Wilson Combat Stuff

["DoubleAction"]

There was a time when beavertail grip safeties, Extended Thumb Safeties, Full Length Guide Rods, Three Hole Triggers, Lowered and Flared Ejection Ports, Throated Barrel Chambers, Polished Feed Ramps, Checkered Mainspring Housings and Front Straps, and Low Mount Sights were left up to the descretion of the buyer after the initial purchase. Many of those buyers had bought into Colts, at a time when the internet had yet to be a household fixture.

For the average people who did own the Colts, they just accepted the pistol as it was until people like Bill Wilson came along. I remember when Wilson came out with their version of the drop in grip safety, complete with a hammer drop slot and memory bump. Most of Wilson's parts, as with other aftermarket parts manufacturers, were geared for the diagram of the Colt. That was a good thing for all the Colt owners, especially when they installed their own parts.

I've learned a little here and a little there, from various sources, but I've never been affected so much by one single sources as I have with Wilson Combat. I think I became much fonder of Wilsons after I acquired their CQB pistols. I had already fired the pistols and serviced them prior to ever owning them myself; I reckon it was just fate that I was lucky enough to have acquired the two that I had grown fond of. I must have around twenty of their shirts, six caps, and various other items laying around with their name attached. This is an assortment of some of my Wilson Combat stuff.

[TMan]

Nice collection DA. It must get expensive keeping all those magazines loaded. ;D

I have the two videos, since I have two of the Wilson guns, but I wasn't aware of the books. I got a small book when I got the first CQB, it may be the same as your small one with a different cover. Of course I have no clue what I ever did with it, but I do know where the video is.

["DoubleAction"]

Thanks TMan; I never carry more than one magazine pouch with me to the range, which holds twleve magazines. One day I left the range and forgot the pouch, leaving it in the lane I was shooting. While I was talking to the range counter guy, after I left the range, a young man brought the pouch to the counter guy I was talking to, leaving his lane immediately to turn it in. It wasn't necessary for the counter guy to ask who it belonged to.
I was buying the Wilson Combat books, video tapes, and parts several years before they began building their own line of pistols. Since I started using their magazines I have put back all of my Colt magazines.
I acquired alot of Wilson stuff, such as the Sharkskin belt and holsters and many of the magazines, when I acquired the CQB pistols on a super trade with my brother. Of course, he recieved alot of my rare revolver holsters which I've spent the past three years locating and replacing; I just recieved one holster in the mail today from Liverpool, England for my six inch mid frame revolvers.
The Wilson Books are good reads but, in my opinion, one of the best books on the 1911 is "The Custom Government Model Pistol" by Layne Simpson. I've been told that Jerry Kuhnhausen has some very good books on the 1911 but I have only his poster on the basic function and cycle operation of the 1911 and 1911A1.
I do not know if the Wilson Combat belt buckle and pin ( on left holster) is still available from Wilson. I have so many caps and shirts from Wilson that many people think that I work for Wilson Combat. They do have a nice logo and most all their t-shirts are embroided on subdued colors, as is their caps.
Although I acquired the CQBs on a trade, my brother never sent in for the free stuff from Wilson, which I did. Each of the pistols came with a couple of video tapes, a disassembly manuel, and a pistol rug. The only thing Colt ever gave me was a jacket for buying a rifle, and I would not have known about that unless I had came across an add in a gun publication for their give away. I had to send off a copy of the BATF form and reciept in order to get the jacket.
Wilson is also very good about sending out their catalogs; something Colt had never done. Although I have far more invested in Colts than I have in my two Wilson's pistols, I have had some very pleasant experiences with Wilson over the years.

[TA]

An interesting piece that I have is a 1981 Wilson's Gun Shop Catalog. It sports a picture of Bill on the front shooting with a cross-draw holster on his belt. That is the day when Bill started with a Colt platform and built it up from there.

["DoubleAction"]