Chen Magwell Suite™

Simply stated, this is the ultimate magwell for the fighting 1911 pistol.  

It is sculpted from raw barstock in our shop, and individually welded and artfully hand blended to the bottom of the Chen Custom frame. It provides performance
in spades, effectively delivering a shooter's wish list for everything desired in a
1911 magwell:

1.) Dramatically increases magwell opening for speed and consistency while reloading under stress.

2.) Adds no length or width to the pistol, so that concealability is not compromised.

3.) Allows access to the magazine lip, so that the magazine can be forcefully extracted in the event it becomes stuck in the pistol, a critical feature for both defensive and competitive shooters.

The Chen Custom Magwell represents a tremendous amount of R&D and design work on my part, with the initial design concept beginning in 2003. It became quickly apparent to me that traditional machining techniques would not be adequate for bringing my vision to being in metal, as the machining of the required geometry and surfaces could not be done in the traditional manner. So I utilized solid modeling CAD/CAM technology to design the part and generate the required toolpaths in order to CNC machine the part using multi-axis interpolation. This was all done completely in house, in my shop.

The entry angle was CAD/CAM’ed to be optimized at every point along the contour of the magwell; that is, it allows for the easiest insertion angle at any given point. Traditional magwells maintain a constant angle at all points along the contour, as they are cut with some form of a chamfer mill or countersink that is only capable of cutting a fixed angle. 

As you can see, the front of the Chen Custom Magwellhas a geometry that is considerably reduced compared to traditional weld on magwells. As such, a single entry angle along the entire contour will not work, if we want an optimized entry angle. On our magwell, the entry angle constantly changes, and is optimized, at every point along the contour of the front of the horseshoe. 

The inside geometry was carefully designed to give the very maximum amount of funnel surface.

Of course, a Chen Custom MSH is used to allow the funnel to be cut as far as possible to the rear without a seam.

Note the access notch in front. A stuck magazine can be forcefully extracted. The radius of the cut was designed so that the baseplate of a spare magazine can be used for extra leverage in ripping the stuck mag out. Simply cutting this notch in an existing magwell design is not totally satisfactory, as it does not blend with the inside contour that is already cut into the existing magwells. A totally new contour is needed, which is what we’ve done.

I started with the version you see pictured as the highest performance, "form follows function" design. That funnel is as big as you can make it for maximized reload performance, without adding unnecessary bulk.

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