Wilson's high tactical safety is easily reached and easy to operate. The beavertail sweeps above and past the hammer, ensuring that the KZ will not "bite the hand that feeds it."

Comparative specs on the KZ and a single-stack 1911 with an eight-round magazine show the width of both being 1 5/16 inches, with the empty weight of the KZ being 31 ounces compared to 39 ounces for a five-inch-barreled steel gun. In addition, the base of the KZ's polymer frame is flared slightly for a super-comfortable grip, and the magazine well is beveled to facilitate fast reloads. The mold for the polymer frame provides 18-lpi checkering, both on the frontstrap and on the flat mainspring housing. The result is a surface that gives excellent control with no need to reacquire one's grip during rapid-fire strings.

As you would expect, there are numerous other features that come standard on the KZ. The match barrel is stainless steel with a polished and throated feed ramp and, as stated on the check sheet, is hand-fitted to perfection. The ejection port has been lowered to enhance reliability and an external extractor installed. It should be noted that future KZs will have internal extractors like Wilson's single-stack 1911s.

In fact, slides for single-stack Wilson 1911s will be identical with slides on the wide-frame models. The KZ's stainless steel slide has cocking serrations front and rear. The gun features a #455 speed hammer, an extended tactical thumb safety and a high-ride beavertail grip safety. It is also equipped with #463 tactical combat tritium night sights. Finally, the KZ is completely dehorned, an important attribute when practical conditions triumph over aesthetic considerations. All of this, accompanied by two 10-round magazines, is delivered to you in a nylon Wilson pistol rug for $1,325.

If you're not familiar with Wilson pistols, you might be a bit skeptical when you see the target that accompanies each gun. I've had three Wilson 1911s come into my possession for varying degrees of time, and the three targets all looked the same. Each consisted of one big, jagged hole fired at 15 yards, not in a Ransom rest but by one of the pistolsmiths at Wilson's. (For the record, during a recent visit to Wilson Combat I witnessed the test firing of a finished 1911 from a rest and can verify that those big, jagged holes are achieved by a hands-on shooter firing at 15 yards.) All three guns had combat night sights, not the precise adjustable sights normally seen on target guns.

"Look, Mom, no guide rod!" The KZ's accuracy and reliability clearly demonstrates that such a device is not necessary.

First thought is that such accuracy is not expected in, nor required of, combat/carry guns. In fact, it's a widely held belief that getting this kind of accuracy requires a sacrifice in reliability. Wilson Combat regularly demonstrates that this widely held belief is no longer valid. In the two guns through which I have fired a few hundred rounds, there was not a single malfunction regardless of the type of ammo fired. I'm not saying I can duplicate factory-demonstrated accuracy, but I have been quite impressed with the accuracy I did achieve.