Wilson Combat 1911's

yoda4561

yoda4561

Joined
May 28, 1999
Messages
2,606
Been feeling the need for my own pistol for a while now, and it's just gotta be a 1911 style .45. I was originally going for Kimber or Springfield, but the comments about spotty quality from kimber and springfields not being made in the US (not that there's anything wrong with that, but when I pay over 1k for a 1911 it better be US made.) so I took a look at WC and really liked what I saw. Lots of comments online about great cust. service and reliability, accuracy, and all that stuff you would expect from a worked over pistol for what I considered reasonable (looking at the factory alternatives). Then I decided on a whim to search bladeforums to see if there were any comments here, and saw Tombstone's post in TGBU forums and the poor treatment he received from Wilson.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306561

That in itself didn't worry me too much, everyone has a bad experience once in a while, but then a bunch of others started chiming in, so with my confidence in WC shaken too much to drop 2k on one of their pistols I'd like to ask "Just how good are they, and is tombstone's story something that might happen to me". I've no real brand preferences to speak of, but Wilsons really sounded like what I was looking for in a 1911, (the S.S. Protector to be precise) and I figured were the safest bet. Perfectly willing to look at Baers, Clarks, and other suggestions though if wilson turns out to be a dud.
 
My Smith&Wesson SW1911 hasn`t missed a beat. Its been a pleasure to shoot and clean.
 
The Para-ordnance LDA is a very nice gun and you get 1911 style and oh so smooth double action trigger. High cap. magazines as well. I had a early Kimber in stainless and it was great in every way.I think a Wilson would be a very nice gun, but never had one of them in my hands. The 1911's are a great choice. Enjoy whatever you choose.
Jay
 
Well, I have a Para-Ordinance P10, and have had a great deal of trouble with it.
Perhapss I got a "lemon"--perhaps not--but their customer service left everything to be desired. The response I received was indifferent, and when I suggested that perhaps they ought to be more concerned with their customers--the response became more indifferent.

No problem, I suppose, I will be able to sell it by consignment at my local gun store. However, I would definately not recommend their products or service.
 
Yeah, the thing with wilson is their supposed awesome customer service/lifetime warranty. That was the thing that really swung me towards them as opposed to Les Baer or other top tier shops. I don't expect perfection, but I do expect that the maker hold up their end of the bargain without having me jump through hoops. Admittedly I'm not sure about how Baer, etc's warranty works, but Wilson's is pretty clearly stated numerous times.

PS. - Thanks for the suggestions, but I've about decided to go for a "custom house" gun, and absolutely no firing pin safety 1911's, trying to stick as close to the browning mechanisms as possible, I've heard too much about the firing pin safties being finicky and fragile, and quite frankly I see no need for them.
 
Wow, one I can contribute to after all this lurking.
I started with 1911's in the USMC in 1997 and I still shoot them. The Kimbers are the best buy out of the box. Find the one that fits and have fun.
David
 
"Yeah, the thing with wilson is their supposed awesome customer service/lifetime warranty"

I don't know where you heard this, but from what I here, getting Wilson to repair any of his products is like pulling teeth. No matter what the problem is, it's your fault.

If you can afford something in the $1500 range, take a close look at Les Baers pistols. I have 2 of them and they have functioned 100% even with somewhet crappy ammo. Actually, it kind of surprised me that they functioned so well. Both were so tight when I got them that it was very difficult to open the slide. You mught also consider STI and Rock River.
S&W looks good, but I don't care for that fireing pin block lever. Kimber has had some problems, but Para-Ordnance seems to work well.

By the way, Springfield Armory 1911 frames are made in Brazil by Imbal. That's not a bad thing, but for what they charge for a higher end pistol, I can buy a Les Baer.

Check out this site http://forums.1911forum.com There are sub forums for just about every brand of 1991.
 
yoda4561,

The 1911 Forum is a great place and friendly folks that know the 1911's, check it, especially the manufactures forums.
I have 3 Wilson’s, all are great pistols and fortunately, I have never had any problems with a one of them. Fit and finish is excellent as well as function and accuracy. I only have one Kimber an Ultra Carry from the custom shop purchase in 2000. Not a hiccup in 5000 rounds, in fact my father uses it for CCW. However, my favorites are by far the Ed Brown’s, IMO they outshine the Kimbers, Wilson’s, and Colts etc.
Since you are looking at the higher end guns, I would suggest you look at WC, Ed Brown, Nighthawk, and Baer or if a production gun fits your needs a Kimber. All of the custom/hand built guns will run between $2000.00 and $3000.00, you can spend more, but there is a case of diminishing returns.

