What are you disappointed with? Pictures may help...I have not had a problem with them in the past or presently....Although when buying wood grips I have found it best to call when they are opened and ask Steve or one of the reps to hand pick one with the figuring I am looking for. Wilson outsources a lot of stuff, they cannot make everything, but I agree quality ought to be consistent.

 

What year is your pistol ? Could be the frame and not the grips. BDM is right, when i order Wood i ask Steve to pick me out some with figure.

 

A sample size of four, even with an expert's knowledge, does not make a overall trend. But it is also not to be ignored.

Over the years, I've learned that posts such as our original post here, sometimes have significance. And sometimes they do not (for one reason or another).

Photos and more details might help. If there is downward trend in the sample of four, I think Wilson would wish to look further ... other grips could be inspected if specific attributes of concern were precisely identified. It goes without saying that grips are a key interface between the firearm and the shooter ... they should be "right", and for top tier manufacturers, they (grips) should meet very good aesthetic and fit standards. $100 grips won't match super-premium quality/aesthetics of certain specialists (e.g., Challis ... +1911); but they should be very good, and not regressing from previous batches.

 

Deleted.

Irrelevant to the topic

 

Unfortunately I don't have any older grips anymore. Just sold my last pair. Next time I'll call in person and have who ever hand pick. FML I feel like I'm stuck with these last 2 grips. Here's a pic of the new starburst pair.


I remember on my older sets there were initials on the back of grips.

 

Not even close to a grain/darkness match. I'd be disappointed as well. Though grip colors or grains have no effect on the shooting of the weapon, they are usually the first thing people see when looking at your pistol.

I like nice grips but I'm a grip whore, way too many.

 

Agree with Jim's assessment. Wood grips are a bit different than G-10 (or other "manufactured" material) in achieving a good match. E.g., some people just don't have an eye for such aesthetics. It's difficult to teach this skill.

I have a feeling -- nothing provable -- that most of my Wilson wood pairs of grips came together by random pairing. Grips crafted from types of wood that naturally tend to have little variation have come out nicely. But for woods with a lot of natural variation, the matching (left and right panels) seems a random type of event. Only on my Classic SG, I will guess that the grip panels were aesthetically matched by the Wilson SG pistolsmiths ... Just a guess.

Again, my experience is just a small sample. Might not mean much. I go to Challis when I seek a really great set (I.e., with superb aesthetics, including panel matching) of wood grips.

 

That is a really poor job of matching grips.

Would not be acceptable to me.

 

If you carry that gun, the left panel will darken and look more like the right panel.

 

Agreed.

But these are very expensive guns. Why not start out with a matched pair like Craig Speigel does. I can take my seven year old Speigels out of a mixed up box and match the pairs in seconds, even as they have aged darker. The Speigels were not much more money than Wilsons.

There are other wood grip makers who can do this, also. Esmeralda does a really nice job of matching grips and the figure ages well, too.

Maybe some grips just got loose from Wilson.

 

OP, are you referring to quality of the product or visual aesthetics?

 

Both actually. The flat bottoms are a lil too tight on my BP magwell might have to file them a lil' to make them fit (which isn't a big deal). And one of the grip screw holes seems slightly off and have a lil wood burrs still inside (could be off because it doesn't sit flush). Plus the finish has way too much gloss (I feel like hogue did that to compensate for in matching finish).

I know I'm being anal. But I love WC grips, and for almost $100 a pair (depends on shipping) I'd expect their quality to be way better than the rest.

 

See your point with that set of grips. Wilson has a generous return policy, why not just send them back and call to have another pair hand selected for you?

 

^^^^
Agreed. But I think this is also fair feedback to the source supplier. With this feedback, they can decide whether to change anything in their matching process. And Wilson can review it.

Edit: And if they (source supplier) cannot better match the wood grain grip panels (and instead electing to randomly package the panels due to cost, etc.) I think Wilson might elect to place a note to this effect on the item's webpage... exactly as they've done following the display case discussion a couple weeks ago.

 

^^^^
Agreed. But I think this is also fair feedback to the source supplier. With this feedback, they can decide whether to change anything in their matching process. And Wilson can review it.

Edit: And if they (source supplier) cannot better match the wood grain grip panels (and instead electing to randomly package the panels due to cost, etc.) I think Wilson might elect to place a note to this effect on the item's webpage... exactly as they've done following the display case discussion a couple weeks ago.

Or if Wilson gets this kind of feedback from the customers that the grip maker is getting lax in what they send Wilson, perhaps a new supplier of grips might be selected if the current one can't get the job done right.

 

A call to Wilson , just tell them you're not accepting them and would like another better matched set. My guess is they'll take them back and make it right.

 

They can't just restock them all. Someone will wind up getting these returned sets.

 

A few clarifications. Cocobolo is considered an "Endangered Wood" and existing domestic supplies are dwindling. If you look around the 1911 world, much of the "cocobolo" sold is actually dyed, laminate wood that is not cocobolo.

At this point we are "taking what we can get" from the various vendors that supply 1911 grips.

If you are unhappy with a Wilson Combat product, we will make every opportunity to make you happy.

The fit and size of the grips has not changed in years and is very consistent. Wood grips will typically have the same color tone from panel to panel but the grain will almost never match as these grips are not book matched.

 

Considering the price of even the least expensive one of your guns is it unreasonable to think or expect them to be book matched or as close as possible? You buy a $3,000 gun and it comes with non matching grips. Is that going to be acceptable to most?

 

WCR to the rescue,,,( as usual) ...

 

As long as things are on the "up and up" (so that the buyer won't be negatively surprised), I'm o.k. with this sort of thing. I do think, given WCR's explanation, that a note to this effect on the product's webpage might be desirable.

For buyers who place a high priority on an aesthetic matching rare wood pair of grip panels (and many of us are in this category), there are well-known alternatives, such as Challis Grips. I suppose the considerable price differential reflects, at least to some degree, the difficulty of matching rare wood grip panels.

Also fair to say "hats off" to OP for starting this discussion ... it is useful to have this all out in the open.

 

Perhaps Wilson should review the pictures of grips under Wilson Shop on the web site. I would not have a problem with any of the grips shown there in terms of color or figure. Some of the matches are really excellent and do not look unmatched. Also, they do not look too much like what is in this thread.

At some point in time, either the supply of farm grown exotic wood will pick up, or substitutes will enter the market, or the price will rise to reflect lack of supply, or there will be a #1 and #2 grade of cocobolo in the market, or all four will happen.

Cocobolo is still being used for wood flooring.

 

This is an excellent topic.
I tend to be the kind of guy that is easy to please. But, I do like my wood grips, and I wouldn't be pleased with those pictured. They are nice, I just wouldn't want them on my personal gun. Having said that, I know plenty of others who would find them perfectly fine. I am just a wood snob. I bought a Colt Rail Gun 100 year version that had a great trigger, and talked the dealer into swapping the grips with another gun because its panels were so nice.

I am happy to know that when my new Wilson Classic arrives, if the wood grips are ugly I can call for help. I ordered double diamond cocobolo I think, they are even standard maybe? Anyways, they look great with the polished blue finish. Of course, all that checkering helps them look better, to a point.

 

Call me a "dumb young guy" or whatever but I prefer G10 grips, more durable, excellent fit and they look awesome.

Never really understood the appeal of a weaker and more temperamental grip materiel on a non-historic/non-collectable gun. Now if it's safe queen then I guess wood is cool.

 

Wait till you get a bit older.
Then when you get 'good wood' you'll be very happy. :rofl:

 

7.62Kolectr, those are seriously sweet!