Wilson Combat- Why all the hype?

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JDGray

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I purchased a few of their mags for my Kimber, they feed just fine, but the junk followers are already bad. One works fine, but the second one wont engage the slide stop anymore. The soft plastic followers are getting beat up where they lift the stop. Anyone else getting poor life out of their followers? Am I expecting too much? These things might have 400 rounds on them:mad:
 
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Yeah, that plastic stuff works so well someone should make a whole gun out of it.........:scrutiny: Two words - Chip McCormick.
 
Their very well made and very good guns...but nothing is perfect...and as much as I'd LOVE to own one or a Les Baer ect ect...the 1911 is still at heart a little finnicky. And as wonderful and accurate and generally reliable as the higher end 1911's tend to be...I've seen both of those names choke o n the firingline...and both makers have had guns fail at shoots at the range I belong to more than once! But in all fairness few owners really shoot them the amount that they need to break in right...but that's the thing...there's too loose....too tight...and then the just right...and there's multiple points where you have to balance performance with reliabillity...and you have to have somebody do it right. Most of the top makers let them leave "a bit tight" but working good so that when you get it all run in it's in the "sweet spot" and you need someone with enough expirience to know where those spots are. But if you don't shoot it in...well you take it to a big shoot at the club and get embarrassed when it chokes 2-3 times in a match! Oddly my old G21 never seemed to have ANY failures in the 1200 or so rounds I ran through it (well I bought it slightly used and the previous owner had decided to break-off the ejector since it looked "bent up" and I didn't know it....it still ejected 75% of the time...Glock sent me a free replacement...said a lot of owners have done that...I popped it in and 1200 rounds with no issues $500 gun....not $1500-2000...hhhmmmmm ;)

Of course any wilson or quallity 1911 will outshoot the crap out of it...but "fist sized at 25" wil do!
 
I should had specified Magazines. I have no experiance with Wilson pistols, so I can't comment on those. Just seems the follower would last longer. My aluminum frame, and ramped barrel, I thought needed a plastic follower or at least a follower that is flat in front without lips. Do the McCormick followers work in this set up? I see they offer an aluminum frame safe steel lipped follower, now.
 
Check out the Tripp Cobra Mags. I personally love them. The follower is metal and ramped so it won't dig into your gun like a split feed lip follower may, especially on an alloy framed gun. I found out the hard way....LOL.
 
I always ran wilson mags with 1911's as most serious shooters have tended to over the last few decades...that sounds like premature wear to me...I've had some I bought used that where the old OLD wilson rogers mags and they still ran fine all day. They do make different baseplate models...maybe they've changed the followers since I've been in the 1911 game...I noticed the other day the regular cheapy version with the plastic baseplate has a different baseplate than the older ones (a really UGLY baseplate!)

There are spring/follower rebuild kits for a few bucks to refurb the mags with...usually it was just the 8 round followers that would eventually wear out and do that...then you knew it was time for a new spring/follower. But it would usually take a year or two with even with a LOT of shooting! Maybe they've cheaped out on us...I don't know....been shooting plastic guns that work even without special mags:neener: for the last few years-LOL ;)
 
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Wilson has a "no risk guarantee, if it breaks we will replace it". Call them up and ask them.
 
I've probably tried every follower on the market, but after thousands of rounds of competitive shooting, always come back to Wilson. With a little periodic cleaning and lube, it seems that the full contact 'skirt' on the Wilson follower provides the most consistent feed. Surprised to hear that the empty mag surface is wearing where it lifts the slide stop.

I've even 'converted' other compatible brand magazines to 'Wilson' with the Wilson spring and follower kits so that all of my Officer's Model mags are eight rounders. Seeing that black plastic maw every time is somehow comforting.

Contact Wilson, JD, and they will make it right for you.
 
I've put many, many rounds through my Wilson 47Ds. Nary a problem. Perhaps the problem is elsewhere.
 
I have a couple dozen 47Ds. On the third set of springs with the original followers. Still function, still lock the sidle back.
 
Nighthawk Cutom mags are my favorite. They have a metal follower without the points that sometimes dig into aluminum framed 1911 feed ramps.
 
one of their mags is the only one my gun works with every time with 7rounds the 47d i have had it for years.

but i keep being stupid and buying cheapo ones i tried mec gar i tried springfeild factory and at the range where i dont mind a jam they work if i download them to 6 or 5 but the wilson i have at least a few k rounds through and its the one i keep in it but every gun is diffrent i find they work good for me.
 
JD,
I haven't seen this with Wilson mags, even on high use magazines. I use Wilson magazines exclusively in my carry guns, and quite a bit in the non-carry ones. Wilson pretty much sets the standard for aftermarket 1911 magazines.

