You know that line of "Bullet Proof" branded Wilson Combat parts?

[fieldgrade]

...the ones that cost twice as much as their standard Wilson parts?

Totally worth it.

I had ordered a "drop in" beaver tail grip safety and extended thumb safety from their standard line of parts. The beaver tail grip safety indeed dropped right in and required no fitting but the finish isn't anything close to the shiny blued Colt that I put it on. You can't get that particular drop-in part another way, so I'm good with that.

BUT. Their "standard grade" extended thumb safety. That was another beast. It required a great deal of fitting in three different areas of the part. I made a brave attempt, and I am good with my tools, but it was going to require additional files to get it to fit over the frame. I did as much as I could with the files I have till I realized it was getting outside my pay grade. I even called Wilson. Their answer? "Yup, you'll have to fit it in those areas." What that meant was I'd have to "finish" fabbing the part they started.

I decided to ignore the thirty bucks I spent on that part, and order the "Bullet Proof" Wilson thumb safety.

What. A. Difference. Visually it has a beautiful blued finish that goes with the Colt in addition to being much higher quality in terms of the overall design, ergonomics, and the rest of the fit and finish. It only required very minimal fitting.

I'll buy the upgrade parts next time.

 

[CZfool68]

Good to know. In my experience it is almost always better to soend more on high quality parts and tools. Even if it doesn't make the job easier or shorter, the end product is better off. But normally it makes the project easier and shorter. Well worth it.

 

[fieldgrade]

I like this Wilson "Bullet Proof" Thumb Safety so much that I just took it off of the Colt Govt I had just put it on two weeks ago, and swapped it onto the Colt Competition 9mm I just bought. The ergonomics of it are so much more comfortable.

Rather than the "blade" of the safety (where your thumb rests) sitting perpendicular to the slide, it slopes away slightly, and the edges and corners or finished exceptionally well so that when you park your thumb on top of it tightly to manage muzzle flip it is REALLY comfortable, unlike the three other 1911 thumb safteies I have any experience with (Colt and Springfield).

http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Thumb-Safety-Wide-Lever-Bullet-Proof-Blue/productinfo/659B/

 

[lowcountry]

Thanks for sharing the info on the bullet proof series. I am going to see if I can add some of those parts to my Tisas beater.