Ed Brown Special Forces vs Wilson Combat CQB vs Yost-Bonitz 1* Springfield Armory GI

Each of the guns advertises a "beveled" mag well. I don't think that any of the three delivered what I was/am looking for. I would have liked to see the metal at the outside tapered to be much thinner, almost a knife edge. None of these has that, and I understand that it has to have some meat there otherwise it would become damaged. I am not a fan of extended mag wells, although adding one to any of these would be an option for others.

Of the three, the Wilson seems to be the best executed and the most functional. The Brown is too short and sharp, and the Yost is too long and gentle. The Wilson is also the only one of the three that addressed the rear. While it's no Chuck Rogers treatment (my absolute favorite that's out there), at least they broke the edge a bit.

Mag Well
Brown 1
Wilson 3
Yost 2

Totals
Brown 15
Wilson 14
Yost15

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...gwellBrown.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...wellWilson.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...agwellYost.jpg

Don't know if you're done yet, but I wanted to jump in and say this is a great thread, and a comparison that was long overdue. While the scoring is subjective, it's important for people shopping in this bracket of guns to see what each really has to offer.

For the section labeled slide stop, you may want to change that out to a more overall evaluation of all the fire control parts to include the magazine release, thumb safety, grip safety, hammer and trigger. I think it'd be good to consider the fire control parts as one package rather than pointing out the pluses and minues of one part and ignoring the rest of them.

I have to ask, why do you say you won't hold the frontstrap damage on the Wilson against it, but then turn right around and say it's a weakness?

Great review, even if you are done. Your price range seems to be the sweet spot for a good 1911. Not that it matters but I always liked Ed Brown pistols.

I have to say I'm glad your doing this. I have wanted a 1* for a while but after reading this and seeing the close-up photos I am not impressed. I have a new CQB and it's excellent. The fit and finish seems to be better than the 1* from what I have seen. Good review!

Oh ya, the new CQB's have a new design slide stop. It has a ledge, some like it and some don't. I really like the new design, much more user friendly.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...e/IMG_0499.jpg

You guys are right, I'm not done yet. I have alot more photos to get through.:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by subzero

I have to ask, why do you say you won't hold the frontstrap damage on the Wilson against it, but then turn right around and say it's a weakness?

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What I meant was, I'm not grasping the Wilson and saying "oh wow, the grip on this is too slippery" when the only reason may be that there's a squashed section of checkering. I do think, however, that the fact that the checkering was able to be squashed indicates a weakness with that kind of treatment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rob_s

What I meant was, I'm not grasping the Wilson and saying "oh wow, the grip on this is too slippery" when the only reason may be that there's a squashed section of checkering. I do think, however, that the fact that the checkering was able to be squashed indicates a weakness with that kind of treatment.

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While I see your point, without knowing what happened to the checkering there is no reason to think that the chainlink or serrations wouldn't suffer the same fate given the same abuse.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bullitt5172

While I see your point, without knowing what happened to the checkering there is no reason to think that the chainlink or serrations wouldn't suffer the same fate given the same abuse.

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I'm not really interested in debating the issue. It's just my impressions and thoughts on the three pistols. I do think, however, that the fine checkering is more prone to getting squashed because there's less material left behind. The "points" of the chain link and the serrations are beefier and would therefore be less prone to deformation. I think that even 25 or 20 LPI checkering would be more substantial. Quite frankly, the 30 LPI is so fine that it kind of seems pointless. I'd prefer that it was either smooth with no checkering or that the checkering had more bit. It just seems like 30 LPI is wasted effort and expense to me, but I know that alot of people really like it.

rob,
Great job! I know this must be time/effort intensive.
Will you continue for reliability ratings?
I'd love to see how they fare with difficult ammo.
:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alias

Will you continue for reliability ratings?

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I was going to get to the reliability thing, as well as some other "intangibles" at the end. I am somewhat hampered by the fact that my Wilson is used though, so it's not really fair to compare it to the other two. I'm still kicking myself for going cheap at the last minute and buying this used one. I may yet break down and pick up a new one.