Pards, anyone with experience with Wilson Combat recoil buffers?  Was wondering if they are worth the bother to use? 

Regards

I have known Bill Wilson for over 50 years. We used to shoot at the same club. It is the only thing he does that I and the the vast majority of 1911 experienced shooters disagree with.  DO NOT USE THEM!!

For a Wild Bunch gun, a carry gun or other sports - I would not, as they can affect reliability.  Perfect Function is SO important in a semi-auto handgun.

 

If your load is causing the slide to slam into the frame at the point where a recoil buffer might save the frame the first few times a hot load is fired, then you don't have strong enough recoil and mainsprings in the gun for that load.  If the gun is already sprung as heavy as you can handle, then lighten the load.  A buffer that is being hit hard enough to provide some protection to the frame, is going to wear out quickly from those hard hits.  I don't believe shock buffs make any difference in shootability of a gun.

 

So, I'm with Happy Jack!  Forget them, they give you a false sense of fixing a problem that needs to be fixed by proper springing or good load selection.

 

Good luck, GJ

Thanks, Pards, that is exactly what I needed to know!  Now I can forget them. 

Thanks for the speedy reply. 

Regards

Blaze, I never saw Wild Bodie Tom as animated as the day he discovered a recoil buffer in a shooter's pistol.  I'll just say he was unambiguous in "suggesting" they were worse than useless.  So, on the chance he might end up inside one of my pistols, I never used them.  Now that he's gone, I still don't use them for fear of a haunting.

I had one in a Springfield Armory 1911-a1, 5" stainless steel frame.  It has the full one-piece length guide rod in it.  That is the only 1911 I have seen to have the buffer on.  Mine worked fine with factory 230 fmj bullets.  With reloads, I do not know.  I recently had this Springfield barrel and trigger replaced by Lohman Gunsmithing in Houston.  They did not replace the buffer.  Still works as it should.  Go figure.  Could be like the GI versus the full length guide theory/marketing ploy, just another option to try.

I am concerned that a shock buff would be taking up 1/4" of room that JMB designed into the recoil spring area.  I see no reason to shove a foreign object in there where critical functions are already working perfectly.

 

(Not a single shock buff was needed in any 1911 all during WW I and WW II.....)

 

Good luck, GJ

My first 1911, around '99 or so, was a Kimber compact aluminum.  I put the shock buff in to try to protect the aluminum frame.  It seemed to affect reliability negatively.  I later read that is more common in the shorter barrel guns.  Also, it would start shredding, and I understand that can jam a gun as well.  So no more for me.

Hey August

As well as the information, you brought a smile to all of us that knew Wild Bodie Tom.

 

thanks

HI Gang; As a experienced shock buff user I found; some gun would not cycle with fat buffs, thin ones did not do munch. traded a click clang sound for a thump clang sound for no real benefit, other then mental. Always waiting for the jam up. Added more cost replacing the rubber thing often. A water tap washer will work about the same for  30 cents each.

BY the way I got rid of ALL buffs a long time ago and now can sleep through the night. 

I have used them, never found any benefit gained.  They will cause a problem when you least expect it.  I consider them to be one of the things that are made to sell.

 

Blackfoot