All posts tagged Wilson Combat Magazines

Wilson Combat Magazines Competition options and with speed

Wilson Combat makes a wide range of products from 1911 Handguns to AR15’s.   They seem to be geared towards more advanced firearms focused on accuracy.   There are a great many fit differences between 1911 styles and AR15 as well as shotguns. There are many new advancements in firearm designs and what a 1911 was 100 years ago is not what a 1911 is today.    metallurgy, gun lubrication and polymer have increase reliability dramatically.  Polymer magazines and firearms are the future but there are still simple designs in Wilson Combat Magazines that give them viability for a long time to come.

I feel that many 45acp handguns usually balance out around 8-10rds and after that, they become too heavy.  It’s all about what your feel and tolerances are, but the 1911 feels balanced in that capacity range.   Some Wilson Combat Magazines are primarily meant for competition shooting and I still only hear about Wilson Combat when it comes to extended 1911 magazines.  There are 9mm magazines also available and are often the fastest magazines to sell out.  There are also a lot of newer CCW 1911 models specifically for concealment.   The 1911 is still one of the most tinkered with firearms, probable only 2nd to the AR15, but I strongly suggest Wilson Combat Triggers, Springs and Slide Releases for your handgun.

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20+ Years of Wilson Combat Magazines

That’s about how long I’ve been using Wilson Combat Magazines with my 1911’s, and after 20yrs I’m sticking with them.   I have never felt the need to use 7rd magazines, nor have I felt that the 10rd extended magazines were of any use to me.   I’ve been running and gunning the 8rd Wilson Combat magazines with very few issues.   The truth of the matter is I’ve run some of these magazines long enough for springs needing to be replaced and all of the springs replaced in my 1911s.    Everything in the firearms industry wears out and breaks at some point, it’s just how long it runs and what it’s failure points are.

There is always somebody new to the world of 1911s and you don’t always have to buy a high end 1911 to have a reliable one.   I’ve shot 185gr 45acp FMJ and 185gr hollow points, 230gr RN and 230gr HP rounds in my 1911s.   I’ve done barrel throating and polishing of feed ramps and got good results and I’ve seen the difference my guns jamming with hollow point ammunition when using USGI mags, and the same ammo NOT jamming with my Wilson Combat Magazines.   Most people using the extended 10rd magazines are using them for competition shooting sports.

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What’s the deal with the Elite Tactical Magazines vs Wilson Combat 47D mags?

I first found out about the Wilson Combat Magazines after having not so good experiences with the Colt magazine that my  1911 came with.  At the time I knew nothing about the  throating on the barrel or the way 1911 firearms fed bullets and the limitations of ammo selections.  The 1911’s of today are not the 1911 of the 1940’s.  Those guns got the job done, but the effectiveness of the firearm’s caliber was more important than whether or not it took hollow point ammunition will run in the gun.   What is available today in not the round nosed 45acp lead rounds that were issued in World War II.

Sometimes we shop because we want the best and others we are frugal and just want the product that gets the job done and doesn’t kill our pocket book.   We’ve had extensive periods of range use with Wilson Combat Magazines and that’s why we’re going to say they are our best magazine, but you can get the well used and proven Chip McCormick magazines for about 10 dollars less.   I have personally not used those but there seems to be a  lot of complaints about some magazines not being flush fitting or not dropping free for various firearms.  There are so many variations in 1911 productions now that sometimes you might have to do some research about parts and accessories operator in the way that you want them to.

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Have you switched to the ETM magazines yet?

I’ve been asking just about everyone that walked in the door if they have been using the ETM magazines, but the vast majority of people that CCW a 1911 pistol have not, they still don’t know about them.   The guys that run IDPA all use them, but that’s a whole other breed of a shooter.   I’ve always viewed IDPA to be a really good CCW training course.   It’s not about hitting inside certain rings or getting a certain score, its about hitting the target.  Any hit is better than no hit because even bad guys bleed.  I know plenty of people that do quite well with Chip McCormick magazines and if you do shoot  your 1911 often, you’ll probable save a about $8-$10 a magazines.

