Wilson Combat debuted its Division 77 early in 2025 and billed it as a “revolutionary gun series that provides our research and development division with the latitude to push innovational boundaries.” Additionally, the company promises that its Division 77 guns will “challenge what was originally thought to be possible” in firearm design. This is a tall order, but a closer look at the division’s first developmental design, the Project 1, illustrates exactly the kind of innovation they’re aiming for. Watch our video above to see this unique handgun in use on the range.
For starters, Wilson Combat made use of an entirely new testing device designed to measure recoil with unprecedented accuracy. Using the Dynamic Recoil Analysis System, the company’s designers were able to determine how effective compensator designs were compared to standard barrels. Using this information, Wilson Combat incorporated a patent-pending port compensator into its slide and barrel, which achieves a 42 percent reduction in recoil when compared to the company’s standard X9 pistol.
One of the other innovative, patent-pending features on the Project 1 pistol involves the optic-mounting options at the rear of the slide. Most handguns on the market today make use of adapter plates, which inevitably add height to a mounted optic. Wilson Combat has elected to embrace the red-dot revolution on the Project 1. The milled slide ships with a set of pins to match the slide footprint to a variety of today’s popular red-dot optics. For those who would rather run open sights, the cover plate comes with an integrated rear sight, and with a mounted red dot, the front sight can be replaced with a plug for an uninterrupted sight picture.
Yet another patent-pending feature found on the Wilson Combat Project 1 is what the company calls its “Advanced RPG Guide Rod.” Not only does this new guide rod design improve reliability, thanks to its longer length, but it also allows for easy disassembly, as there’s no need to remove the reverse plug.
At the range, several other enhancements revealed themselves on the Project 1 pistol. Wilson Combat includes its G10 TRAK grip texturing on the front and backstrap, as well as on the removable grip panels, which can be swapped out for the user’s preference. The recoil reduction was noticeable, thanks to the integrated compensator. We also appreciated the incredibly crisp, flat-faced trigger, as well as the ambidextrous thumb safety. The enhanced aluminum Project 1 basepads on the magazines allowed mags to drop easily and contributed to improved handling. And the copper PVD accents on small parts made this pistol stand out in the best possible way. With Wilson Combat’s guns, the phrase “You get what you pay for” comes to mind, and with the Division 77 Project 1 pistol, it turns out there’s a whole lot more built into this top-of-the-line handgun than it first appears, making it a true cutting-edge choice for the modern handgun enthusiast.
Wilson Combat Division 77 Project 1 Specifications
Manufacturer: Wilson Combat
Action Type: recoil-operated, semi-automatic, centerfire pistol
Chambering: 9 mm Luger
Barrel: 5" stainless steel
Frame: aluminum
Slide: stainless steel
Magazine: 18-round detachable box
Sights: dovetailed; serrated-U-notch rear, fiber-optic serrated-post front
Trigger: single-action; 4-lb., 1-oz. pull
Overall Length: 8.7"
Height: 5.5"
Width: 1.4"
Weight: 33.8 ozs.
MSRP: $3,995
