Introduction
One of the customized pistols that Airsoft Extreme send us for testing, was the Western Arms Wilson Combat (WC) Professional model. Like the other two customized pistols, the MEU Early model and the SVI Infinity Expert, this one was upgraded by Airsoft Extreme with metallic slide and enhanced recoil and hammer springs.
Here is what Wilson Combat's web site says about this pistol:
At Wilson Combat we pride ourselves on listening to our customers. You asked and we are ready to deliver, for the first time Wilson Combat will produce a custom handgun with a full size frame and compact barrel/slide assembly.
The Professional Model has all the features that make Wilson Combat handguns highly desirable defensive weapons in a popular frame/slide size configuration. Like all Wilson Combat custom firearms, the Professional Model comes standard with features that many firearms makers consider ‘custom’. Tactical Combat Sights with tritium inserts, fully CNC machined internal parts and hand fitted match barrel to name a few. These high quality components are all hand fitted to the frame and slide by a skilled pistolsmith.
Features that are exclusive to the Professional Model include a shortened sight radius for faster sight acquisition. And many shooters find the full size frame more comfortable to hold. It is finished with our attractive Armor-Tuff finish® and is available in your choice of 3 colors OD green, grey or black.
In the following paragraphs, we present you the Western Arms (WA) Wilson Combat (WC) Professional replica, of this WC pistol.
Description
The typical WA SCW grey box, contained the usual things, the pistol, a small bag with BBs, the bushing wrench, a couple of hex wrenches, and the normal WA documentation, in Japanese, of course. The box and the rest of the contents were quite boring, but what a surprise this pistol was!
At first, I thought that my friends at Airsoft Extreme had made a mistake and send me an Officers size gun. Why? Because this Wilson Combat features a 3.9" barrel, which is shorter from what I expected to see in a Commander-size pistol. So this one, looks like either a short Commander, or a long Officers (with a full-size frame). The gun is attractive in this configuration, it's just that I was expecting a longer one and I got surprised.
I start examining the pistol, and I was very impressed by the details I saw.
The pistol features all the normal Wilson Combat characteristics. The word "Professional" is engraved with large letters on the right side of the slide, while the WC name is clearly shown on the left side.
The WC address is also shown on the right side of the frame.
The sights are the WC Pyramid Combat Sights, of the three dot variation, which provided a very nice sight picture, and do wonders for my tired, aging eyes. The hammer is the typical WC oval hammer, in black color. In the picture above, you see a trade-off between the after-market metallic slide installed by Airsoft Extreme on this pistol.
The slide that originally comes with the WC Professional, has the rear surface serrated, as in the picture above (taken from Just Pistols, an excellent Airsoft reviews site). The metallic one is not serrated. A small trade-off, but I would love to have it serrated.
The rear of the pistol is adorned by a very nicely fitted beavertail with memory pad, and a fully checkered MSH.
Other areas with checkering include the front strap of the frame, the lower side of the trigger guard and -surprise- the magazine release button (just the way I like it). The grips are one of the finest immitations of wood I've seen, and have a WC medallion in the middle of the double-diamonds pattern. Of course, the ugly WC slide stop, is used on this pistol. Finally the upper part of the front strap, is releaved, just like it is in the latest Colt hi-end models, allowing a little higher grip. The cut here however, is not very functional as it is very shallow, so it is not as useful, as that of a real pistol.
The barrel of this pistol, is a bushing-less design, bull barrel and the pistol features a full length guide rod, a much more preferable setup, than the stupid hole that the real pistol has there (check this picture).
Finally, the front sight is not contoured to match the curvature of the slide, something I hate, but which is easy to correct. The magazine which came with the pistol, is an immitation of the WC 8 round magazines (47D), only it is the older version of WA magazine, which holds only 15 BBs. Newer versions hold 23 BBs. Of course, the pistol can use any other WA 1911 magazine, so no problems there.