 

There is something that seems to be sturdier about the Elite Tactical Magazines, and if you are shooting a 1911 with non-FMJ or non-ball ammo magazines matter.   Wilson Combat Magazines are in our customers and employees experienece, the top choice for shooters.   The 1911 is still used in competition shooting due to the well known and liked trigger design and balance.   When you compared some of the double stacked 45acp guns that are out there like the XD45acp and the M&P 45, sometimes it’s just too much of a gun and it will have an impact on your speed.

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Bring out the 45acp’s for the Zombie Shoot

This weekend will be the 2nd Contagion Zombie shoot at the New Holland rifle and pistol club.   It often amazes me at the selection of firearms that you see at these events and one of the most common things I do see is an increase in the number of 45acp guns.   Shooting steel with 9mm guns can be a lower knock down rate.  It’s kind of funny how people say the energy is the same form a 124gr Nato round vs a 45acp, but when it comes to hitting steel, they are not the same.   The 45acp especially the 1911, Sig 220, Springfield XD and Glock 21 are the most common and every once in awhile we do see a few H&K firearms.

When it comes to shooting a 45acp,  I personally think American Eagle ball ammo is probable the best round to carry, even though some may say that HP ammunition has improved so much that it’s a better option.   I have never felt like carrying ball ammunition in Wilson Combat Magazines meant that I was going to be punching holes through every wall in the house because from my experience the 45acp does not penetrate as much as the 9mm ball ammunition.  There are so many 1911 guns out there that I could not say that the 1911 is a dated firearm that can not handle various types of ammunition, but you do have to be careful about the GI versions of the gun and hollow point ammunition.

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Is a 6.8 SPC worth getting?

That is a question we get quite often around here and we always throw a question back to a customer.   People call or show up wanting us to give them advice but there are a lot of liabilities in telling people what to get or do.   So much of gun accessories and firearms has to do with the job at hand and a persons gun skills.   I’ve heard people claim that you can’t shoot long range with a 5.56 gun but I see it done all the time at local gun clubs.   Sure there are instances of high wind where a 5.56 bullet isn’t going to do very well, but sometimes only a 50 bmg is going to get the job done.

Even the trusty and reliable Mini 14 is an often over looked hunting Carbine, but I’ve seen white tails taken up in Vermont with 75gr expanding rounds.   The 6.8SPC would be a more powerful round than what the military is using today but it’s not really going to solve all of your problems.  Most of my friends that own them are using them for hunting rounds and not even for Carbine training ect.  The only problem you may run into when changing uppers in with the gun magazines.  The 5.56 round is better than any handgun round if you use the right kind of ammunition and the AR15 platform gives you lots of caliber options that are really best for upgrading your gun for better hunting.

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10rd magazines for 1911s?

This is something I’ve only delved into once and it wasn’t a great experience.   Back in the early 1990’s we had all of that assault weapons ban BS and and aftermarket gun magazines were everywhere.   Some of us that owned certain firearms ended up with unreliable firearms that should have been durable.   $90 Glock magazines were not uncommon and $14.99 for a jamming Mini 14 30rd magazine from USA magazines, which I believe is been long out of existence.   Many people fell back on revolvers and there was a big upsurge back into the 1911 because it was one of those guns that was originally designed for fewer than 10rds which was what the Assault Weapons Ban limited you to.

So some of us messed around with aftermarket 10rd magazines and all of the ones I tried failed pretty quick.   We tried to make the 1911 into it’s highest capacity that we legally could, but the balance pretty much got messed up.   Gun magazines, even a few rounds bigger than standard capacity can make the gun imbalanced or make it harder holster.   There are a lot of reasons to use 10rd magazines like Wilson Combat magazines or Chip McCormick which have a good reputation in competition shooting, but they will protrude considerable.   This may cause snagging on shirts ect if you are considering using one for CCW.   If you’ve ever practiced with you’re gun, which you should have, firing 8rds and reloading is probable a better CCW than thinking a 10rd magazine is going to give you more protection.

