So I was in the market for a Wilson EDC X9 since I shot Ken Hackathorns in Feb. I wanted one without the rail because I carry a flashlight in my left front pocket and my size does not allow for me to carry a big rig on my side. I also wanted a gold bead front sight vs the fiber optic or night sight. I have seen a few come up for sale used for good prices but never in the exact configuration I was looking for. Plus I need the small backstrap and the medium/short trigger. Everytime I saw one by the time I made the changes I wanted to make I would almost be in for the cost of new.
Then I came across the exact configuration I was looking for from a place in PA. It was prices less than MSRP which is what most of these are going for these days and it was in stock. Wait time directly from Wilson is about 5 months for the non-railed version which is apparently more popular than the railed. So I pulled the trigger.
Break in Ammo:
The gun arrived I cleaned it up and have made it to the range twice with it. I have about 400 rounds down the pipe on it. I have shot Winchester NATO 9mm, AE 115 gr FMJ and my 124gr FML RMR 3.6gr HP-38 reloads. The gun to date has not hiccupped. I am at this point satisfied that the gun is broken in. I might try to get my hands on some Prvi 124gr because I know those primers are hard. I might also run some Wolf through it because I have found that if a gun will ignite Wolf primers reliably they will ignite just about anything. I will run a 100 or so Gold Dots through it before my new leather arrives and then it will go into the carry rotation with my Sphinx SDP subcompact & Custom Alloy BHP.
Fit and Finish:
The guns fit and finish is impeccable. One should expect nothing less at this price point and to be honest if it was not flawless I would have been disappointed. Super clean machining and Tuff Armor finish looks good. It is decent spray and bake finish. Like with all the spray and bake finishes it is all about the prep work and the application of the finish. I have every reason to believe it will hold up reasonably well but on a working gun I expect to see it wear. This gun was designed to be a “Every Day Carry” gun and I intend to carry it. Finish wear is expected. I know the mag well area will get beat up from my glacier tactical reloads. It has a decent bevel on the magwell. It is not like a competition shoot but it is enough of a target that in a defensive situation it should do. Anything larger would take away from its concealability IMHO.
Trigger:
The trigger is very 1911 like. My particular example has a 4lb 6 oz trigger on my digital gauge based on an avg of 5 pulls. It is super crips but not too light. For me personally a 4 to 4.5lb SA trigger is perfect for a self defense gun. It has enough resistance so you can lean on it a little bit but it is still crisp. When I get into the 3lb range for me they become on off switches which are ok for range guns but for a defensive gun I am more comfortable in that 4lb range. Reset is 1911 like. I say 1911 like because even though the hammer, sear and disconnector are all standard 1911 parts the trigger “feels” different. I believe it is the thickness of the grip which changes how I interact with the pistol. That slight change in the ergos somehow changes how the trigger feels to me. I shot it back to back with my DW Valkyrie which is a commander length aluminum framed 1911. At this point I still shoot better with the Valkyrie but I believe that is just due to familiarity.
Grip:
The gun in the hand is not 1911 like IMHO. Its rounded grips really fills the hand. It is thicker in the hand than the BHP or CZ75B. The length of pull with the small backstrap and medium trigger works for me. I might try the short trigger but I am going to put some more rounds down range before I make that change. The grips panels are interesting. There are no grip screws. Instead the grips dovetail into the frame sort of like lament flooring. Snap and click if that makes sense. They are made of G10 and feel good in the hand. The only downside of the pistol so far is the aggressive X-TAC frontstrap checking. It feel great at first. Super grippy but after a while my soft lady hands have the grip pattern pressed into them. Certain high points in my grip cause slight discomfort in my hands after 200 rounds or so. I think this will lessen with use. I will either man up and grow some calluses or the high points of the grips will get knocked down. If it bothers me long term I may send it back to Wilson to have them knock them down a bit and then refinish. My Les Baer was similar when I first got it.
