[mbacker_99]

I picked up this custom order Supergrade a little over two years ago from George at gunslingers and just wanted to share my thoughts on the pistol.



Likes:

Reliability- Feeding, extraction and ejection on this gun are absolutely fantastic. 1200 rounds between a cleaning? No problem. Underpowered 185gr SWCs to +P HSTs? No problem. The gun flat out runs and has the most consistent ejection pattern I have seen on a 1911 pistol.

Slide to frame fit is excellent and smooth as glass. It does have a few thousandths of play but feels super smooth when pulling the slide back. It just feels special.

Trigger- breaks clean and crisp at right around 4lbs. It is not the best 1911 trigger I have but it is very good.

Front sight- I love the flat gold bead sight and serrated post. I find that domed gold beads have a lot of glare and wash out the top of the sight.


Dislikes:

Barrel/bushing fit. This is the main reason I wanted a Supergrade was for the 33g full fit barrel. For some reason this gun strings shots vertically, my other Wilsons do not.

The lower lugs do not have full even contact with the slide stop.



Barrel bump:



Bushing can turned with a toothpick and will fall out of the slide when tilted.



Checkering:

I love clean, crisp and sharp checkering. I ordered this pistol with 20lpi checkering and was a bit disappointed. The frontstrap should be checkered higher, at least 2-3 rows.

Top row of checkering blunted, not good:



Diamonds are nice and sharp in the middle but not so much as you move along the front strap:





Miscellaneous fleas:

Thumb safety. Effort to turn on and off is perfect but not blended to the frame that well.




Tool marks:



Magwell play



Rear sight cut.





For a pistol that costs north of 5k and is supposed to be Wilson’s best effort it leaves me underwhelmed. I really really wanted to love this pistol but the magic is just not there.

 

[45caldude]

First, George is awesome to deal with.

Second - I totally agree with the bushing / barrel dislike.

 

[NPV]

Awesome honest review. This is the reason I decided if I’m spending over $2k on a 1911 it’s gonna be from single gunsmith not a semi-custom ship.

 

[wvfarrier]

Thats some bs for sure. The tool marks are absolutely ridiculous. no excuse

 

[simonp]

Thanks for the write up and thorough review.

I have a Wilson, I’ve shot quite a few Wilson’s, I like Wilson’s but that being said I think people sometimes forget that Wilson makes semi custom guns not custom guns. They have good smiths that put their guns together but those are not Burton, Chen, Rogers level smiths - if they were then they would have their own shops. Again not a slam against Wilson, there’s a reason that there are so few smiths at the level of Burton and Chen!

A semi custom 1911 has a certain price point, that may vary for some folks but for me and I think the majority it’s $2,000 -$3,500 anything beyond that why would you buy a semi custom at a custom price? The only answer is you can walk into your ffl and walk out with the gun as opposed to a 1-10 year wait, there is a value to that but that value doesn’t translate into increased quality of work just availability.

I love my Wilson, that said I shot it for 2 years and then gave it to Jardine to go through and a year later shooting it I can say I love it more. I’d happily buy more Wilson’s in the $2,000-$3,000 price if I saw one and I’d likely give it to John day one and then shoot the hell out of it. I can’t ever see a Wilson being a $5,000 gun though...


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[WhoIsJohnGalt?]

I like the look of that gun! Thank you for the detailed review and pics, good and bad points all-included.

 

[retrieverman]

Have you contacted Wilson about your “issues” with the gun?

I agree a lot should be expected from a Supergrade, but if you haven’t given WC a chance to make it right, I don’t see this as a “review” but more of a bashing.

 

[mbacker_99]

Have you contacted Wilson about your “issues” with the gun?

I agree a lot should be expected from a Supergrade, but if you haven’t given WC a chance to make it right, I don’t see this as a “review” but more of a bashing.

I forked over north of 5k, I ran the gun for two years, I gave an honest assessment of the good and the bad. I don’t see it as “bashing” I have contacted Wilson and I a waiting for a response.

 

[Guy Montag]

Most of us appreciate the kind of honest assessment you've provided mbacker_99 and would never mistake it for a bash, thanks for the post!