Check the used gun market, there are all of the above pistols available used at reduced price.


Steve
 
I heard it from Wilson's website and browsing TFL/m1911 forums. Hence my post here, Tombstones post was actually the first time I heard of any real problems, so I got spooked. :eek: I'm liking Les Baer's prices and his Custom Carry in Stainless or Concept V/VI pistols are just about what I'm looking for. Any info on Yost Bonitz? Their 1* Enhanced (on the colt 70 series gun) package looks pretty nice.
 
Yost Bonitz does what are arguably the best 1911 mods in the business. The problem may be the waiting time. Give them a call, you will find them very helpful over the phone. Read their warranty, it does not get any better, and I have not ever heard of an unhappy customer or unresolved problem with them.


Steve
 
Some pretty good advice here... I'll second the Ed Brown. I have a major Jonesin for a Kobra Carry bob-tail. Having said that, I have two Colts: a MKIV Govt. and a pre-XS CCO. Of the two, the CCO is my idea of the PERFECT CCW piece. Too frickin' bad I live in the god-awful gun unfriendly state of Illinois.:grumpy: :mad: :barf: The CCO is super accurate for me, and feels like an extension of my hand. It has never malfunctioned in the variety of ammo I've put through it. (none of that cheap Russian crap though)
 
I'll put in a vote for Yost-Bonitz as well. Bought a 1* from Ted about a year ago and it is flawless. My avatar is a pic of the pistol.
 
Like everything else that's made by man, nothing is perfect. I think that it would be hard to go wrong with any of the major pistol makers. I like Baer. I have seen Ed Brown and Nighthawk and Yost Bonitz pistols. Very nice, but I can't see $3000 worth of work in them. I paid less then $1500 for each of my Baers brand new.

As I said, check out the 1911 forum and see what folks have to say about the various 1911s. Be sure to scroll through the Kimber area. From what I read, they had a lot of problems with their extractor and went back to the internal type.

You pays your money and takes your chances. Pick one from a maker who has a good reputation for after sale service just in case.
 
Which is sort of the whole point of my post :D , I was set on a Wilson Combat SS Protector, till I saw some negative comments here about their customer service that didn't quite jive with everything else I've read, so I was hoping to get some more input on that before I plunked down my cash. The post-sale service is a big point for me, as many others have pointed out the other big name tuners are roughly comperable in quality. If the customer support (ie: warranty) is as good or better on a Baer or Yost then that'll definately swing my preference towards their pistols (less expensive and all).

On the Yost Bonitz guns, they don't appear to be 3000 dollars, at least not configured the way I'm looking. If I get their 1* enhanced they quote 1500something for that package built on a springfield gun, so I'm guessing more like 1800 for the colt frame/slide.

PS: Browsed around the 1911 forum, lots of neat stuff there, got it bookmarked now. They seem to speak praises of wilson's cust service in the Wilson forum.
 
I have a Wilson Combat shotgun that I bought used. I called them up to find out what model it was, and the guy I talked to was extremely friendly and helpful. Didn't rush me off the phone, wasn't annoyed with my questions (you can tell when they're faking being nice) and even made a point to tell me that if anything ever went wrong to just send it in.

I've been doing a lot of research on 1911's lately, and Wilson Combat actually has a stellar rep as far as I can tell. Go over to the 1911 forum and look for yourself. I've read pages and pages of threads on WC, and I've only seen a handful of complaints.....most of them nitpicking and minor.

The linked thread in the GBU seems to me like an extreme case. Tombstone seems to have had a very combative attitude from the get-go. Demanding that they arrange to have a courier come pick up the barrel on their dime, strip the coating, reapply it, and then refund 1/3 of his money? Come on.

If he just would have sent the barrel back and asked them to fix it and refund his shipping costs, I guarantee you that that would have been the end of it.
 
It's another example of how after a company has built a reputation for providing top quality and service for top price, they can let quality and service go all to heck and still get top price for a while. Wilson had a great reputation once, but that was several years ago. As far as the general public is concerned, Wilson still has a great reputation and that could continue for a couple more years before the general public even begins to catch on to what's happened.