With the heavy, metallic slide, the very realistic details and the excellent wood-immitation grips, this Wilson Combat pistol is a real beauty. Holding it into your hand, gives you the impression of a real gun, although I would prefer if it had a metallic frame as well, the sound of your ring on the frame gives away its construction material (ABS plastic). The solution? Don't wear any rings! LoL.
In the next page, you can read how to disassemble the pistol and our shooting tests results.
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Disassembly
Nothing to write home about, just like any other SCW Version 2 pistol, so please check the Wilson Combat FBI Trial pistol test, for details. The only difference is, that since this pistol features a full-length guide rod, in order to remove that from the pistol, you have to pull back on the recoil spring plug and then lift the whole recoil spring guide assembly out of the pistol. This was somewhat difficult in the sample I tested, since it had the stronger recoil spring in it.
Shooting
I am not sure if WA is making their pistols with different accuracy characteristics, according to the real pistol they immitate, I seriously doubt that. However, this is the second Wilson Combat replica I am testing and this was extra accurate, just like the first one.
Although this is not the accuracy test target I use normally, this is all I had available that afternoon, when I tested the pistol for the first time. By any measure, this is very nice accuracy, for an Airsoft pistol. The Professional's best group was just slightly larger than that of the FBI Trial Pistol, by an insignificant .25", with 0.25 gr BBs. The very nice trigger pull allows very precise shooting and the nice Pyramid sights are a big help as well.
Poor Man's Chrono Test
This pistol proved to be as powerful than the FBI Trial one. The BB went in the can, and out the opposite side. It failed to penetrate the can bottom though, so this shows a speed of around 350-370 fps.
Rating
Accuracy: 3
Upgradeability: 4
Training Capability: 5
Realism: 5
Quality: 5
Power: 3
Overall: 25
Overall
This is one of the most beautiful and nice-handling pistols I've tried so far. Although I would have prefered a standard size Commander slide, the short one does not upset the balance of the pistol, and it doesn't seem to affect the accuracy of the pistol in any significant extend. The various characteristics of the pistol, match very well the ones of the real gun, and where they do not, I believe that the Airsoft model is the better of the two (for example the recoil spring guide rod).
The additional parts that Airsoft Extreme installed on the pistols before it was send to me, (metallic slide and stronger recoil and hammer springs), add a lot of authenticity, and make the pistol much more realistic. The weight is almost identical to a real gun, while the recoil is quite strong.
Overall, a very very nice gun.
Note on Gas
With all Western Arms pistols, you are supposed to use the HFC 134A gas. Using Green gas in them, will cause problems, premature wear etc. HFC 134A is giving slightly less performance (lower BB speed), when compared to Green Gas. Green Gas should not be used in unaltered pistols made in Japan, like the WA ones.
With the above warning noted, I have to admit that I am testing all pistols using ... propane. Green Gas is in reality propane, with a little silicone oil added, to lubricate the pistols. So instead of paying for Green Gas, I bought a canister of propane, like the ones sold in US for the camping stoves, or flame torches, and a special valve adaptor, which allows me to use the much cheaper propane instead of Green Gas. In this site, you can read more on this issue:
http://www.airsoft-innovations.com
The reason I am ignoring the manufacturer's recommendation, as far as gas is concerned, is two-fold. First, I want to have consistent environment for all the tests (some of the pistols we'll test here use HFC 134A, some use Green Gas), and second it's plain difficult to find HFC 134A in Greece. Of course, this pistol featured a metallic slide and upgraded springs, so the usage of Green gas or propane in it, is possible, without risking any damage.
Customization
One thing that bothered me on this pistol, was the sight base, which was not blended to the curvature of the slide. So a few minutes with a file, and some model paint, allowed me to remove this small problem, by rounding the sight base edges, to match the slide.
A more ... professional approach would be to use a Cold Black product, for aluminum, unfortunatelly I only had Cold Black for steel, when I did this.
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