Accuracy & Sight:
Wilson claims that all EDC X9s shoot 1.5”at 25. I have no doubt that this gun is capable of that. As soon as I am able to shoot 1.25” @ 25 yards I will verify their claim. Honestly this thing is a laser. The U shaped rear is great. Your eyes track right to it. The gold bead front is highly visible in day light and even lower light. It is not a night sight but I have shot at night with a BHP with a gold bead and with a light I can pick it up and am accurate at self defense ranges. The front sight is user replaceable so if I wanted a night sight front I can replace it. The rear is plain black an as of today they do not have night sight option for the rear. I am not 100% sold on the need for night sights but I know many people will not have a defensive gun without them.
The sight picture is fast and accurate. I did initially find myself shooting a bit low. Especially went I sped up. This is not uncommon for me so chalk it up to an ID10T shooter problem not a hardware problem. When I slowed down got a good sight picture and thought about that “empty case” resting on my slide the bullets magically when were I wanted them to. Honestly even my bad groups were contained in the black on a B8 measures which 5.54” in diameter. Most of the shooting was done on paper at 7, 10 and 15 yards. I also ran about 150 rounds at steel targets of various shapes and sizes. The gun runs and I am sure in better hands it would be dead nuts accurate.
I shot “The Test” with the gun on both days. I was able to shoot clean targets in the 9 second range. When I pushed it to the 7.5 range I was dropping shots. I still shoot "The Test" best with my CZ 75B , Shadow 2 and 1911s of various configurations but I think with a little more trigger time this will be right there with the 75B and others.
Carry Rig
I purchased a holster from Warbird leather. I am going with one of his IWB/OWB convertibles in black with a black shark patch on it. I went with a 20-degree cant. I carry in Milt Sparks VMIIs a lot so this will be a similar cant. I will post pics when the holster arrives.
So to sum up this long winded range report the Wilson EDC X9 is a interesting gun. It is a 1911 like pistol that allows you to carry 15+1 in a compact package weighing about the same as a Glock 19. It has ultra-modern ergonomic and feel with a familiar 1911 like trigger. It is an interesting evolution of the 1911 concept. It is not cheap. A fair amount of them are hitting the used market because they are not for everyone. People jumped on the bandwagon and found they “like” them but do not love them. IMHO if you are paying $2500+ you should love the gun. If you get the opportunity to shoot one I would do it. If you like it I would take Farris Buellers advice. If you have the means I highly recommend it…
* All photos in this post are stock pics. I have not snapped any pics yet but when I do I will post them.
Then I came across the exact configuration I was looking for from a place in PA. It was prices less than MSRP which is what most of these are going for these days and it was in stock. Wait time directly from Wilson is about 5 months for the non-railed version which is apparently more popular than the railed. So I pulled the trigger.
Break in Ammo:
The gun arrived I cleaned it up and have made it to the range twice with it. I have about 400 rounds down the pipe on it. I have shot Winchester NATO 9mm, AE 115 gr FMJ and my 124gr FML RMR 3.6gr HP-38 reloads. The gun to date has not hiccupped. I am at this point satisfied that the gun is broken in. I might try to get my hands on some Prvi 124gr because I know those primers are hard. I might also run some Wolf through it because I have found that if a gun will ignite Wolf primers reliably they will ignite just about anything. I will run a 100 or so Gold Dots through it before my new leather arrives and then it will go into the carry rotation with my Sphinx SDP subcompact & Custom Alloy BHP.
Fit and Finish:
The guns fit and finish is impeccable. One should expect nothing less at this price point and to be honest if it was not flawless I would have been disappointed. Super clean machining and Tuff Armor finish looks good. It is decent spray and bake finish. Like with all the spray and bake finishes it is all about the prep work and the application of the finish. I have every reason to believe it will hold up reasonably well but on a working gun I expect to see it wear. This gun was designed to be a “Every Day Carry” gun and I intend to carry it. Finish wear is expected. I know the mag well area will get beat up from my glacier tactical reloads. It has a decent bevel on the magwell. It is not like a competition shoot but it is enough of a target that in a defensive situation it should do. Anything larger would take away from its concealability IMHO.
