Nelson Review

I received my new Nelson conversion today. The waiting period was twelve weeks and four days.

Up until now my experience with conversions has been with a Marvel unit one. It's been on every 1911 frame I own and has been splendid on all. I decided to build a dedicated lower and picked up a Foster frame and other parts at Perry. It was such a fun project and turned out so well that I just had to have a new upper fit it. Hence the Nelson. 

The first thing I noticed when unpacking it was the weight. Due to the steel top rail it's noticeably heavier than the Marvel. The slide is also wider with thicker side rails. I like this as I've had two cracked slides on the Marvel over the years. 

While waiting for the Nelson I had been running the Marvel on my new frame. It ran flawlessly as usual. When I mounted the Nelson it was extremely tight on the rails. I'd had the frame Cerakoted and this was enough thickness to cause the Nelson slide to bind. I wrapped one of my trigger stones with 400 grit paper and carefully polished the Cerakote off the sides of the frame rails. This resulted in a beautifully snug and smooth running slide. 

Next I had to change out the raised mag catch that I had been using for the Marvel. This was no surprise as I had read here that this wasn't needed for a Nelson. 

I mounted an ultra dot and sighted it in with CCI SV. I had a couple failures to pick up the next round in the magazine so I then switched to the extra 8 lb. spring that Nelson thoughtfully included with the unit. After that it worked perfectly. 

I then shot two 25 yard NMC's. The first a 284 and the second a 291. Very good start with a new gun!

I'm extremely happy with this new unit. The weight is perfect. No muzzle weight needed. It feels exactly the same as my 45 when loaded with a 5 round magazine. I'm anxious to shoot matches with it. 

I don't mean this to put down Marvel Precision in any way. I've enjoyed my Marvel and have received great support from the company when I've had problems. The small problems I've had with it are the results of normal wear. I hate to think about how many dollars worth of SV have gone through it!

Jim

Did you have any trouble with the mag release? I only ask because none of my magazines will insert. Unless I hold down button then it functions great. It is a factory part but I now wonder if I will need to round some sharp corners.

Len

JKR wrote:....I'm extremely happy with this new unit. The weight is perfect. No muzzle weight needed. It feels exactly the same as my 45 when loaded with a 5 round magazine. I'm anxious to shoot matches with it.
....
Jim

That was my exact 1st impression, feels just like my 45.  I too moved from the Marvel to the Nelson, the Marvel is a very good conversion, but I'd give my Nelson the edge.  Both can take you to High Master.

- Dave

Len, no issues with the mag release on mine, also I found out the Nelson mags work with the Marvel.

Len,
Other than changing from the high EGW release to a standard one, there were no problems. They go in smooth, lock tight, and fall out when I push the button.

Jim

Woot only 5 more weeks to wait.  Don

Took a tiny bit of polishing of the bottom edge of the mag release and works great. I also, since I was in the fix it mode swapped trigger shoes with one Frank made for my Kimber and got rid of the iffy fit. Now I feel like there is something else I should do. Oh yea. Might be fun to shoot it. JKR and I both got ours today. Ordered same day too.

Len

I will have learned to shoot the Mark III by the time mine gets here.  I shoot my 1911s way better then any of my 22 target pistols.  That is why I ordered the conversion.  Don

I took 7 different types of 22 ammo with me today and headed for the range. The plan was to put the Nelson thru its paces and see if I could find the ammo it liked best. Then the rains came. I was shooting off a sandbag and had my elbow resting on the bench. It is a perfect way to see the dot move every time your heart beats. Just saying that this was not a Ransom rest test but in some ways more realistic to expectations. I will do this again some time when the weather is better and with a different scope. The 4 dot appears to move more on each click then my other UD's. I tried the CCI SV first then switched to Tac22. I had other ammo but never got there. Since I stole the 4 dot off my High Standard I also had to sight it in. It likes CCI. The Nelson did better with the Tac22. These were shot at 25 yds.

