Wilson Combat Division 77 Project 1: Limited-Run 1911 Pistol

As a gun writer I can’t count how many times I’ve described new 1911 pistols as “modern.” What that really means is that this century-old design has added features like optic-cut slides and double-stack magazines, making it competitive against the field of newer pistols. But the Wilson Combat Division 77 Project 1 is something entirely different. It doesn’t keep pace with modern guns. It’s a 9mm 1911 with an eye toward the future of firearms design.

Bill Wilson has always been an innovator in the field of 1911s, but the Division 77 guns—so named for the year he began making 1911s—prove that Wilson Combat is not constrained to traditional John Browning features. In fact, while this gun does remain a 1911 at heart, almost every detail found on the original design has been heavily modified and updated.

“The Division 77 guns are similar to BMW’s M-Series cars or Mercedes-Benz AMGs,” says Cameron Ankele, chief operating officer at Wilson Combat. The Division 77 pistols are his pet project, and since both he and Bill Wilson are avid auto racers, it’s no surprise that Ankele uses the analogy to specialized car divisions that allow auto makers to push the envelope of high performance.

These special firearms offer Wilson Combat a proving ground to test their newest design features on a relatively small scale, and it’s almost certain these features will show up on other Wilson Combat guns in the future. For now, though, the Division 77 pistols are available only in limited quantities. The Project 1 gun I tested is one of only 500 that will be built.

Precision-Cut Compensator

One of the most significant features on the Project 1 is a precision-cut compensator that directs gases upward to help manage muzzle rise and recoil. Compensators aren’t unusual today, but Wilson Combat didn’t just machine holes to vent gases, claim these made the gun more manageable to shoot and consider the job done.

Instead, the company used high-tech diagnostic equipment to evaluate the Division 77 pistol’s response to firing a round. Wilson engineers used Dynamic Recoil Analysis System (DRAS) equipment that collects 2,000 data points every 350 milliseconds to examine what happens when the shooter touches off a round.

Ankele called the results “very eye opening.” One of his goals was to examine the Accu-Comp that Bill Wilson developed in the 1970s and improve upon its recoil-reduction properties. The Accu-Comp was popular with competitive shooters because it did a good job mitigating muzzle rise and recoil. But Wilson designed the Accu-Comp without the aid of DRAS digital sensors. By testing and retesting compensator designs, Ankele was able to reduce the recoil of the Division 77 Project 1 9mm substantially.

“The geometry has to be perfect,” he said.

Improved System

After the Wilson Combat team settled on a design for the Division 77 gun’s ports, they compared it with Wilson’s double-stack EDC X9 1911 and found the Division 77’s recoil reduction was substantially better. According to Ankele, the new compensator cuts recoil by as much as 42 percent, a figure the company has verified during its extensive data collection.

Ankele and the Division 77 team also closely examined how shooters mount optics on a pistol and developed an improved system for the Division 77 guns.

Removing most optics plates is straightforward, generally requiring nothing more than loosening a pair of screws. Installing an optic on the Division 77 gun is slightly more involved but doesn’t require advanced gunsmithing skills or specialized tools.

To mount an optic, remove the cover plate’s two primary screws, depress the firing pin with a punch and pull up on the cover plate. As you do, the firing pin stop will also come free; bear in mind that the firing pin will be under pressure.

Sights

Project 1 pistols use an interchangeable pin system for red dot mounting. Pins come in color-coded packaging, and the company says that by rearranging the pins you can mount around 90 percent of the optics on the market.

It’s certainly a much simpler system than ordering plates. The system also allows for a more durable rear sight plate that doesn’t have to be re-zeroed after mounting.

The front sight is easily removable as well. So at this point you may be wondering why Wilson engineers set up the slide cover plate in such a way that when it’s removed for an optic there’s no rear sight on the gun and also opted for a removable front sight. Both fly in the face of the popular concept of co-witnessing irons with a red dot.

The answer is simple, and somewhat surprising. The team’s philosophy is, basically, pick a side. If you want to shoot irons, shoot irons. If you want to shoot a red dot, do away with iron sights and commit to the optic. Red dots are so dependable these days, the reasoning goes, that iron sights are superfluous on a pistol with an optic.

Machining Details

While the sight system and the compensator are revolutionary, the advancements on the Division 77 Project 1 gun don’t stop there. The pistol features carry cuts and ball end mill cuts, and the slide machining is unique to the Project 1 Division 77 pistol. Traditionally the 1911 features a slide with a slab-sided profile that is the same width fore and aft. The Project 1 gun measures just 0.94 inch across the slide near the muzzle. The rear of the slide measures 1.1 inches wide—still quite narrow for a 1911 but noticeably wider than at the muzzle.

This allows for the incorporation of three aggressive forward-angled slide serrations at the rear and provides a wide enough platform so optics can be easily secured on the gun. The wide, deep serrations offer complete control over the slide.

If you want to run a press check you’ll find that the forward serrations and slide cuts offer plenty of grip there as well. And it doesn’t take much force to manipulate the slide, which is hand-fitted to the frame and therefore moves incredibly smoothly.

The five-inch stainless steel fluted barrel has a copper PVD finish that’s visible through a pair of slide lightening cuts that widen toward the muzzle. The top of the slide features 30-l.p.i. serrations to cut glare. There are glare-reducing 40-l.p.i. serrations at the rear of the slide as well, and there’s a heavy machine chamfer on the bottom of the slide.