Trigger:
The trigger is very 1911 like. My particular example has a 4lb 6 oz trigger on my digital gauge based on an avg of 5 pulls. It is super crips but not too light. For me personally a 4 to 4.5lb SA trigger is perfect for a self defense gun. It has enough resistance so you can lean on it a little bit but it is still crisp. When I get into the 3lb range for me they become on off switches which are ok for range guns but for a defensive gun I am more comfortable in that 4lb range. Reset is 1911 like. I say 1911 like because even though the hammer, sear and disconnector are all standard 1911 parts the trigger “feels” different. I believe it is the thickness of the grip which changes how I interact with the pistol. That slight change in the ergos somehow changes how the trigger feels to me. I shot it back to back with my DW Valkyrie which is a commander length aluminum framed 1911. At this point I still shoot better with the Valkyrie but I believe that is just due to familiarity.
Grip:
The gun in the hand is not 1911 like IMHO. Its rounded grips really fills the hand. It is thicker in the hand than the BHP or CZ75B. The length of pull with the small backstrap and medium trigger works for me. I might try the short trigger but I am going to put some more rounds down range before I make that change. The grips panels are interesting. There are no grip screws. Instead the grips dovetail into the frame sort of like lament flooring. Snap and click if that makes sense. They are made of G10 and feel good in the hand. The only downside of the pistol so far is the aggressive X-TAC frontstrap checking. It feel great at first. Super grippy but after a while my soft lady hands have the grip pattern pressed into them. Certain high points in my grip cause slight discomfort in my hands after 200 rounds or so. I think this will lessen with use. I will either man up and grow some calluses or the high points of the grips will get knocked down. If it bothers me long term I may send it back to Wilson to have them knock them down a bit and then refinish. My Les Baer was similar when I first got it.
Accuracy & Sight:
Wilson claims that all EDC X9s shoot 1.5”at 25. I have no doubt that this gun is capable of that. As soon as I am able to shoot 1.25” @ 25 yards I will verify their claim. Honestly this thing is a laser. The U shaped rear is great. Your eyes track right to it. The gold bead front is highly visible in day light and even lower light. It is not a night sight but I have shot at night with a BHP with a gold bead and with a light I can pick it up and am accurate at self defense ranges. The front sight is user replaceable so if I wanted a night sight front I can replace it. The rear is plain black an as of today they do not have night sight option for the rear. I am not 100% sold on the need for night sights but I know many people will not have a defensive gun without them.
The sight picture is fast and accurate. I did initially find myself shooting a bit low. Especially went I sped up. This is not uncommon for me so chalk it up to an ID10T shooter problem not a hardware problem. When I slowed down got a good sight picture and thought about that “empty case” resting on my slide the bullets magically when were I wanted them to. Honestly even my bad groups were contained in the black on a B8 measures which 5.54” in diameter. Most of the shooting was done on paper at 7, 10 and 15 yards. I also ran about 150 rounds at steel targets of various shapes and sizes. The gun runs and I am sure in better hands it would be dead nuts accurate.
I shot “The Test” with the gun on both days. I was able to shoot clean targets in the 9 second range. When I pushed it to the 7.5 range I was dropping shots. I still shoot "The Test" best with my CZ 75B , Shadow 2 and 1911s of various configurations but I think with a little more trigger time this will be right there with the 75B and others.
Carry Rig
I purchased a holster from Warbird leather. I am going with one of his IWB/OWB convertibles in black with a black shark patch on it. I went with a 20-degree cant. I carry in Milt Sparks VMIIs a lot so this will be a similar cant. I will post pics when the holster arrives.
So to sum up this long winded range report the Wilson EDC X9 is a interesting gun. It is a 1911 like pistol that allows you to carry 15+1 in a compact package weighing about the same as a Glock 19. It has ultra-modern ergonomic and feel with a familiar 1911 like trigger. It is an interesting evolution of the 1911 concept. It is not cheap. A fair amount of them are hitting the used market because they are not for everyone. People jumped on the bandwagon and found they “like” them but do not love them. IMHO if you are paying $2500+ you should love the gun. If you get the opportunity to shoot one I would do it. If you like it I would take Farris Buellers advice. If you have the means I highly recommend it…
* All photos in this post are stock pics. I have not snapped any pics yet but when I do I will post them.
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