Dan Wesson 1911 pistols

[Tigereye]

There's a lot of good info. at 1911forum.com to help with your decision. I have a DW CBOB and PM7. The CBOB has just over 1,000 rounds and the PM7 has 2,000 rounds. Both guns are very accurate and reliable. I also have a Baer Custom Carry with 2,800 rounds thru it. It's more accurate and very reliable. If price is similar, I'd buy the Baer. I've been very pleased with all 3.

[jrmymiles]

I too bought my CBOB at the old price. Around $1000. Never thought of it before, but the Les baer would be a better gun for the money now that prices have shot up. I always overlook them because they are not sold at any of the shops in my area.

[Blaster]

My impression.

I am relatively new to the 1911 platform. I purchased my first 1911, a 2010 DW Valor while waiting for an Ed Brown I had on order. Well I guess you could argue I bought the Brown first but I got the DW first. The guys I showed the Valor to who were experienced 1911 guys were impressed with the quality.

I ran into trouble when I started using the Valor. First the sights were off (POI well above POA). The slide went back to DW and they replaced the front sight. Now my POI was too low. Back again and the gun was dead nuts on.

Now when I took the gun to a class and was doing more than sighting it in, more trouble developed. To make a long story short I learned a lot about 1911's real fast and determined that the frame's feed ramp was improperly cut.

The gun did not have the proper gap (no gap existed) between the top of the feed ramp and the barrel. I determined that the space between the VIS and the top of the ramp was too short, resulting in the lack of the required gap. With the barrel lugs against the VIS the barrel’s throat was almost overlapping the feed ramp. During the learning process the barrel was sent to DW to be rethroated but that was a waist of time.

After trying the rethroated barrel with crappy results there was another conversation with DW customer service. Armed with measurements I made and knowledge I attained during the process I convinced their rep that the gun needed to be replaced.

Interestingly I have owned and do own quite a few guns. Never before have I had a “defective Gun” that had to be replaced. I guess it can happen. Obviously anything you are going to stake your life on needs to be thoroughly tested.

In the end I promptly received a replacement Valor that has been perfect in every way. The head of Dan Wesson's shop told me that he would personally make sure that I was receiving a working gun with the sights dead on.

In the end I was satisfied with the dealings I had with Keith at Dan Wesson. They were always very accommodating and helpful. Yes, I wish it had worked the first time right out of the box but in the end I walked away knowing a whole lot about the 1911.

There is one additional comment I would like to make. I initially was worried that the folks at DW would think I was just the typical yahoo complaining about their sights being off because they can't hit shit. I sent them a target with my slide when they replaced the sights each time. My initial conversation with Keith at DW perturbed me. When I told him how much the gun was off at 25 yards he said the gun was not meant to be used at that distance. WTFO! I regularly use it at 50 yards and beyond.

Finally in comparison to my new Ed Brown I can find no appreciable difference in any respect. Both the new Valor and the Ed Brown have been flawless and I have at least 5000 rounds through each.

My rational for buying the Valor was a backup for the Ed Brown. The Valor was configured darn near exactly the way I wanted. All I did to it was install a Ed Brown arched mainspring housing and a 10-8 short trigger.

[Redmanfms]

My $.02.

Buy a Colt, send it to a smith for a reliability package and new sights. If you shop around smiths (and gunshops for the pistol) it'll probably cost you $1500-$2000 (or less) depending on who you have do the work and what all you have done to it.

Granted, you won't have immediate gratification, but you'll end up with a better product.

ETA: Avoid aluminum frames.

[MarshallDodge]

The new Valor based Dan Wessons are nicer than anything Kimber has ever made. Lots of high quality parts go into the builds.

My experience with some older Dan Wesson pistols has been good but not excellent. My first CBOB pulled out a grip bushing and the barrel bushing started wearing early. My wife's CBOB hammer spur cracked which was a known issue for that year. DW took care of all the issues on their dime and her gun runs like a champ.

I like d90king's suggestion for a used Baer. They are very well built and reliable.

[jb7304]

Thanks for the replies. I am going to look around for a used Baer.

[AJD]

I guarantee you will be happy with a Dan Wesson CCO. Most people that say the new Dan Wesson's aren't worth the money haven't spent any time with one.

[Colo.TJ]

This was posted recently on the 1911 forums by Dave Severns. He's a gunsmith specializing in 1911s. He also sells 1911s. Both Dan Wessons and Les Baers among others. I have never owned or shot a Les Baer and I do own a Dan Wesson. I guess I'm biased but trying not to be. This is just food for thought. HTH.

To make some blanket, generalistic observations based upon a bunch of working on and a ton of testing both brands:

. Baer uses good, carbon steel for their slide, frame, and small parts. You want a carbon steel gun, it's a no-brainer.
. Baer SS slide and frame guns are "OK" in comparison, sometimes exhibiting a soft, improperly heat-treated ss small part here and there.
. New DW SS gun slide and frame steel is also forged, and of good quality. Early guns used SS that was a few points too soft for my personal taste.
. DW black guns exhibit a blackening treatment that is light years beyond the frail bluing used by Baer.
. Baers are generally a wee bit more accurate, with a tighter barrel fit
. DWs are generally better finished and more cosmetically attractive. Now, this particular aspect is very subjective. Many would say that the new DW is more "pretty", while the Baer is more "raw and powerful" looking, if you will. Kind of like a Ferrari vs a Big Block Corvette. I personally fall unto this camp, and really like that aspect of the Baer guns.
. New, 2010/2011 DWs use clearly superior small parts, period end of story.
. New DWs typically exhibit clearly superior trigger pull quality and ignition parts.
. Both guns offer reasonable warranty service, with that honored by DW often being a bit more flexible.

Link to post: http://forums.1911forum.com/showpost...8&postcount=66

Link to thread. It was a similar thread to this posted in the DW sub forum: http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=293197

[d90king]

This was posted recently on the 1911 forums by Dave Severns. He's a gunsmith specializing in 1911s. He also sells 1911s. Both Dan Wessons and Les Baers among others. I have never owned or shot a Les Baer and I do own a Dan Wesson. I guess I'm biased but trying not to be. This is just food for thought. HTH.



Link to post: http://forums.1911forum.com/showpost...8&postcount=66

Link to thread. It was a similar thread to this posted in the DW sub forum: http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=293197

You didn't just post a Dan Wesson dealer as validation for Dan Wesson pistols did you? Please stop. You have read in this thread that OWNERS (people who actually shoot them) of both would pick a Baer every time if the price was close and you post this guy to validate your bias to DW? Come on. That guy is selling guns and its why he maid his "chart" basically equal so he could say "cant go wrong with either" ... This guys opinion means nothing.

The funniest part about it is I don't think a single bad thing has been said about DW other than their prices are now to high and you still feel the need to make your self feel better. If you want to believe that your DW is as good or better than a Baer, drive on and enjoy, but don't try and make us believe what you want to believe.

[cdunn]

S&W has a cco sized al. frame out.