[ETCss Phil McCrackin]

Does anyone have any practical experience with the Wilson Combat line of “Shok-buff” accessories? I was wondering if they were a worthwhile investment for a 1911 style pistol. You know, do they lessen perceived recoil, lessen wear of the weapon, or do they add anything to the weapon besides worthless fluff?

[10-Ring]

I used them on my Colt. They do as they're named, they reduce the shock to the frame. Now some guns are a little finicky (sp?) and become unreliable when you use the shock buff, but my guns worked fine & especially w/ hotter ammo I liked the fact that I was reducing wear.

[HSMITH]

Some 1911's will accept them and some will not. By accept I mean stay reliable. I have one 1911 that has used them for over 20K rounds and been flawless. I had another that would not make a full magazine with one in, but was good without it. Ejector length is a big part of it, without an extended ejector I would not consider one. Ejector length is only part of it though.

Get one and try it to see if your gun likes them.

They DO lessen frame battering with hot loads or a lighter springed gun. They WILL protect the frame a little if the power of your ammo varies, target loads for practice and a couple mags of duty hollowpoints to finish the range session for example. They DO take the pop out of recoil with heavy loads too.

Are they necessary? No not even a little. Unless you shoot several thousand rounds a year and have 20 years left in your shooting life it would be a waste of time and money IMO. If you shoot a lot they may extend the life of your gun.

[1911Tuner]

Howdy Phil,

Shock buffs are worthwhile if the pistol is to see heavy use. They
do add some protection to the impact surfaces between frame and slide, but sometimes bring on reliability issues due to the reduced slide travel and altered timing. There is also the issue of recoil spring stacking due to the extra .125 inch of space that the buff displaces in the spring tunnel. Easy to check and easy to correct for by clipping a coil or so off a spring if needed, but doing so will alter the loading of the spring. If no coil bind is
present, the spring will have a higher load with the shcok buff in place due to increased pre-loading of the spring. The best protection for your slide/frame impact surfaces is to change the recoil spring on schedule. Resist the urge to use a spring that is heavier than standard. Those can bring on a whole new set of woes, and can actually damage the pistol if you go very far off the scale.

To put all this more simply, adding a buffer with no other changes will
cause the slide speed and timing to change. Some pistols will tolerate
it and some won't. Clipping the spring to restore reliability will alter the slide speed and timing when the buffer is removed...but in the other direction.

Some pistols will produce malfunctions with a buffer in place, no matter what you do to tune the spring to allow for the buffer. If the gun is to
be used strictly for a range beater, an occasional malfunction is probably a good trade-off for the frame and slide protection gained, but I would not advise a buffer in any pistol that is to be used for duty or defense.

Some pistols don't show any difference in functional reliability with a buffer. I have a few of each type, and there really isn't anything that I can put my finger on to explain it. Each one is a law unto itself in certain aspects. In any case, a buffer won't hurt anything that can't be fixed by simply removing it, and in the case that a spring length adjustment is needed, just replace the "Range Recoil System" for the stock one. I use buffers in 2 of my range beaters...the ones that will run with them...but I go through 75,000+ rounds a year by best estimate. My beaters NEED a buffer. The ones that don't like buffers are used with the standard set-up, but see lighter use...about 10,000 rounds a year, split between two very old GI pistols. (Yes, I shoot a lot.)

Hope this addresses your questions. Shoot straight!

Tuner

[BluesBear]

I swear by them in my Lightweight Commander. I only wish they had been around 25 years ago when I wore out my first Lightweight.

[sm]

Pertinent points, been covered...

I have never used a Wilson Shockbuff.
I prefer the ones by CP personally.

I suspect the trick about shaving the thickness by rubbing on a whetstone or fine grit sandpaper lain upon a a hard surface ( sheet of glass) really should have been shared by 1911 Tuner. ;)

Carry guns have no buffs, FLGR,...etc. Bullets yes !

[1911Tuner]

I suspect the trick about shaving the thickness by rubbing on a whetstone or fine grit sandpaper lain upon a a hard surface ( sheet of glass) really should have been shared by 1911 Tuner.

Ahh! re'73...sorry 'bout that. Never done that. Mucho better to
chuck the spring guide in a lathe and face off the thickness of the
head by about .025 and buy a Hiett Technologies buffer. They
make'em in 3 thicknesses...the thinnest is .090 inch.

No lathe? Any machine shop can do it in about 3 minutes. Face off
from the backside, and face off an equal amount from the butt-end of the rod, and use a standard rod when you go without a buff.

Cheers!
Tuner da Toolmaker

[sm]

Hey your the toolmaker, me I'm still learning...that's what guys like you are for. :D

I don't have the access to tools I once had...can't always make it out to my buddy that does. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome...always believed in this...so when a fellow asked me one day if shaving a buff would work " well one way to find out"...I broke out the Norton whetstone and it did. He didn't carry with one, just wondered if his Lt Wt Commander would shoot with one at the range. What, you toolmakers never do stuff just " because" ? :D :D

Keep teaching will ya, I still have lots to learn.

[rayra]

I've used them successfully in my series 80. Including two IPSC-Limited seasons.
Prior to using them, my frame was showing signs of battering, bulging below the barrel chamber. Sonce using them, no problem at all.