You say the follower is getting chewed up after only 400 rounds? (really 200 if divided by two mags)..... Is the follower engagement point of the slide stop protruding through the frame enough to catch more than just the edge of the follower? I'd be looking very closely at that engagement point. Wilson mags do not have a reputation for doing this at all.

Can you post a few pics?
 
Nighthawk Cutom mags are my favorite. They have a metal follower without the points that sometimes dig into aluminum framed 1911 feed ramps.
Nighthawk stainless mags have a plastic follower that looks pretty much like the Wilson. I didn't care for the blued version.
 
Nighthawk stainless mags have a plastic follower that looks pretty much like the Wilson. I didn't care for the blued version.
I am sorry you feel that way Eddie, but the blued Nighthawk mags with the metal follower shown here are the best 1911 mags I have ever used. I have used Wilson 47ds, Wilson ETM, CMC power mags, Kimpro mags, CMC shooting stars, Colt, Springfield, Taurus, Para, and Sig mags. The Nighthawk are the best I have used with the Sig mags coming in second; that is my opinion based on first hand knowledge, not caring about whether a mag is blued or stainles just what worked 100 percent of the time. Take it for what it is.
 
I am sorry you feel that way Eddie

Why? It's just a personal opinion. Never said they're of poor quality, I just don't care for them.

I've had excellent service from 47Ds, Power Mags and Metalform. The rest I've either not tried or didn't care for.

Over several decades of shooting a large number of 1911s, I've discovered some guns just won't function with some magazines. The gun runs fine with different mags and mags work fine in different guns. Who knows? Irreconcilable differences?
 
its possible that wilson got a batch of substandard followers from their supplier, and you got unlucky enough to get one or two. get in touch with wilson and let them know what issues you have and let them make it right.
 
Long story on slide lock

Is the follower engagement point of the slide stop protruding through the frame enough to catch more than just the edge of the follower? I'd be looking very closely at that engagement point. Wilson mags do not have a reputation for doing this at all.

Can you post a few pics?
Heres a pic showing the followers. The slide stop has been modded to keep the nose of the bullets from hitting durring recoil. I swapped in a different mag catch, and both mags will hold open now, the Kimber catch was noticably more loose. I'll shoot again after it quits raining, to test them out. I broke the gun in on 700fps target loads, and it absolutely ran 100% in function. A buddy ran some factory ammo through it, that recoiled quite a bit harder, and the slide started locking back with ammo in the mag. Kimber sent me a new slide stop, but it did not help. I loaded up some hotter ammo and started to diagnose the issue, and had it running good by filing down the original stop to clear the bullet nose. This was all using the Kimber magazine. Thinking the issue was gone after 100s of shots fired, it resurfaced. I then really filed the stop down for clearance, loosing my hold open feature all together. Fast forward.....I since bought a pair of Wilson mags, and used them for a while with the filed down stop, and coulnd'nt believe they held open the slide on the last shot, where the Kimber mag failed too. I installed the new stop to try it again, and the pistol worked great for awhile, but for a carry gun I wanted it to at least make it through a mag without early lock, so I put the filed down stop back in. I think the stop has finally taken its toll on the followers. I sent WC an email on the followers, and will order replacements if they don't want to replace them. Not that I expect them too....But for now I'll shoot it with the different mag catch, as it made a difference on locking back by hand. When the slide locks back, the stop barely catches the slide, and only needs a light touch to release into battery. The issue only showed up after using stronger ammo, which leads me to believe its recoil related. I have ruled out hitting the stop with my thumbs. I did load two bullets into the mag for a test, and it locked back on the first shot, with the next round all the forward in the mag(Moved maybe a 1/4" forward, with the slide locked back, and still under the feed lips)
IMG_0187.gif
 
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get some metalform, i have a lot kf faith in them since i purchased 4 on the fly before a steel match, never test fired all of them where flawless
 
Am I expecting too much?
you bought into the "legend of the 47D"

Hilton Yam and staff of 10-8 Consulting ran all the available mags through a test a while back to see which they should recommend to customers. the finding, in a stock mag, was the Chip McCormick Power Mag....with an optimized mag being the Tripp (CobraMag) Super 7 spring/follower kit inside a CMC Power Mag tube.

i've recently been hearing good things about the Metalform mags also...they are cheaper if you buy them from the Ed Brown web site
 
not every product wilson makes is a home run. have you seen that cheese grater, removable frontstrap checkering? :eek:

the mag followers you're referring did get bad customer feedback on midwayusa too.
 
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