Never Unarmed .45 ACP 1911 Magazine: Inexpensive Performance

I know what you are thinking. Inexpensive and performance when describing a 1911 magazine is contradictory. We all have tried inexpensive 1911 magazines, and the result was a jammed up 1911. Stovepipes and failure to go into battery malfunctions can typically be traced back to an inferior magazine. Reliability in a 1911 magazine is mandatory, paying gobs of money for a good 1911 magazine is not. That’s why Lynn Thompson, former owner of Cold Steel, started Never Unarmed. These 1911 magazines are 100 percent reliable and only cost $17.95.

Never Unarmed .45 ACP 1911 Magazines are constructed of stainless steel, have an eight-round capacity and polymer bumper pad. At the moment, only eight-round, .45 Auto magazines are being produced. A 10-round, .45 Auto magazine is in the works, as well as a 10-round 9mm magazine.

At first glance, the Never Unarmed 1911 magazine looks like a Wilson Combat magazine knock-off. The magazines main component, the body, is constructed from a 0.6mm-thick sheet of SUS301 chromium-nickel stainless steel. The steel is bent, laser welded together and then the weld marks are nicely polished. It then goes into stone wash tumbling, more shaping, then final assembly. There are eight witness holes that align with the loaded rounds, so you know how much is left in the tank. The spring is high tensile strength, and the bumper and follower are made of glass-reinforced nylon. The nylon follower slides easily inside the steel magazine body. The Never Unarmed 1911 magazine guides the bullet nose so it slides higher up on the feed ramp.

Performance

I ran a few hundred rounds through the Never Unarmed magazine in a variety of 1911s from Turkey, Philippines and U.S. manufacturers and had no issues at all with 230-grain FMJ Ball ammo and 185-grain jacketed hollow point ammo. I had positive slide lock every time on the last shot, fired and the magazine dropped free when the magazine catch was pressed every time as well. The magazines were even easy to load right down to the last round. I didn’t bust my thumbs loading them.

I also dropped loaded magazine on the cement floor of the shop from shoulder height and none of the Never Unarmed magazines spilled any rounds. I even stepped on an empty loaded magazines and no issues.

From my limited use of the Never Unarmed 1911 magazines, I’m sold on the quality and performance, and with a cost of less than $20, it is a real bargain.