Frame and Grips

Division 77 Project 1 pistols feature a high-capacity compact aluminum X-frame with Wilson’s Reliability Enhanced frame rails. The black G10 grip panels feature Trak texturing that is more aggressive than the microtexturing commonly found on today’s carry guns. Trak texturing is also found on the front- and backstraps, and it does an effective job locking the gun in place, which is probably why competitive shooters and law enforcement professionals like it so well.

Although a 1911 at heart, the Division 77 Project 1 has no grip safety and no traditional barrel bushing. Instead, the Project 1 incorporates an RPG one-piece guide rod with a reverse plug.

Disassembly of the gun differs significantly from the classic 1911. With the Division 77 Project 1 you simply remove the transverse pin/slide stop by lining up the half-moon portion at the top of the pin with the corresponding cutout in the slide. From there the slide assembly can be removed and the guide rod and spring pulled free from the slide.

The RPG design allows you to remove the guide rod without having to disassemble it as you would a traditional two-piece guide rod. The reverse plug slides out, and the barrel slides forward for removal.

Safety and Finish

The pistol features Wilson’s Bullet Proof hammer and ambidextrous thumb safety. The slide is treated with a rugged black Armor-Tuff finish while the small parts and the barrel have the copper PVD finish I mentioned earlier.

Three 18-round magazines are included with each gun, and they all sport aluminum Project 1 base pads. An integral magazine well allows for positive reloads, and the flat-face trigger breaks right at four pounds with minimal take-up. The break is crisp and clean, just what you’d expect from a precision pistol.

It’s rare that I intentionally test pistols with iron sights, but I wanted to evaluate the Division 77 Project 1 gun with the included Battlesights, for two reasons. First, these iron sights are zeroed at 25 yards, and I wanted to see if the point of impact was indeed dead-on at that range. Second, Wilson Combat promises a reliable return to zero when the sights are removed and replaced.

No surprise, but the gun performed exactly as advertised. The first shot was within an inch of the bullseye at 25 yards, and when I removed the sight and returned it to position there was no discernible point of impact shift.

Accuracy

Shooting the Division 77 Project 1 gun from a bench is more like shooting a target rifle than a pistol. The trigger is consistent; accuracy is, not surprisingly, great. Every group I shot with the first two loads was between 1.4 and 1.7 inches at 25 yards.

Things went downhill for a bit when the screws that hold the irons in the dovetail on the cover plate worked loose, which was my fault for not checking them. I tightened them and was right back to hitting 1.5-inch groups.

On a recent episode of “Handguns” TV, we showcased hostage shots and 25-yard head shots, and since the Division 77 gun was shooting so well I thought I’d just combine these two challenging drills for this review. How about hostage shots at 25 yards offhand? No problem for the Wilson Combat Project 1. I’m not sure how well I’d do at that drill with any other pistol.

That’s very good accuracy and probably as well as my eyes will do with irons, but believe it or not accuracy wasn’t the most impressive feature on this pistol. All the fiddling and data collection Ankele and his team conducted in the lab has resulted in a pistol that shoots as flat as any 9mm out there.

Shootability and Confidence

If you really want to feel good about your ability to shoot quickly and accurately, pick up a Division 77 Project 1. Every gun with a compensator—and that’s about half of the carry guns on the market now—promises reductions in recoil and muzzle rise. The Division 77 delivers on those promises in a way that no other gun can match.

Like a Mercedes AMG 63 GT going through the slalom, this gun begs to be pushed to the limits—always remaining stable and planted in the hand while encouraging the shooter to push the limits of accuracy and speed a bit more. In short, the Project 1 is fun to shoot.

With its lightweight frame, the Division 77 pistol weighs in at just under 34 ounces unloaded, and with a full 18-round magazine it tips the scales at 41.5 ounces. That’s lighter than a standard 1911 Government pistol, but the grip design and weight make this gun easy to handle. It’s beautifully balanced.

The attention to detail is simply outstanding, and the hand-tuned frame-to-slide fit leaves no doubt this is a premium pistol. It also carries a premium price tag. The first 100 Project 1 guns with accompanying metal boxes and challenge coins will set you back a cool $4,295. The other 400 guns will cost $3,995.

Limited Runs

Once the first 500 are sold Wilson Combat will be on to Project 2, Project 3 and Project 4, for a total of 2,000 guns.

I’d imagine that collectors and 1911 fans will snatch them up. The Division 77 Project 1 gun isn’t just for the well-heeled 1911 guy, though. No matter what type of semiauto you favor, you’ll find it impossible not to like these pistols.

They offer us a glimpse into the future of pistol design, 1911 and otherwise. It will be exciting to see what future Division 77 guns arrive on the scene.

Wilson Combat Division 77 Project 1 Specs

• Type: 1911
• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 18; 3 mags supplied
• Barrel: 5 in. stainless, compensated, fluted bull, copper PVD finish
• OAL/Height/Width: 8.7/5.5/1.4 in.
• Weight: 33.8 oz.
• Construction: Black Armor-Tuff finished stainless tri-top slide, aluminum X-frame
• Grips: G10 Trak Starburst panels
• Trigger: 4.0 lb. pull (measured)
• Sights: Wilson Combat Battlesight rear, removable fiber-optic front; Project 1 pin cut for optics
• MSRP: $3,995 (as tested)
• Manufacturer: Wilson Combat, WilsonCombat.com

---