I have been asked a few questions about my new Wilson Combat CQB so I thought I would write up a report of my thoughts on it so far.

I have had the gun a few weeks now and I really like the CQB quite well overall. Just so you have an idea on my mindset, I'll say that I have been a "SIG Guy" for a long time. I'm fast becoming a "1911 Guy" I'm fairly new to the 1911, having only got my first one about a year and a half ago. The Wilson Combat CQB is my first "High End" 1911. I currently have two Kimbers, two Springfield Armory's, and of course the Wilson CQB. I have also had a couple other 1911's that I have sold.

The gun shoots great, Wilson says it's 1" accurate at 25 yards. That is better than I can shoot, but I don't have a problem making a 1 hole group at 30 feet with the Wilson. I'm going try a 16# recoil spring in it tomorrow to see how it feels. I have friend that also has a CQB I liked shooting his with the 16# spring. I have no doubt that the gun will do the 1" that Wilson claims, I'm just not capable of proving it.

I have shot about 600 rounds through it so far and have only had one failure. A round stripped from the middle of a full magazine during normal shooting failed to feed into full battery. The round jammed partway into the chamber and the gun locked up tight on me. This was one of my own reloads, it was obviously out of spec. I had to remove the plug to release the spring tension, and then gently pry the slide away from the chamber to extract the faulty round. I was unable to move the slide with just my hands. If this had been a vital situation I think a good forward whack of the rear sight against something firm would have cleared the round. Note to self, don't use your reloads for "carry ammo". Other than this one incident that I can 100% attribute to the ammo it has been perfect. Wilson says that good ammo is important and they specifically say that they will NOT guarantee reliable functioning with PMC 230gr ball or CCI Speer Lawman and Blazer .45 ACP all styles.

The fit of the slide to the frame is amazing to me. I am completely unable to feel any play in it, up-down-side-to-side. I have tried to find some "felt play" while it's in battery and also all the way through the backstroke of the slide. When I manually move the slide front to back/back to front it is a completely smooth movement, I can barely feel the disconnector hitting the slide or the detent. It's hard to put into words, but it just "feels right". When I first got the gun, I thought it was amazing that it could be so tight and yet so smooth. The rear of the slide lines up with the frame and ejector just right when in battery. I can run my finger over the rear of the slide and it feels like one smooth piece of metal (see pic compared to SA "Loaded"). The thumb safety is positive feeling and has a nice "clicky" feel to it going on and off safe. The beavertail grip safety seems really positive, the way it is fitted to the frame is amazing when I look at it next to my SA "Loaded" (See pic). The trigger is set to 3.5 lbs according to the build checklist. The trigger break is super crisp, like breaking a thin glass rod, there is no overtravel. The frontstrap checkering looks and feels great.

I've never been a big fan of the "shake and bake" finishes, however the Wilson "Armor-Tuff" finish on this gun seems to be very good. So far at about 600 rounds through the gun there seems to be no signs of wear. The finish has a good "feel" to it, it's hard for me to say why, but I think it's going to turn out to be very durable. I would have liked it to have been a bit more dull in appearance, I think it has a bit too much "sheen" to it.

The "Quality Control Checklist" that came with the gun is very extensive, I am very impressed with the detail it covers. It seems very thorough. I scanned most of it into a PDF file, the page was too long for my scanner to get it all, you can see the lions share of it here.

Some things I don't like about it. The sight picture is "okay". The tritium lamps in the night sights are yellow rear and green front, also there are no white outlines. There was no option for me to get all green with white outlines. I'll probably have the sights changed on it at some point. I did not like the grips that came with it. The checkering was a bit coarse, and I don't care for grips with medallions on them, again no option for changing that from the factory. The grips were an easy fix. I also didn't want the front cocking serrations on the slide. A slide without the front serrations was an option I could have had, however it would have added 3 months to the wait time on the gun. Since I can live with the serrations I was able to get the gun in two weeks.

I have a friend that asked me about the gun when it came. We were chatting in IM and I said "There is a reason it was $1200 more than the SA 'Loaded'". He asked what was the reason? All I could say was "Well, just everything about it, when you handle it you will know exactly what I mean". I don't say that to knock the SA "Loaded" at all, I love mine. For the money it's about the best value in the 1911 market. The SA is kind of like a trip to Reno for the weekend with the Wilson being like a trip to Las Vegas instead. They are both great fun, but almost everyone would rather go to Vegas.

Wilson Combat CQB with standard half checkered grips from woodgrips.com



Grip safety, CQB on the left, SA "Loaded" on the right.



Rear of slideCQB on the left, SA "Loaded" on the right.




Jason from Yost-Bonitz called me this afternoon to let me know that my 1* Enhanced built on a Colt Commander is done. I'm hoping that by this time next week I'll be comparing it to a weekend trip to Amsterdam vs. Reno or Vegas. ;)

It's a great looking 1911.

Both are very nice pistols.  One thing I wonder, and I apologize if this is a dumb question: what is the circular panel/thing on the rear of the slide, to the right of the hammer ?  Is it the Series 80 firing pin safety or something like that ?  

I can see where the CQB has been dehorned and the difference in finish when compared to the Springfield is quite visible.  

Quoted: Both are very nice pistols.  One thing I wonder, and I apologize if this is a dumb question: what is the circular panel/thing on the rear of the slide, to the right of the hammer ?  Is it the Series 80 firing pin safety or something like that ?   I can see where the CQB has been dehorned and the difference in finish when compared to the Springfield is quite visible.

No that is where the extractor goes.

I have never been a big fan of Wilson, but I was actually very impressed with the build checklist they provide you.  I for damn sure didn't get anything like that with my Les Baer Thunder Ranch!

Please provide pics of your Yost Commander.  I just sold my Yost 1* Elite and I'm thinking about sending them my commander.

Just out of curiosity, when did you send your Colt to Yost?  Mine has been there for a long time and I was wondering if I was getting close!

Great looking pistols btw!

Congrats!  I hope that you love yours as much as I love mine!

Quoted: Just out of curiosity, when did you send your Colt to Yost?  Mine has been there for a long time and I was wondering if I was getting close! Great looking pistols btw!

I ordered the Yo-Bo gun in January, they supplied the base gun for me. At the time, I was told that the 1* guns were taking 90-120 days. I think I lucked out because mine was ready about two weeks early of the 90 day mark.

Quoted: I have never been a big fan of Wilson, but I was actually very impressed with the build checklist they provide you.  I for damn sure didn't get anything like that with my Les Baer Thunder Ranch! Please provide pics of your Yost Commander.  I just sold my Yost 1* Elite and I'm thinking about sending them my commander.

I was very impressed with the checklist too, that's the reason I thought I would post it. Your comment makes me feel like I didn't waste my time scanning it after all.

I will certianly post some pics of the Yo-Bo gun when it gets here.  

Nice. How long is the mortgage?