On the net ... I often see people post things like "I hope they can turn it around" or "I wish they would turn it around." Those are about the most positive remarks I've seen about Wilson in the past few years....

Even now it's not bottom quality or service; it's more middlin', maybe even upper-middlin' on average, but what difference does that make -- as long as it's still top price it's a ripoff. :thumbdn:
 
Fairly complicated beast, with an INCREDIBLE amount of aftermarket goodies to put on it.

Wilson makes some decent parts, but I prefer Ed Brown. I had purchased a BUNCH of Wilson-Combat magazines, and the consensus from some of the best makers was that Chip McCormick Power mags were better. I modded some to accept the Wilson-Combat floorplate.

I can HIGHLY recommend Action Works, and some of the LTW clan. Bottom line is that you get what you pay for, but with some of the "lesser known" companies that have good reputations within the community, you get quicker turn around times, and really get what you pay for, instead of a "name".

Les Baer pistols ROCK, but they are about double of what a Springfield costs to build up. I personally had Cylinder and Slide do a Colt Series 70 Combat Commander up for me, and it was reasonably expensive, and took forever.

Working with Don from Action Works was very fairly priced, and turnaround was quick as well, because it was "small work".

Bottom line, is that dealing directly with Wilson Combat, I found the customer service to be fine, but never "pulled the trigger" to go with a package from them. I simply thought that it was vastly too expensive. Something that you should consider as well, unless you are selling to a close friend who really understands what went into "your" 1911, is that re-sale on custom 1911's is not very good, regardless of who did the work, at least that is my experience. YMMV.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Matteo Escobar said:
I have a Wilson Combat shotgun that I bought used. I called them up to find out what model it was, and the guy I talked to was extremely friendly and helpful. Didn't rush me off the phone, wasn't annoyed with my questions (you can tell when they're faking being nice) and even made a point to tell me that if anything ever went wrong to just send it in.

I've been doing a lot of research on 1911's lately, and Wilson Combat actually has a stellar rep as far as I can tell. Go over to the 1911 forum and look for yourself. I've read pages and pages of threads on WC, and I've only seen a handful of complaints.....most of them nitpicking and minor.

The linked thread in the GBU seems to me like an extreme case. Tombstone seems to have had a very combative attitude from the get-go. Demanding that they arrange to have a courier come pick up the barrel on their dime, strip the coating, reapply it, and then refund 1/3 of his money? Come on.

If he just would have sent the barrel back and asked them to fix it and refund his shipping costs, I guarantee you that that would have been the end of it.
Click to expand...


Hey buddy better get the facts straight.First off,I didn't ask for a 1/3 of my money back.They would have had to remove the finish anyway and parkerize the gun to start over.All I asked for is the gun re-parkerized and the difference refunded in the cost of not applying the "armor-tuff" gunkoting.I don't think it unreasonable that they pay for return shipping on the gun under the circumstances.In addition,sending just the barrel back when the whole gun had a defective finish helps me how in that situation??

I was inconvienced,and mistreated enough during the transaction to warrant some decent customer service.
I'm not going to rehash the whole situation,but the brief overview is this.I ordered the most expensive finish.It was supposed to be parkerized first,and then "Gunkote" applied and baked on.All they did was spray on the finish over the Remington beadblasted factory oxide,and apparantly didn't bake/cure the finish.This issue was verfied by my local gunsmith that tested the finish for the defect.
All Wilson Combat had to do is wipe the gun with a rag or tissue as I did and the paint was just coming off.The solvent was washing away the coating.Instead they looked at the gun and made a snap judgement without even checking into my claim.My attitude is a direct result of an exchange with a Customer service representative and a Supervisor at Wilson Combat both making accusations questioning my honesty and integrity.Quite frankly they were downright rude.You better believe if someone calls me a liar they gonna have a fight on their hands.
As far as me being an extreme case,better do some more research at several gun boards,you will find many complaints similar to mine dealing with a variety of issues.

Yoda4561,now to respond to you.Irregardless of my experinece.If I were you, with the current Wilson combat pricing you are in custom 1911 territory,and money would be better spent pursuing other options like Ed Brown and other makers.
 
There are horror stories for every 1911 maker out there. They all seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Getting a good reliable 1911 is almost a luck of the draw situation. I've had a Wilson Protector for a number of years and it has been top notch. I did have some trouble with Wilson 1911 mags and they made it right. Then again, a mag problem is not a $2200.00 problem.
 
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