OK Just wanted to give some feedback on wesson firearms in case anyone is interested in them. Good news, great guns! Bad news at end.
I have been through a couple models now. First was the Valor in 38 super. Cant speak well enough about this gun. Lines are amazingly clean and tolerances are tight. The vbob was very well executed. Flat out shoots. My preferred method of "good nough" is offhand at 7 yards having every round inside of a 2 inch circle. It did this easily. Recoil is light and trigger was excellent. However, I did have an issue with mags and recoil spring. More below.
Second one that i recently purchased was the ECP (NOT ECO) in 9mm. Basically its set up just like a valor but in 9mm. I'm even more thrilled with it than I was with the 38 super. Lighter recoil, cheaper ammo. Same quality fit, finish and accuracy. To be honest i was leary of getting a 9mm with all of the horror stories of 9mm in a 1911. Every 1911 in 9mm I had tried previously (other peoples guns) were prone to issues all the time. Wasnt confidence building. After speaking with my local Gun Store for about an hour the sales guy convinced me to try it. Said that it used to be a problem but they figured out the timing and stuff was good now. I was sitting ther with 5 high end 1911s in front of me in 45, 38 super and 9mm. Decided i would give it a shot. OK. He was right. flawless operation over the first 600 rounds. not a boggle. Although i did have one problem. Begin issues list below....
38 super issues.
Couldnt drop the slide from slide release and chamber first round in mag. Now before you start bitching, yes I could pull it back and it feed that round. But i like using the mag release. While technically not an issue per se, it bugged me. Especially since every 1911 in 45 ive ever had could do it. Maybe mags still tight, maybe not enough recoil spring weight. Called Wesson support and was told to pull it back like im supposed to. While acurate, kinda cheesy response to me. I did some research and found that they use a 12lb recoil spring. Colt used a 14 lb spring. So i asked them if they could ship me a 14lb spring. They said no, i could ship the gun to them and they would replace the spring though. No way is that happening to replace a recoil spring. So I went to Wilson, got a couple 38 super mags and a 14lb spring. Irritation gone. Gun runs perfect. Now mind you this is a $1500 pistol. kinda irritated me but happy now.
9mm issues.
Imagine this. I take my brand new beauty, also $1500, to the range for day one. I'm already worried that it wont run right. I load up my mags and go through the first one. Flawless feeding and ejection. It also loaded first round from the slide release
.
I go to drop the mag and the magazine release is stuck. I push on it really hard, it click and mag drops free. Weird. So I load up a second mag. Also shoots flawlessy. Go to drop the mag and same issue. but this time its so stuck that i cannot, even with the help of the rubber screwdriver get it to drop free. No wim pissed. I go to my truck, grab my trusty glock 19 and shoot the rest of the 300 rounds i brought for break in. Damnt.
When i get home i go to bench and fiddle around with turning the screw each way and tapping on the release. Mag drops. When it does i disassemble and inspect the mag release. The spring had somehow gotten wedged between the balde on the screw and frame. The end of spring was flattened by the pressure and it was pretty obvious what happened. No biggie, just a final assembly issue that franky i should have seen by taking it apart before shooting. Mea Culpa. Of course now the blade broke off of the screw though, so it cant be reassembled. I once again email Wesson. I explained what had happened and asked them to send me a new spring and screw. The magazine release itself was fine, just needed those two parts. Of course they told me no, i had to ship it to them for repair or i would void the warranty becuase its a fitted part. I told the dude, i dont think the screw and spring are fitted parts and the mag release itsself is fine. Doesnt make sense to me to ship it and pay all that money and be out of a gun for weeks over 4 dollars in parts. I asked are you sure it needs to be sent for just the screw and spring? They never responded to me and its 5 weeks later. Afte 2 days and no response i said f this, went to midway and ordered a new spring and screw. $3.96 plus shipping. Installed them in 5 seconds no problem. Went back to range with 500 rounds and blasted all day. Not an issue. Of course i probably dont have a warranty anymore either.
Moral of all this whining is that they are great guns. But the customer care is iffy. Theres something uniquely painful about walkin to truck to get your glock since your semi-custom 1911 is down due to a $2 spring. and then the shame of being told that apparently I'm not qualified to replace a screw... A screw on a part you are supposed to remove and clean occasionally...
Just wanted to get the word out that these really are great guns, but i had hassle with both of them out of the starting block. Both are still around and shot often. Sucks that my inital impressions of Wesson got so thrown off by that kind of customer support.