LenV wrote:I took 7 different types of 22 ammo with me today and headed for the range. The plan was to put the Nelson thru its paces and see if I could find the ammo it liked best. Then the rains came. I was shooting off a sandbag and had my elbow resting on the bench. It is a perfect way to see the dot move every time your heart beats. Just saying that this was not a Ransom rest test but in some ways more realistic to expectations. I will do this again some time when the weather is better and with a different scope. The 4 dot appears to move more on each click then my other UD's. I tried the CCI SV first then switched to Tac22. I had other ammo but never got there. Since I stole the 4 dot off my High Standard I also had to sight it in. It likes CCI. The Nelson did better with the Tac22. These were shot at 25 yds.

beautiful group

Guess they're doing something right, last Spring when I bought my conversion their lead time was roughly 1/3 what it is now. Their customer service has been great. Reliability is awesome, I expect a round or two of malfunctions after cleaning but then it's butter, can't remember ever having a malfunction mid match.

Len that Victor barrel on the 106 is one of the best HS shooters I ever tested off the Ransom.  Originally that was a 7.25 barreled Trophy model.    And PM me back it's s/n and I'll see if the box sitting right here in front of me is the right one.  It should start with a 18xxxxx

The only thing I wish Nelson did was send test targets with barrels. I'm sure most barrels group well, still nice to know though

I have 4 Nelson units.  One is a Bob Marvel furnished CPII.  And an AA unit with two bbls, one a Bob Marvel bbl.  Someday this spring I should be able to Ransom them all.

I met Larry Nelson at the Desert Mid-Winters in Phoenix a few weeks ago. They are selling units as fast as they can make them right now. He will be retiring soon so that might help speed things up.
Jon

Jon Eulette wrote:I met Larry Nelson at the Desert Mid-Winters in Phoenix a few weeks ago. They are selling units as fast as they can make them right now. He will be retiring soon so that might help speed things up.
Jon

Retiring from the conversion unit business?

SW-52 wrote:

Jon Eulette wrote:I met Larry Nelson at the Desert Mid-Winters in Phoenix a few weeks ago. They are selling units as fast as they can make them right now. He will be retiring soon so that might help speed things up.
Jon

Retiring from the conversion unit business?

Putting out fires and pulling women and children from burning things

Chris Miceli wrote:The only thing I wish Nelson did was send test targets with barrels. I'm sure most barrels group well, still nice to know though

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

When I got mine last fall, I tried one of the lots of CCI sv I have and some CMP surplus Rem sv I picked up years ago that has shot exceptionally well in my Marvel's and Rugers. Normally an inch or better @ 50 yds.


When I Ransomed it, it definitely does not like the Rem sv @ 50 yards.  2 1/4" was the best. I started wondering if I had gotten a lemon as I've heard much better results from that ammo.  However when I tested the CCI sv it grouped at 1 1/16" for 10 shots for several groups. 


As the Rem (ball & dummy ammo) only gets used for 50' practice and occasionally slow fire at local matches with the marvel & rugers, I was fine with that.


If I had tried some of the Tenex or Lapua I've got squirreled away, perhaps the results would have been better, but not out of my hand at matches.  Any shots outside the x, aren't the fault of the pistol/ammo combination.

Al

i will buy one next year for a build project.

Since were doing a Nelson review I do have one small problem. None of my fancy 1911 grips can be used with the magazines. The base is a bit wider then the 1911 frame so any grips that go below the frame won't work. I tried some Nils and Herrett Nationals but no luck. They will fit tomorrow. That is why they make belt sanders. Going to take wood off grips. Just an FYI.

Len

I trim the mags in my milling machine
Jon

Len,

John's right. When I had fancy grips on my gun I was able to trim the width of those magazine bases so they were narrow enough to slide in. I used 100 grit paper on a flat surface. This was with the Pro Mag magazines I used in my Marvel. I think the Nelson Mags are similar but check it out before attacking your expensive grips.

Jim

I had the same mag problem on my RO with rink grips.  A little judicious wood rasp work and they now fit.  I wish I had thought of milling the mags...duh.  

I also found the Nelson conversion does not work on my MCP.  The slide drags somewhere and it won't go into battery.  I need to call Larry about this but no big deal other than the MCP has a better trigger than the RO.  

I look forward to some more ammo testing results.

Dave

I thought about working on the mags but it looked like it would be easy to take a little too much plastic and weaken them. So instead of sliming down three mags I whittled out one set of grips. Easy math Wasn't worried about being ham fisted and taking out too much wood. Of course I put them back on three times before I actually took out enough wood.

Yep. Looks like that cat is nicely skinned!

Good looking rig by the way.

Jim

Len, we've seen pictures of your hands.  You are ham-fisted.