Marvel Ammo Suggestion, Please

Guys I've got a Marvel Steel Unit 1 lock back on order (6-8 weeks) for my Colt/Clark frame.

Care to share what you're shooting out of yours for this ol' not so competitive old fart ? At this point it's a toss up between a case of CCI standard velocity or Green Tag but the GT is almost double the moolah.


Thanks, Denny.

Mine shoots Wolf MT & S&K Pistol Match well. In matches I'll shoot Eley Pistol Match at 50 yards. In local matches I'll shoot CCI SV only on the short line because my Marvel doesn't shoot it particularly well.

I use Federal Lightning from WalMart $1.97/50round little box. I shot a 95 slow in a match 2 weeks ago with it. I've been using it for years. Plenty accurate...good primers, always goes bang...

CCI Blazer or Federal bulk pack in my Marvel with standard springs.
Aguila SE in the one with the light springs and other work.

CCI standard and greentag are the same, except for the price and CCI's claim its a little more accurate, but before you buy a bunch, get a box of several kinds and see what functions and feels the best to you.

WV1911SHOOTER wrote:Guys I've got a Marvel Steel Unit 1 lock back on order (6-8 weeks) for my Colt/Clark frame.

Care to share what you're shooting out of yours for this ol' not so competitive old fart ? At this point it's a toss up between a case of CCI standard velocity or Green Tag but the GT is almost double the moolah.


Thanks, Denny.

Most Marvel's I have or have seen like the regular CCI SV ammo just fine so don't waste your money on the Green tag. Get a little of the standard blue box SV and give it a try for accuracy as yours will either like CCI or not. The Aguila SV available from the CMP also works well in the ones I have but others report that is not always true.

One note is with any ammo in a Marvel you may need to adjust the recoil spring to match up with the ammo and the strength of the main spring (hammer spring) in your 1911 lower. If you have about a 19# main spring then the stock Marvel recoil spring will probably work fine but if it is a stronger one then you will probably have to go a pound or two lighter on the Marvel recoil spring. As the Marvel slide goes back in recoil it has to overcome that main spring to cock the hammer, which is no problem for a 45 round but the 22 doesn't have a lot of power left over. The clue you need to check into this is a lot of jams and missfeeds with that ammo.

A sw model 41 recoil spring will work in a marvel and its 1lb lighter than the stock marvel one. SV ammo works great with it.

Same here.

M41 recoil spring and CCI SV ammo(blue box)

I also shoot some Eley at the long line when I feel up to it.

Just a side note, have had problems with different lots of Wolf match(too low in power to cycle the action)