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Wilson Combat®
"You Will Be Extremely Satisfied!" Service Policy.
FREE Lifetime
Repairs and FREE Technical Assistance.
Was it assembled or crafted?
This
may seem like a superfluous question – but one you need to know
the answer to if you’re looking at a serious investment of your
money; it is even more important if this is going to be a
defensive weapon for your home and family.
Here’s the difference: Anyone can assemble a pretty good gun by
buying some pretty good parts and putting them together one at a
time. And a typical assembled gun will be as good as the parts
the assembler chose to use, and the time and care he used to fit
those parts together, and how well he knew what he was doing…
were the reliability/accuracy tradeoffs he made consistent with
your intended use of the firearm? Did he spend the necessary
time and dollars to test parts from multiple vendors? How many
of his parts choices were based on economics rather than
function and suitability for intended use? 
Some assemblers do good work.
Other assemblers do good aesthetic work – on the parts that you
can see when you look at a picture of the gun, and sometimes
what you see when you pick it up, and sometimes what you see
when you fieldstrip. It takes a lot of expertise to determine if
the parts started out as a quality forging, or some good bar
stock, or an investment casting, or a MIM (metal injection
molded) part; or if it was imported, US made, what alloy, what
grade – you get the idea. If the builder doesn’t tell you in the
literature what his major parts are made from, there is probably
a reason why. Call the company and ask – you really need to
know. If you want a gun that runs right out of the box, and will
continue to be reliable for as long as you own the gun, don’t
settle for anything less than a builder who starts with
high-quality, fully-tested parts, with precise and correct
tolerances, and then knows just where to file, and polish, and
fit, to end up with the best firearm possible. It takes years
for a custom gun builder to understand the interactions and fit
of the myriad parts that make up a modern firearm; what works
with what and what doesn’t
Who is going to build it?
You don’t have to be a master gunsmith to buy a good firearm.
But – if you’re not, then be sure and buy from someone who is,
especially if you are going to use the firearm for something
other than plinking. Since there is no sanctioning or licensing
organization for master gunsmiths, one of the best ways to
select a competent builder is to find someone with many years of
successful experience with the type gun you are interested in,
someone who has placed thousands of guns in consumer’s hands and
has established a real reputation for quality and service with
knowledgeable users.
Look beyond celebrity
endorsements – they are bought and paid for, and may or may not
reflect the celebrity’s true feelings about a particular
product. Talk to some shooters who use the type gun you are
interested in. Often, they are a great source of information as
to who offers great customer service before and after the sale,
and whose customer service stops at the sale. Anything less than
exemplary customer service should tip you to look for another
builder. 
Here’s another basic point about
Custom guns – plain and simple, there is no such thing as a
custom gun made on an assembly line. Custom guns are built
on benches by gunsmiths, period. For example, it is always
better to hand-fit a slide to a frame, but doing so and then
dropping it on an assembly line does not constitute a "custom"
build process.
Can I truly get what I want on
my gun?
Buying a Custom built gun means you do not have to settle for
someone else’s idea of what your gun should be. From hammers to
sights, from recoil springs to grips, guide rods to checkering
to finish to barrel to trigger – a Custom builder will build
your gun your way. Period. |
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