As you might remember, the problem I had with the 1911 was trouble racking the slide-it just felt like it was getting harder to shoot. That problem was fixed with a slightly lighter recoil spring and a redesigned firing pin stop. Both made the gun feel better, but that was at the bench and around the gun safe. Not places where you want to be cranking off rounds.
With a fresh tuneup and ASYM Precision ammo, this Wilson Combat CQB ran better than ever. Jim Shepherd photo |
Not being skilled with the flowery prose of classic gunwriters, I'll give you the short report: Wow. The CQB had always been a joy to shoot, but the changes, albeit very minor ones, made major differences in the pleasure of shooting the pistol. Tighter groups; faster times and a general feeling that maybe some single stack events might creep into the calendar this year.
OK, it's Walter Mitty thinking, but that's how much more smoothly the pistol's running for me. Our rangemaster, already familiar with my pistol, asked if he could put a mag through it. Since he's one of the area's better competition shooters, I didn't mind at all - provided he used my ammo. A few second later he, too, was a believer. In fact, we looked like we were attending a charter members gathering for the goofy grin club.
From there, it was on to the Tactical Custom which had been slenderized with Wilson's new TRIM rail system, new flip up iron sights, and flash hider. After only a few rounds, it became obvious that there was nothing lost in the changeover except weight. The smaller components made it easier to get an improved grip; the new sights zeroed quickly and produced iron sight hits on 10-inch steel out to 150 meters-the limit of my aging eyes, and the rifle actually behaved great. The shortened foregrip stayed out of the way of the tactical sling, and I actually ran a couple of transition drills with no problems at all.
BSA's TW30RDLL Red dot optic, red dot laser, and 140 lumen led flashlight. MSRP $129.95. Jim Shepherd photo. |
The unit I had included a red-dot optic, integrated 650nm red laser, and a bolt-on 140 lumen LED flashlight. With what I call a "Russian style" rubber eyecup and oversized controls, it looked interesting sitting on my top rail.
It was surprisingly easy to get zeroed, even with the ability to adjust windage and elevation on the red dot and the integrated laser. Absent a boresighter, I roughed the optic in using the new flip-up front sight and got it on paper. From there, it didn't take long to get it tuned in to get consistent hits on iron targets at 50 yards.
The rubber eyecup took some getting accustomed to. At first, it seemed what I call flip-floppy. When I squared down behind the rifle and got a solid cheek weld, that quickly stopped and I actually liked the ability to get my glasses solidly into the eyecup.
It was solid enough for range shooting, but no optic carrying a price tag as affordable as this one is meant for high speed/low drag tactical operations.
You'll have to use offset iron sights or remove your optic in case of optic failure. Flip-up sights like these just won't work with the optic in place. Jim Shepherd photo |
My one problem with this optic is obvious in the photo. It blocked my flip-up rear sight.
With the front sight post up and using the optic itself as a rough rear sight, I was able to get hits on silhouette targets at 35 yards, but a battery failure would mean the optic would have to come off to keep your rifle running reliably in the open sight mode.
Fortunately, the easy-attach one-piece mount can be removed just as easily as it is attached, using a coin and a little adrenaline. All in all, not a bad piece of very affordable gear.
--Jim Shepherd