Colt magazine?
What is the correct factory issue magazine for a 70 series 1911 45 acp. I am told that it says colt 45 with an "M" on the floorplate. Is this correct and what does the M stand for. Were other variations correct as well.
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M=Metalform. Colt no longer makes their own magazines, they contract them out to Metalform, Checkmate, and another outfit I have forgotten. 0 -
as to vintage 70 series, what is correct for them 0 -
Hawk...The third contractor is OKAY Industries. Metalform and Check Mate are the main vendors. Colt probably hasn't made magazines in-house since the mid-60s. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by JohnT
Hawk...The third contractor is OKAY Industries. Metalform and Check Mate are the main vendors. Colt probably hasn't made magazines in-house since the mid-60s.
You sure about that? My Commander series 80 that was modded up came with a blued Colt mag.0 -
Colt hasn't made their own magazines since prior to WW2. All are made by contractors.
"COLT" on a magazine doesn't necessarily mean that it was made by or for Colt Firearms; it could just mean that it was designed to be used in a Colt firearm.
Below are 2 mags with a satin nickel finish. The unmarked one on the left came with a 70 series gun from the factory, the Metalform mag on the right was sold as a "Genuine Colt Part". I suspect that you can find any variation, depending upon the gun finish & time period.
Neal0 -
Uh..no. Colt made magazines up until the end of WW2 and beyond.
Since the end of the war, they haven't made very many above what they needed for their pistol sales...but they did make'em.
During WW2, there were other contractors who made them for Colt.
You can see which ones by looking at the floorplate toe. F'rinstance... R-C is a Risdon magazine made for Colt0 -
thlanks for the information how about the ones marked with "C" and "O" would they be the correct period? 0 -
I have a series 70 1911 Colt Gold Cup. The magazine is identical to the one pictured above except in blue with the rampant colt, 'Colt 45 Auto', and an 'M'. 0 -
I'm not sure when OKAY entered the picture, but Check-Mate was a vendor for Colt in the mid-70s. They were also making magazines under contract for the government as early as mid-Vietman era. Those are stamped with a CAGE code on the bottoms of the floorplates...but I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head. Beware of phony magazines, though. They're usually easy to spot...but not always.
For many years, in addition to making a few in-house...Colt was using up their stocks of USGI magazines that they stockpiled in 1946 and 1947 in anticipation of a new government contract that never materialized.
I've seen Risdon and General Shaver magazines included with early commercial Government Models. This was done all the way up to the introduction of the magazines with timed release points, but also retained the slight taper on the feed lips behind the timed point.
I refer to these as "Hybrid" lips, and consider them to be the best of both worlds...and the best 1911 magazine design around.
The last of the "GI Hardball" magazines from the phantom contract had full-tapered feed lips with no defined...timed...release point. You'll find these included with pistols produced as late as 1982. The only markings are the Colt logo, including the prancin' horsie, and the manufacturer's mark on the toe. Those made in-house by Colt didn't have a mark on the toe unkess they were leftover WW2 magazines.
So, it's very likely that your Series 70 came with a Check Mate magazine...making it at least correct, if not original.0
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