End of whining now.
I have been through a couple models now. First was the Valor in 38 super. Cant speak well enough about this gun. Lines are amazingly clean and tolerances are tight. The vbob was very well executed. Flat out shoots. My preferred method of "good nough" is offhand at 7 yards having every round inside of a 2 inch circle. It did this easily. Recoil is light and trigger was excellent. However, I did have an issue with mags and recoil spring. More below.
Second one that i recently purchased was the ECP (NOT ECO) in 9mm. Basically its set up just like a valor but in 9mm. I'm even more thrilled with it than I was with the 38 super. Lighter recoil, cheaper ammo. Same quality fit, finish and accuracy. To be honest i was leary of getting a 9mm with all of the horror stories of 9mm in a 1911. Every 1911 in 9mm I had tried previously (other peoples guns) were prone to issues all the time. Wasnt confidence building. After speaking with my local Gun Store for about an hour the sales guy convinced me to try it. Said that it used to be a problem but they figured out the timing and stuff was good now. I was sitting ther with 5 high end 1911s in front of me in 45, 38 super and 9mm. Decided i would give it a shot. OK. He was right. flawless operation over the first 600 rounds. not a boggle. Although i did have one problem. Begin issues list below....
38 super issues.
Couldnt drop the slide from slide release and chamber first round in mag. Now before you start bitching, yes I could pull it back and it feed that round. But i like using the mag release. While technically not an issue per se, it bugged me. Especially since every 1911 in 45 ive ever had could do it. Maybe mags still tight, maybe not enough recoil spring weight. Called Wesson support and was told to pull it back like im supposed to. While acurate, kinda cheesy response to me. I did some research and found that they use a 12lb recoil spring. Colt used a 14 lb spring. So i asked them if they could ship me a 14lb spring. They said no, i could ship the gun to them and they would replace the spring though. No way is that happening to replace a recoil spring. So I went to Wilson, got a couple 38 super mags and a 14lb spring. Irritation gone. Gun runs perfect. Now mind you this is a $1500 pistol. kinda irritated me but happy now.
9mm issues.
Imagine this. I take my brand new beauty, also $1500, to the range for day one. I'm already worried that it wont run right. I load up my mags and go through the first one. Flawless feeding and ejection. It also loaded first round from the slide release
.I go to drop the mag and the magazine release is stuck. I push on it really hard, it click and mag drops free. Weird. So I load up a second mag. Also shoots flawlessy. Go to drop the mag and same issue. but this time its so stuck that i cannot, even with the help of the rubber screwdriver get it to drop free. No wim pissed. I go to my truck, grab my trusty glock 19 and shoot the rest of the 300 rounds i brought for break in. Damnt.
When i get home i go to bench and fiddle around with turning the screw each way and tapping on the release. Mag drops. When it does i disassemble and inspect the mag release. The spring had somehow gotten wedged between the balde on the screw and frame. The end of spring was flattened by the pressure and it was pretty obvious what happened. No biggie, just a final assembly issue that franky i should have seen by taking it apart before shooting. Mea Culpa. Of course now the blade broke off of the screw though, so it cant be reassembled. I once again email Wesson. I explained what had happened and asked them to send me a new spring and screw. The magazine release itself was fine, just needed those two parts. Of course they told me no, i had to ship it to them for repair or i would void the warranty becuase its a fitted part. I told the dude, i dont think the screw and spring are fitted parts and the mag release itsself is fine. Doesnt make sense to me to ship it and pay all that money and be out of a gun for weeks over 4 dollars in parts. I asked are you sure it needs to be sent for just the screw and spring? They never responded to me and its 5 weeks later. Afte 2 days and no response i said f this, went to midway and ordered a new spring and screw. $3.96 plus shipping. Installed them in 5 seconds no problem. Went back to range with 500 rounds and blasted all day. Not an issue. Of course i probably dont have a warranty anymore either.
Moral of all this whining is that they are great guns. But the customer care is iffy. Theres something uniquely painful about walkin to truck to get your glock since your semi-custom 1911 is down due to a $2 spring. and then the shame of being told that apparently I'm not qualified to replace a screw... A screw on a part you are supposed to remove and clean occasionally...
Just wanted to get the word out that these really are great guns, but i had hassle with both of them out of the starting block. Both are still around and shot often. Sucks that my inital impressions of Wesson got so thrown off by that kind of customer support.
End of whining now.
