Wilson Combat Hackathorn Special Commander

[vcdgrips]

Edge of my lane.

At 3750 retail- if that pistol, when clean, greased and running Wilson ETMs, is not reliable with WWB and your duty load, they need to make it right at their expense and on an expedited basis, or give you a full refund. This is true regardless if this is your first Wilson or 21st Wilson. It is Unsat at present.


Blessings to you and yours in this time and keep us in the loop re how you resolve this issue.

[JonInWA]

Wilson should make it right, but Commanders can be a bit of a science to get running properly, as they inherently are fiddling with Browning's work optimized for the Government platform.

While I sold off my last one, what I found to be absolutely a crucial part of the reliabilty equation was using high performance magazine springs; my best results were with my Check-Mate hybrid feedlip magazines with the performance spring and a bull-nosed fully enclosed follower.

Mine was a Nighthawk Custom Talon II that I'd custom-specced, so it was more bespoke than most. These days, the only 1911s I have and use are full-sized Governments, and I'm a bit disenchanted by the offerings and cost of the semi-custom boutique outfits; I'm pretty skeptical that the juice justifies the squeeze.

Now a Jason Burton et al would be something else...but these days, my 1911 needs are completely met by my Colt Series 70 stainless repro and SIG GSR XO (slightly upgraded-and I no longer recommend the SIG 1911s either).

Commanders seem to inherently need more sorting out; but as others have mentioned, for the price paid Wilson should do the sorting for you.

Best, Jon

[TCB]

Is the click sound right at the beginning of the unlocking / end of the locking cycle? If so sounds like a lower lug / slide stop / barrel link issue... Sort that out and it may help with the feeding issue, or not. My CQB had a very tight chamber initially that caused some feeding issues. I had it reamed and it helped a lot, that gun is now close to 30,000 rounds and runs very nicely.

[Whirlwind06]

In one of the "Gun Guys" videos, Bill Wilson talked about ammo in short barreled pistols and springs, bullet weight, etc. Sorry I can't be more specific than that.

Other than that, I'm with @Trooper224. Wilson owes you a working gun. Get on their ass to make it right.

https://www.wilsoncombat.com/faqs/

This had been on a blog at one point. Seems to mostly about 4 inch and under 1911s, but he is saying that lighter bullets should run better in these guns.

I would think that a Wilson CS rep would have suggested that if they thought it was the issue.

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[Pit]

I had a Dan Wesson where the feed ramp was cut too deep. DW didn't reframe it they replaced it. Shouldn't Wilson do the same?

This is a new frame. The reframe it vernacular was how Wilson Combat referred to it when communicating with me. My Bad. Sorry for any confusion.

JW

[Pit]

@Pit there's no shock buff in there, right?

No shock buff. Those always go straight to the garbage can.

JW

[Pit]

Is it a 4" 1911? Also are you running the +P HST? Because that's really hot for a .45 and I wouldn't be surprised that it puts a short gun on the ragged edge of function

The only thing I can think is that your recoil spring could be binding.

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As TC215 replied, 4.25". This is a Commander. The 4" are called Professional if it has a full size grip or a Compact if it has the Officer's Model grip. The HST are the standard pressure loads.

JW

[Greg]

47Ds are pretty much shit. Stick to the ETMs or similar.

Another vote here that says Wilson needs to make this right for you.

[BWT]

I’m normally easy to please about smiths / manufacturers.

That being said, don’t go to another smith. You’ve already paid a staff of highly credentialed smith. They should be able to get it working.

Let Wilson make it right. Show the issues, etc. and escalate.

I personally prefer Tripp’s Cobra mags after trying Wilson 47D’s and Wilson 500 (but not with flat-wire springs).

Tripp’s give me no issues in 1100+ in my SA TRP. I cleaned that gun for the first time after 1,000 rounds.

I think it had one hang up with the above Wilson 500 - I figured similar mag body length, similar follower, etc. one hiccup and I had a flash back to my DW CBOB.

Never again.

I wish you the best man!

[Pit]

Conducted a little test by replacing the 20 lb. recoil spring with a Wolff 18 lb. recoil spring.

I ran 50 rounds of WW white box thru with no malfunctions. The felt recoil was reduced from shooting the same rounds using the 20 lb. spring. The recoil is still more than it should be but definitely less than with the 20 lbs. recoil spring. Is that backwards or how it should be?

Next, 32 rds. of RP 230 gr. JHP (all I had on hand). No malfunctions. Felt recoil was the same as the WW ball ammo.

Followed with 40 rds. of WW Ranger T. In earlier testing the Ranger T malfunctioned at a lower rate than the HST.
- 1st magazine, failure to feed round 6. The magazine was the new ETM HD provided by Wilson Combat. Felt recoil still less than with 20 lb. recoil spring. (First pic)
- 2nd magazine, the most unusual malfunction I've every experienced. As the 7th round was ejecting, the 8th round popped straight up and forward landing on the range floor. This was a live round that ejected from the ETM HD magazine as soon as the brass from the expended round got out of the way. My eyes easily tracked something going straight up like a rocket. (Second pic)
- 3rd magazine - senior RO firing - 3rd round failed to chamber. He also remarked "This thing kicks" (Third pic)

I replaced the 18 lb. Wolff recoil spring for the Wilson Combat 20 lb. recoil spring for the next two magazines.
- 4th magazine, no malfunctions, felt recoil increased with spring change. Senior RO had weapon separate from his support hand for every shot. He's been carrying a 1911 for 27 years. Said of the recoil, "it's stupid it does that" referring to the amount of recoil.
- 5th magazine, I'm shooting. No malfunctions. I can maintain a two hand hold but the recoil is more than with the 18 lb. recoil spring.

I decided to stop f-ing around and save the rest of my ammo. Calling Wilson Combat in the morning. It's going back for round three.

BTW: I bought this pistol used from a U.S. Marshal who only shot ball thru it. He had no idea I would have issues and offered to give me back my money. I paid no where near the retail for this pistol.

I have been a fan of Wilson Combat for years. Mine saved my ass on the job. My son's CQB saved his life two years ago. That said, I do believe Wilson Combat's quality is slipping. My older pistols have had ten of thousand of rounds through them (Duty and SWAT pistols) with minimal issues, springs, broken FPS, etc. However, these newer to me pistols need more TLC. I trust the ones I trust. Bby and large, I'm not much of a striker fire or TDA pistol guy. Owed a couple to train others on. Still have a compact M&P M2.0 40 that is damn nice. But …

I appreciate everyone's input. No one has every though of me a being too nice or a push over before. LOL.

JW