 

[azguy1911]

Yeah, well George...........Maybe he should post here once in a while for all the love he gets and maybe be a forum sponsor. Just a thought.

About the gun, I'll probably own one someday but of the people that do most say the quality isn't any better than a "regular" Wilson and is really just "NH like" with the one smith one gun approach

 

[wvfarrier]

Yeah, well George...........Maybe he should post here once in a while for all the love he gets and maybe be a forum sponsor. Just a thought.

About the gun, I'll probably own one someday but of the people that do most say the quality isn't any better than a "regular" Wilson and is really just "NH like" with the one smith one gun approach

My Falcon has a better internal fit and finish than my SG

 

[45caldude]

Yeah, well George...........Maybe he should post here once in a while for all the love he gets and maybe be a forum sponsor. Just a thought.

About the gun, I'll probably own one someday but of the people that do most say the quality isn't any better than a "regular" Wilson and is really just "NH like" with the one smith one gun approach

I'm not even sure if he's ever been on this site, could be wrong though. As for being a sponsor I can't speak for him on that, but I'm fairly certain that won't happen. I see no correlation between his lack of posting and the love he gets, but that's just me.

I do agree with you on a regular CQB quality comparison. Own and owned both and that's just a small sample based off my opinion. I do think it is similar to the NH one gunsmith like you said.

 

[retrieverman]

I forked over north of 5k, I ran the gun for two years, I gave an honest assessment of the good and the bad. I don’t see it as “bashing” I have contacted Wilson and I a waiting for a response.

Did I miss where you said in your post that you had contacted Wilson?

As I said, a lot should be expected from a Supergrade.

 

[Slapshot]

That rear sight on a 5K gun is unacceptable. It should have never gotten thru QC especially on a SG. I’ve got a WC Vickers and I love it. I’m pretty sure they would address any issues you have.


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[simonp]

That rear sight on a 5K gun is unacceptable. It should have never gotten thru QC especially on a SG. I’ve got a WC Vickers and I love it. I’m pretty sure they would address any issues you have.


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There are 2 things that Wilson excels at better than any other semi custom maker out there in my opinion.

1. Is there customer service
2. Is there a marketing




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[JNW]

Thanks for the review. Nothing is perfect and good to see someone talk about the good and bad points of a gun. I saw pics very similar to yours on another website, but they disappeared. Hmmm, wonder what that was about?
I hope you come to love your Supergrade, with or without some massaging by Wilson. If you don’t, might be best to move it along. Life’s too short to own something that disappoints you whenever you pick it up.
Jeff

 

[FWoo45]

Thanks for a great review. I see you have contacted them about the issues and are waiting on a response. If you don't mind me asking, when did you contact them? You spent a lot of money on, no offense, what I see as a semi custom. You deserve a better gun for the money you spent. While in this price range I would be looking at a custom, that isn't important. You didn't get what you paid for. If you contacted them at the beginning then this thread has me rethinking my opinion of the company, of which I have no firsthand experience, so I am slow to jump to conclusions. Again, thanks for an honest review.

 

[azguy1911]

maybe our expectations are to high, I had nothing to do and went to the WC website. All it says is:

No restrictions are placed on the time, effort, and expertise expended in the creation of our ultimate pistol

that doesn't mean flawless, or perfect or custom build level, it simply means what it implies, not production line, semi-custom. With that being said, I would expect more out of what you got for a +$5,000 1911

 

[awmp]

Call Wilson, they will give you a shipping label and then let us know how they fixed it when you get it back, you have some very valid issues.

 

[Wyatt Withers]

I own a Wilson Combat X-TAC that is going on 8 years old that looks amazing and I have nearly nothing I can identify in it that I would consider a negative.
With that said a gun store near me in Michigan took in a Supergrade that I drove over to checkout and saw a poorly blended mag well as well as tool marks on the inner slide.I also could see some small issues with the checkering. My X-TAC was from 2011 and this was a 2014 super grade.
I’m not sure if any of this has any relevance, but I did not see any identifiable difference in the one I owned and the supergrade. I would like to be able to handle and check out another one to see if the same idea held true regarding a 2k price difference..