A Blog Away From the Norm: My Wilson Combat

For those looking for a trail run post, this one isn't it. For those who didn't know I was a gun girl and are now appalled, well I'm not apologizing and yeah, I'm a gun girl.

Instead of the normal run post, I want to post a review of my new custom .45 Wilson Combat CQB Compact.

I have purposely waited a bit since it's arrival to post since I wanted some quality time on the range first. Now that I've put almost a thousand rounds downrange, taken it fully apart to clean, and successfully put all pieces together without any extras left over I think I can successfully post a blog on my review.

First off, the arrival of my Wilson brought with it great jealousy and appreciation from my husband who is a gunsmith, as well as an owner and lover of all things 1911. Muahaahaa!

My previous carry gun had a double stacked magazine which, although I loved the gun, was extremely difficult to carry concealed other than purse carry. Purse carry is a great option for women but only as a last resort. As we all know, if someone is going to rob a woman they aren't usually going to ask you to stop, dump out your purse, and hand them your wallet. They are going to snatch your entire purse....now they have your money and your gun. Oh and they have your address from your license which will take them directly to your family (who, depending on their age or view of the world, may or may not be armed).

So, together we did research for several months, internet forums, books, visiting gun stores/shows, playing with multiple firearms from several manufacturers, and narrowing down what works for not only my small hands, but also to fit my small frame as my primary concealed carry firearm. I was met with all kinds of obstacles and annoyances, mainly from local gun shop nut-heads.

Him: How can I help you? (body suddenly puffed up, leaned over, and arms extended wide onto the glass countertop. This behavior reminded me a bit like the way a male bird puffs up for his dominating seduction dance)

Me: I'm looking for a gun for concealment. I want...
**before I get the chance to describe the specifics on the gun I am looking for Mr. Bird struts himself over to another section of countertop as he interrupts me
Him: What you need here then little lady is a nice pink handled snubby. Fits just perfect in that purse of yours and it's so cute.
**okay, he didn't say "little lady" or "it's so cute" but that's what I heard.
Me: No, I don't want a pink gun and not a revolver. I...
**again interrupting me
Him: Well how about a nice .380. This Ruger LCP is quite popular with the women.
Me: (feeling quite frustrated at this point) No. I don't want a .380. I want a .45 do you have any that I can look at?
Him: (wrinkling his brow) Wow, are you sure you want a .45? That's a big gun you know. You sure you can handle that kick?
Me: (now utterly disgusted and wanting to just walk out) Yes, I am sure. Please show me what you have.

At that point I knew for sure I wasn't giving this bonehead any business but I still needed to get my hands wrapped around different guns to see what I did and didn't like about them. Later I started taking my husband along with me but found he too got royally annoyed with the gun shop guys. Not only did they constantly push the pink plinkers but they tended to ignore me all together and just focus on him. He would gently steer the guys back to me stating, "you don't need to talk to me, she's the one buying the gun!"

I also experienced this behavior at gun shows but usually it wasn't directed to me. I overheard a handful of men "educating" their women friends or wives on what gun would be perfect for them. It took all I had not to butt in with my two cents and direct their ill-advised selves to The Cornered Cat website.

One very positive outcome in all this investigating was a comment from my husband who is also a concealed carry and gunfighting instructor here in Colorado. He said to me, "Boy have you opened my eyes and helped teach me all kinds of new things about the obstacles women have to carrying! Us guys have it so easy!"

I finally narrowed it down to either a Nighthawk, Volkmann, or Wilson Combat due the slim frame, single action only trigger, and general concealability with maximum combat effectiveness.

At one gun shop I found a consignment Wilson Combat. As soon as I wrapped my hand around it's checkered backstrap, tucking it firmly into the web of my hand it just felt right. I then extended my finger into the trigger guard and rested it over the trigger, letting it settle just a little shy of the first knuckle. With my arm extended, my wrist and forearm lined up in a straight line with the barrel. It felt like home. I practiced ejecting the magazine, gently racking the slide, looked over the detail of the firearm, and felt the smooth pull of the trigger. I tilted the gun slightly to look at the name engraved in the side "CQB". It was an officers sized model with gorgeous sunburst stocks and a stainless frame. I handed the gun to my husband to look over and with a head nod from him I was sold. Being careful not to have an impulse buy I went home and slept on it, doing further research online when I got home.

Finding that the consignment gun held a price which exceeded the brand new custom price I had a lengthy discussion with the manager of the shop, who called the owner of the gun. The owner was unwilling to go down on his price more than $50 (seriously?!) and the manager was unwilling to even attempt a negotiation with the owner. Neither party was very helpful and I immediately decided to take my business elsewhere. This interaction stained my opinion of that shop big time.

I purchased the Wilson CQB Compact through Freedom First Firearms in Denver, Colorado. They were a rare find and a great shop. The guys knew their stuff and delivered not a single condescending word. They listened to me, payed attention to me, and when asked if they could order a custom gun they said they would be happy to. Happiness all around.

Order was placed and about 6-9 months later Freedom First gave me a buzz to come pick it up.


Call me a snob, but having a firearm where I am the very first (except the maker) to shoot it is pretty dang cool. Specially ordered just for me: Stainless steel frame and slide, rounded butt, and black sunburst stocks (night sights are standard).

