George Wilson's Match .45 Autopistol
Semiauto Pistols
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7m 18s
George A. Wilson was a designer for the High Standard company, and also a competitive bullseye pistol shooter. Formal bullseye shooting requires the use of a .45 caliber pistol, and the 1911 really isn't an ideal design for that sort of shooting - so Wilson decided to make his own pistol. Patented in 1961, the design he came up with is an outstanding competition piece. Instead of using a traditional slide, Wilson kept all the reciprocating parts out in the front half of the gun, allowing him to bring the grip very high up to minimize muzzle flip.
Mechanically, the pistol uses a pivoting wedge to lock, somewhat like a Walther P38. It has a long sight radius, good sight design, and an excellent competition trigger (wide and smooth, with no creep and a light, crisp letoff). The machine work on the pistol is top notch - it is really a work of art. Only three of these guns were made by Wilson, and we are privileged to have been able to examine, disassemble, and shoot one of them.
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