still a good deal.  https://gunmagwarehouse.com/springfield-armory-1911-45-acp-7-round-magazine.html

I just talked to my, Wild Bunch, 1911 guru.

 

"Unfortunately, those have a crappy follower. It's not "skirted" which has the possibility of the follower moving forward when trying to load the last round."

 

Just different review from a different source

[Flying W Ramrod]

3 minutes ago, Tall John said:

How many magazines do most of you take to a WB match?  
 

mernickle sells leather base pads for 11.99 for a pack of ten.  They will stamp your initials on them for an extra $4.

 

with shipping it was right at $20 for me, but I live in Texas.  We’ll see how long it takes for them to get them shipped.

 

https://mernickleholsters.com/products/1911-wild-bunch-mag-pads-need-ai?srsltid=AfmBOorKmAxroairJLQlfUCSsPx2yczJNPVzrJ9uZNQj1o5iPWfJo3XE
 

 

 

 

23, loaded, for a 5 stage match.

Why so many?

I can be doing other duties instead of reloading mags.

Don't know about other places but, during the summer months, we only get 5-10 shooters.

Lots of work for very few bodies. 

Edited August 6 by Flying W Ramrod

[Sedalia Dave]

13 minutes ago, Flying W Ramrod said:

I just talked to my, Wild Bunch, 1911 guru.

 

"Unfortunately, those have a crappy follower. It's not "skirted" which has the possibility of the follower moving forward when trying to load the last round."

 

Just different review from a different source

 

Tripp and Wilson Combat sell replacement followers and springs.

[Sedalia Dave]

11 hours ago, Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life said:

Just picked up 8 pounds cardboard container of bullseye (pretty old but still sealed) any opinions SD?

 

I've not tried it but a search of the internet leads me to believe that it works well in 45 ACP with 230 gn bullets

[Tall John]

35 minutes ago, Flying W Ramrod said:

23, loaded, for a 5 stage match.

how many rounds will you typically shoot in a five stage WB match?

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

1 hour ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

I've not tried it but a search of the internet leads me to believe that it works well in 45 ACP with 230 gn bullets

Back in my NRA Bullseye dayz, BE was the standard for .38 and .45 loads.

It is very temperature sensitive......

[Three Foot Johnson]

1 hour ago, Tall John said:

How many magazines do most of you take to a WB match?  
 

 

 

 

 

Ten, plus the one in the pistol. My belt holds six, plus one in the pistol, so I go to the line with seven. The belt rig was pieced together years ago as a temporary setup... still using it. No idea why the pistol has those wide diagonal stripes on the slide, just a play of the lighting. 

4.0 grains WST, 230 grain RN

 

Edited August 6 by Three Foot Johnson