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Philadelphia Mob’s it’s only a matter of time

Today I was listening to a local talk radio host who had a local reporter on and they were talking about the Flash Mob stuff that was going on there.   In some people’s minds these incidences are not racial, but that is absolutely absurd.   We’ve had at least 3 mob incidences against young white males or old white men and it’s always black on white.   In some camps of our society, racism only applies to things that a white man can do and not the other way around.  Racism exists in all societies and cultures but only those living in the world that Political correctness has created think it only exists when a victim is black.

One of the callers challenged the local news writer about what the news article would be if a gun owner shot one or more of these individuals when they were committing the crime.   The news reporter basically said it at this point it would say something about a “gun owner defends against a mob” I’m paraphrasing, but I thing it was bullshit.  We know that if a gun owner shot one of these individuals and reloaded with using spare gun magazines that it would be excessive or bull  shit that someone that trained to shoot shot 5 or 6 of the criminals and it was unfair that someone would do that against un armed youth.   Considering the ages groups of some of these Flash mobs it would probable not sound justified if a 65yr old man shot 11yr-19yr olders, but the reality is it may well be if things keep up like this.

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Magazines that aren’t flush fitting

I have never really liked the feel of having a pistol magazine protrude out of the bottom of the gun unless it is because the gun grip is too small for me.  I’ve seen a few of my friends do this on their Glocks, namely the Glock 26 because it is such a small gun.   I did put an extension on a Sig 239 which is the  only gun I currently own that has this.   The first gun that I owned was a Colt 1991A1 and it only came with one pistol magazine.   It was a Colt magazine which i thought would be the best gun magazine to have, but that turned out to not be true.   After having a few problems with the slide stop not catching, I found out the magazine tab was bending and causing the issue.

I believe it was at a gun show that I picked up 2 Wilson Combat magazines and my Colt 1991A1 ran flawlessly with ball ammo.  The gun magazines really ran well with hollow point ammunition but I found the gun to be too picky with hollow point ammo that I pretty much gave up on worrying about it.   If you look at the velocity that a 45acp is flying at, I don’t think you’ll have massive over penetration issues compared to 9mm ball.   Wilson combat magazines have varying base pads and from my experience this is mostly a concern for competition shooters.   If the magazine drops free I don’t need to worry about gripping it and pulling it out for a fast reload.

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Reloading speed, revolvers and tactical loads

If you are new to firearms it’s fun to play tricks on you.   I have the opportunity to teach novice shooters and sometimes just random co-workers and family members that have no idea how to use a firearm other than pulling the trigger.   It’s not always up to the operator’s speed at gun handling, sometimes its the way the gun is loaded has more to do with how fast you get it up and running.  For instance, if you had a Glock 19 and 3  15rd magazines and they all ran empty, if you don’t have a speed loader a guy with a 5 shot revolver is going to get his gun back in the fight faster especially if he had speed loaders ahead of time.  It’s not really that you have to worry about running empty with a Glock firearm, it’s that carrying a 5 shot revolver does not mean you are under gunned.

As our economy sits in limbo, there will be crimes that creep up out of nowhere and concealed carry is something people are thinking about.  There are a lot of wild situations that people like to put themselves into, but the right mindset of a gun fight is to get out of it.   If you are military or Police, you may be called to break down doors and take down the bad guy, but civilians don’t have the justification for doing that by law.   The 1911 is seeing a lot of come backs in private security rankings and we have sold a lot of Wilson Combat magazines to guys that are doing the door knocking.   The reality of many search warrants is that close quarters gun fight does last long and the need for a high capacity firearm isn’t very necessary.  The most common gun magazine we are selling to the guys doing the door knocking are 7rd Wilson combat 1911 mags.

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