From WC site:

"The CQB Compact pistol is hand-fit with a 4" bushing-less, stainless steel match grade bull barrel for extraordinary accuracy in a carry pistol. The CQB Compact includes Wilson Combat legendary Bullet-Proof parts, a skeletonized ultra-light hammer, an ultra-light trigger with a crisp pull adjusted to between 3 1/4 and 3 3/4 pound pull, 30 lpi checkering on the front strap and flat mainspring housing, and our High-Ride Beavertail grip safety."

Specifications

Caliber	45
Magazine Capacity	7 rd.
Barrel Length	4.0"
Overall Length	7.6"
Sight Radius	5.6"
Height	5.1"
Width	1.5"
Weight Empty	33.8 oz.
Weight Loaded	41.0 oz.

So how did it carry concealed? Well here you go:

Crossbreed Supertuck holster  (combat cut option)

 Yeah this holster is as ugly as they come but dang it is comfortable. 

5' 5 1/2" 125lbs 

Depending on the thinness of material, I can conceal it pretty well. For example, if I wear thin pants there is a slight muzzle bulge if I'm not careful.

Taking the 1911 to the range proved to be a great experience.

My husband, me, my brother, and my father.

This was father's day so of course, had to get a daddy-daughter pic!

The trigger was so amazingly smooth and delicious. I was able to place my shots down range with precision and very little hand/arm fatigue. The recoil was gentle and easily managed. As a notoriously sweaty (hey I'm an athlete...) girl I appreciated the coarse checkering in the front and back strap allowing my hand to stay put without sliding during the recoil. My grip from holster to firing was consistent and easy to maintain with the wide left sided safety. I was afraid I would have issues engaging the grip safety as this was very new to me. Out of the near thousand rounds I believe I only had one instance where I did not engage the grip safety properly and had to immediately reposition my hand to disengage the grip safety. The correction was quick and thankfully didn't require great problem solving skills. For some reason I just knew this was it and corrected within seconds. I believe this is something that will just take lots of practice to permanently fix into my habits.

Having been originally taught the modified Weaver stance, I found I tended to tilt my head a little too much to compensate for my right hand-left eye dominace. This time out on the range I worked on the Isosceles Stance for comparison.

I did have a few problems with shots hitting a bit right of where I was aiming. I adjusted my finger by placing a little more of the pad (less knuckle) on the trigger and that fixed my shots! With a lighter trigger pull I realized I needed less assistance of my first knuckle. I felt by using more of my pad I had more control of my shots.

My husband sat down with me and helped go over the firearm's gunsmithing qualities so I could fully appreciate the craftsmanship of my Wilson. He showed me how the beavertail grip safety all lined up flush with the frame parts. He made me slide my fingers over the grooves of the entire gun to see how well it was dehorned. He pointed out things here and there that I normally would have had no idea what I was looking at.

Now to the things I had problems with.

Please note these are really MY issues with my own shortcomings as a person with small hands. This is no direct reference to anything that is actually wrong with the gun. As far as the gun is concerned it was perfect in every way. Out of almost a thousand rounds I did not have a single failure to function. I used mostly Wincester white box 230gr JHP and 200gr lead semi-wad cutter hand loads, making sure to clean thoroughly between changes in ammunition.

So difficulties: I found out early on that it was nearly impossible for me to lock the slide back when manually engaging the slide stop. It had nothing to do with strength as I could pull the slide back far enough. However, to wrap my hand around the frame and reach the slide lock was a no-go. This was frustrating to say the least. My husband suggested I put in an empty magazine when I wanted to lock the slide back but that was not an acceptable solution to the problem for me. I felt I needed to be able to run the gun FULLY if this was going to be my primary carry gun; the one I was to depend on to save my life. During a gun cleaning session (with no live ammo anywhere near us) I practiced and practiced locking the slide back. I positioned my body and hands in a dozen different ways to see what worked for me. I finally figured out a way that was safe and effective, but was in no way smooth or pretty. I was not going to win sexy points for this one.

Second, was my ungraceful maneuver to eject the magazine during reloads. I noticed that although I could do it quickly, it was stuttered with clumsy movements. I realized I was having to adjust my grip every single time I went to hit the magazine release. I had to wind my palm around the thick stocks to reach the button. That also meant that as soon as I was done reloading I was again adjusting my grip back into position for a shot. Ugh. Not pretty either and although fast, was not fast and smooth enough.

Both of these issues came down to the thickness of the stocks. Even with a single stack magazine, the standard stocks were just too big for my slender hands to swiftly carry out necessary movements to work the gun. So, next in line for me: a pair of officers sized slim stocks. It is amazing how very few vendors out there sell slim stocks for an officers sized frame!

In celebration my husband made me an OWB holster out of some carbon fiber kydex I had picked out. I proudly strutted my stuff at the ATF Party the following weekend.

Here are some close-ups of gun and holster.

Overall, I love, love, love my new Wilson Combat CQB Compact. Since both me and my husband have the ability to cover each other's backs we can now also share magazines in the event of an assault. We each carry full sized spare magazines but I keep the short magazine in my gun for concealment reasons.

Courtesy of Oleg Volk

And THIS is what it felt like receiving, holding, and shooting my new Wilson Combat: