Yeah that's how I see it as well. I've seen some pretty stout evidence of how these tuned guns shoot from GJM already. A solid $600 pistol with $600 of Wilson Combat touches is a whole lotta premium pistol.Originally Posted by Lyonsgrid
Yeah that's how I see it as well. I've seen some pretty stout evidence of how these tuned guns shoot from GJM already. A solid $600 pistol with $600 of Wilson Combat touches is a whole lotta premium pistol.
“Remember, being healthy is basically just dying as slowly as possible,” Ricky Gervais
I fully agree with this. I only hope WC can do something similar with a Vertec frame for those of us with smaller hands.
Looks to me like you're getting a rare configuration of Beretta 92 with the Wilson upgrades. The brigadier slide itself hasn't been widely available on a railed frame. The G configuration is pretty rare on any Beretta from the factory. The barrel seems to be similar/same to the one they used to put in the Elite II. Beretta ships guns these days with a lot of plastic parts in them that apparently Wilson has replaced those with steel ones. Plus sights, trigger job, and custom touches like the bevel on the mag well, rounded trigger guard, improved sights etc. You could buy an Elite II and get several of the major bits, but it will be between 700 and 800 bucks (if not more) and it won't have the Wilson trigger work on it.
It's like a greatest hits version of the 92, only done a bit better than what the factory would put out if they were doing a similar run. It would be a bit better if it was a Vertec frame, IMO, but I assume Wilson is kind of limited to working with the frames they can get from Beretta.
3/15/2016
Just to be clear, Beretta is making these pistols, Right? I am all for this gun, it has a lot of features that I would want. I also applaud the efforts to re-introduce the best guns that Beretta ever built. I don't think Wilson sights, Wilson/VZ grips and a steel guide rod constitute $600 worth of upgrades. Just make the gun that everyone wants, charge a fair price for it and make more than 1000 of them. Beretta has made them before, they can do it again. This is akin to CZ guns. If I want an awesome CZ SP01, I can buy the $600 gun or I could get a tuned SP01 shadow with an really good trigger and the sights I want from Matt Mink or Cajun and everything in between. And that gun is only $1500, Just saying.
Why didn't Beretta sell the Elite 2 back in the day for 1200 bucks? This is basically an Elite 2 with boutique branding. Yes it does have some production refinements to the slide and frame, but that should be called product evolution throughout the course of natural production, e.g., Glock has its gen 1-4s, etc.
I would prefer to see an "Elite 3" with the same appointments (minus the Wilson logo and grips) sold at a normal MSRP. They already have production guns with frame checkering, flared mag well, etc.
Instead they give us a semi-custom, boutique branded, out of production auction priced gun.
No one can argue against the absolute total cool factor of a Wilson Beretta, but most of these appointments were standard production at one time with the Elite series.
Maybe I'm ignorant, but did the Elite 2's not sell well? Is that why they were taken out of production?
Sorry for the negative tone of my comments. Perhaps I'm a little frustrated as I look at Beretta through the narrow scope of a niche fanboy. I admit I don't have any experience with what actually sells to the masses.
God Bless,
David
Perhaps Mr. Langdon can comment on the birth of the Beretta Elite guns, but from what limited knowledge I possess it was not an easy product to get made in the first place. The Elite guns were limited runs. How well they sold I could not tell you, but I do know that the Elite II sold for considerably more money than a standard 92 on the gunstore shelf. I snagged my 1st generation Elite I for a bargain because a wholesaler had it sitting on a shelf collecting dust and wanted to move it cheap...so I got it for less than $500 several years ago. (More than 10 now that I think about it...)
I don't know how many Elites they made in total, or how many of each generation they made...but I gather it wasn't a whole lot on either front. Same with the Vertec Elite guns.
The spec Wilson is putting out does look a bit like an Elite III, but Beretta doesn't make an Elite III. This is Wilson basically offering a Beretta 92 that Beretta won't build. Only with some nice upgrades to what Beretta would build IF they built it...which they don't.
Beretta as a corporation may see no value in building guns with these specs. It would hardly be the first time that Beretta Inc. didn't want to build a gun that some people wanted. (Just ask Mr. Langdon about that) Mr. Wilson's company is smaller than Beretta but still apparently large enough that they can order parts from Beretta (I would imagine that the per-unit cost on these parts is a mite higher than for standard parts) and essentially build the spec for a targeted audience, put their own improvements on it before they ship them out the door, and still make enough of a profit to make it a worthwhile endeavor.
3/15/2016
So if one were looking at a 92G-SD this would offer the same desirable trinkets, be "custom", and be brand new? Seems like the price makes a little more sense though I am cautioned by some posts concerning the price.
Think for yourself. Question authority.
Last couple 92G-SD's I saw on gunbroker sold for between $1,500 and $2k.
Pretty much.
The price is, on the face of it, high. Until you try to go and get your hands on a 92G-SD, or an Elite II and then suddenly you're confronted with guns in that price range or even higher that still don't quite match up to the one on offer here. Especially if this is being shipped with the equivalent of Wilson's trigger work already done on the gun. (I'm guessing on that because I don't see it specified on the WC page) I have an Elite I with a Wolff TCU and the D spring in it and even with that stuff it's not anywhere close to the feel of a good trigger job. Even if it isn't a full trigger job, if Wilson is putting Elite II trigger parts in the gun it will yield a better trigger pull than you'd likely get on a typical 92G-SD because those guns used standard M9/92 fire control parts.
If you like I'll bring my Berettas to the class later this week and you can play with my Elite I some and try it side by side with my Langdon Tactical customized 92FS.
If I'm wrong about the trigger job assumption, Wilson folks, please correct me.
Right...that was an extremely limited production gun, perhaps with fewer produced than the Elite guns, and the spec was originally intended for a sub-set of Army SF IIRC. It's a pretty rare bird and was sold for considerably more than standard 92FS price during the limited time it was available.
The Wilson gun is a different beast than a typical Beretta 92 selling for $600+ on the gunstore shelf.
3/15/2016
Gotcha. While the SD sounds great this may be a better reference gun/tax write off/investment/something to have because reasons.
Bring them!
Think for yourself. Question authority.
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