I’ve seen a lot of different viewpoints, and I thought I’d better ask here since it’s such a classy place.
I have a number of OE Colt magazines with Devel/McCormick 8 rd followers in them. They’ve worked well so far, but it’s time for mag springs anyway, should I ditch the Devel followers?
If you’re willing to accept the loss of one round, the Tripp Super 7 upgrade kits are great 
Tripp Super 7s would be a mandatory upgrade before I used an 8 round Colt mag.
I highly recommend Tripp kits in Colt/Check-Mate paralell lipped and CMC tubes.
For a hybrid or tapered lipped mag, I like Check-Mate g.i. type followers with Wolff 11lb springs.
I have run 8 rounders for about 30 years or more. For work and for play. I use Wilson Rodgers 47DEs and Metalform Elites without issue. In fact I have never changed out a mag spring and some of those Wilson’s are 30 years old. I refuse to use Devel style followers. Just my experience…
Oh I do have a few of the new Wilson ETM which run nice but the rounds rattle in them and that noise is no good at work.
Kind of an interesting topic. So I’ll toss my thoughts in. Please remember, there are many intelligent, experienced people working on this, and this is only an opinion I hold right now.
IMO, the biggest problem facing the 1911 especially in 45ACP, is in the variable feeding geometry as a result of the top round fouling on the round beneath it. That is, the top round’s rim catches on the grove of the round below it. As the column is lightened (typically after 3 to 4 rounds have been fired), the problem goes away and all the rounds feed smooth as can be.
This happens because the magazine spring applies force incorrectly on the follower. Since most followers do a good job of not tilting, the ammo column becomes varied in their angle in the magazine. So Round 1 becomes the most difficult to feed, with Round 8 being the easiest.
There have been many solutions to this, most treating the symptom, and a few going after the cause. I would suggest looking at the 38 Spc wadcutter mag to start with, and comparing that to the Devel follower. Different approaches to reducing nose dive.
I have a cut away 47D that I’ll get pictures up of tomorrow.
Cheers.