Am considering after market drop in mag well for my conceal carry. Any opinions pro ,con, recommendations?
I like them. Functional without adding much to the bottom of the grip. Depending on the magwell, it can also help to round off that sharp corner of the 1911 grip that could print or poke you in the side, based on your preferred concealment method. Do you have the government or officer’s grips?
I like magwell guides / speed-chutes on 1911 pistols. They do add a bit to the grip which can make concealment slightly more difficult since the grip is the harder part to conceal.
As for recommendations. I like Smith & Alexander’s mag guides.
I personally prefer the smith & alexander magwell for an easy semi drop-in part…after a little blending with a file they look pretty good.
A nice alternative is teh Ed Brown/Les baer two piece design…the magwell is held on with a screw
If you have it done right you can get nice work out of an S&A but they are hard to make nice.
This is one we did
Thanks hope this helps.
Thanks for the replies. I have a govt. grip. any thoughts on round vs flat on the S&A?
Smith that looks really good…i just did a basic job on my les baer…filed the s&a to match the factory bevel and then i rounded the back corner so it was close to the frame and reblued it…Your professional work though is real nice and pleasant on the eyes lol
I like Mars Guns, Inc. with the integrated/flush lanyard loop. But to be honest I can live with them I can live without them.
Flat vs. Arched is an ergonomic/comfort/personal preference issue. Some people prefer the Flat and some prefer the Arched. The best thing to do is to check out 1911 pistols (your friends’, ones at a gun shop, or ones at a gun show). Some will have Flat Mainspring Housings and some will have Arched Mainspring Housings. See which fits your hand better.
Best looking SA that I have ever seen! I have a few on SCG’s and IMHO they are just okay…
The best I own is the integral one built by Caspian for the Nighthawk Vickers… They also have an integral plunger tube which is also a great benefit… Great 1911 frames…
OP… Try Brown, SA or Wilson… Cant remember if George from EGW makes one but if he does it will be of great quality…
Thank you sir.
My feelings and recommendations are the same.
-RD62
I’m sort of twisted - I’m a bit of a traditionalist, but I do like a nice magwell treatment. I’ve always thought that S&A ought to offer shops a gunsmith version of their magwells, without the MSH retaining pin hole drilled, so that a perfect fit could be achieved. (Maybe a little extra meat on the top, too, so that it could be made to mate up to various grip safeties in a pleasing manner.) My favorite magwells are the weld-on type, but they’re not an enhancement that many will want to tackle at home (including me).
The Wilson one that slips on over the lower grip busing is a 25.00-30.00 way to field test the concept. If you like it, you have other more permanent and better blended options as mentioned above. The Wilson unit could then be sold for most of what you have in it.
I like the arched Smith and Alexander unit because an arched MSH is more Glock like ( forgive me, JMB).
YMMV Greatly.
I’ve thought about going that route. Anyone tried one of these?
For concealed carry I like the one on the Nighthawk T3’s. It’s a VERY slight magwell but it seems to work well for me. I like it’s low profile.
I too really like the ILAP versions of the S&A unit.
I had a Nighthawk on my Springfield MC Operator and I put a Smith and Alexander on my Wilson.
I liked both, I prefer the S&A, although the Nighthawk allowed you to remove the magwell and just use the flat mainspring housing portion.
