Home 1911 Pistols POTD – Wilson Summa Excelsior

POTD – Wilson Summa Excelsior

October 4, 2021

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Wilson Combat 1996A2 — Wilson starts making their own frames in-house.

Editor’s note: Friend of website Andy sends us some more photos from his excellent 1911 collection. —Editor

Marky, just teasing about the “Summa Excelsior” moniker. This was Wilson’s first in-house manufactured 1911 clone offering, marketed as the “Wilson Combat 1996A2”. It was a baseline semi-custom 1911 that could be optioned with front strap checkering, adjustable sights, ambi-safety, and choice of parkerized or Birdsong Black-T finish. They also came with the original (introductory) “Bulletproof” parts: the original version hammer (no longer made), slide lock/stop, and thumb safety. All in all, a no-frills version of the later CQB (or W-130 package as done on a period Colt or Springfield Armory 1911). They were only made for a few years, but the concept was shortly revived in 1999/2000, when the even shorter run of the “Millennium” was introduced. I’ll send you some photos of mine tomorrow.

Wilson was trying to get into the 1911 manufacturing game since he was unhappy with QC of the current crop of Colts and their clones. He even dallied with using Caspian frames and slides, which he used to build 50 Thunder Ranch Specials before he and Clint had a falling out. The in-house 1996A2 came next, and the rest is history.

Regards,

Andy A.