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Thread: Dan Wesson 1911 pistols

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by 300WM View Post
    To me, it is not worth it. The Kimber is a very good pistol. If it will do what you want, then that is the way I would go. At the same time, I tend to be an impulse buyer, at times, and I usually will buy what I want, regardless of what forums or reviews say. Ultimately, do you want the DW instead of the Kimber, because if you do, a knot will form in your stomach because you did not buy it. If it is merely a "get the job done" pistol, then save yourself the extra $700. jmho.
    Agreed. I go with the Kimber.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  2. #32
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    Have 3 Dan Wessons 2 Valors .. 09 and 2010
    1 Heritage 2010
    They are well made production pistols that have been reliable so far.
    The Valors at 25 yards can more than hold there own with most semi custom 1911's.
    I think the SS models are a good deal and can be found for a decent price.
    I only carry Gov. size 1911's so am the wrong person to ask about smaller pistols.

  3. #33
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    Back when I bought my CBOB in 09 I came to the conclusion that it was the best production 1911 I would be able to get for the price range. Of course that's just my humble opinion. The fit and finish are great as well as it shoots flawlessly. However once they bumped price in '10 I was a little bummed as I was looking into grabbing a Valor or Vbob. Granted if when I do purchase another 1911 DW will still be high on my list.

    As for Dave, I frequently visit and am a member of that forum and he is a stand up guy, as well as an extremely knowledgeable guy on the 1911 platform.

  4. #34
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    CCO Shootout

    JB,
    I told you earlier that I have DW and LB handguns and like them both. I also agree with Thursday's assessment of Dave. I believe there is a thread on the 1911forum.com Dan Wesson forum titled 2010 CCO shootout that has a lot of good info. There is also a Les Baer forum on the same site with good info. Good luck with your choice. I think you be fine with either one.
    Eric

  5. #35
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    When DW raised their prices to 1300-1700+ I think they killed the market that they had established for themselves. They were a great value at sub 1k, at todays prices I don't see the value in their products.
    I've talked about my CBOB enough times, that I feel kind of bad mentioning it.

    If I had to do it all over again. I'd go with a gun with a finish, the black melonite looks good.

    To be 1000% honest with you, my CBOB is nice, but to tell you the truth.

    I've had a broken hammer. The grip safety was loose (lots of side to side movement) and the spring wasn't tensioned when I got it (I adjusted it, after an email with Dan Wesson, no big deal), I was new to 1911's and honestly, detail stripping it was very intimidating and frustrating, but I got everything worked out. I feel like that was a little lack luster. I adjusted the spring, the grip safety felt much better.

    I was worried it'd turn into something like this.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqGL_5AI4Yo


    Never had such experience.

    There was a generous amount of machining where the grip safety goes, so it has a lot of movement compared to my Father's CBOB.

    I have a lot of vertical movement in my trigger, my Father's doesn't.

    I broke a portion of the spurred hammer on mine. Mailed it to DW, they took care of it.

    I carry it, and I mean carry it, part of the reason I'd recommend that finish is it's really left a sour taste in my mouth with rust, but, that happens with any firearm, just to different degrees, it's not that bad this time of year, but, it still happens.

    The checkering in the top portion was buffed off a little bit, and then bead blasted, I spoke with DW about it, they offered to machine it off and re-finish it, I said some bad checkering was better than no checkering and decided to keep it. Saw something similar on the second CBOB, but not nearly as exacerbated.

    I liked the gun, I really loved it when I first bought it.

    I almost suspect I got a lemon.

    I posted a thread about these concerns over on the 1911forums. Got chewed out, saying I wanted to mod the gun, needless to say, the hammer that I was worried about or wanted to put super cool mod flame jobs on? Part of it hit the ceiling while dry firing it with snap caps a week after I posted that thread.

    http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=274674

    It's a good read, but, that's photographs of every issue I've mentioned. (I'm not going to photograph rust, unless you want me to... I need to clean it tonight)

    That and needing to replace magazine springs, I'm kind of coming to the conclusion that the 1911 should only be used with 7 round magazines. Guys are replacing their 8 round magazine springs, some recommending every 6-8 months.

    I won't even use my Chip McCormick 10-rounder power mags anymore.

    I have some failures to lock back intermittently., but, full disclosure, I changed out all the followers and springs for longer (more coils per spring, and about 1'' longer) Night Hawk Followers and springs. (ETA: I forgot to say, I did that because I thought they'd be more reliable, I really need to order some Wolff springs, what do you guys use, 11 lb springs?)

    I've never replaced any other magazine springs for any other weapon in my life. But, anyway.

    That being said, I think with the price increase, Quality Control is much better.

    Also, my father's exhibited almost none of the issues I had in mine. Except the checkering and that to a lesser extent.

    That's been my honest experience with them.

    It seems to be isolated.

    But even after that the gun MSRP'd for around $1000 and sold for 900-1000 when I bought it.

    I honestly suspect I got a lemon.

    Those are all issues I really had, no punches pulled.

    5-Year warranty too, to the original purchaser, so I'd be hesitant to buy them used, CZ is a bit of a stickler for that.

    If the gun's over a $1000 it should have a lifetime warranty, IMHO.
    Last edited by BWT; 01-24-11 at 20:04.

  6. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by BWT View Post
    I've talked about my CBOB enough times, that I feel kind of bad mentioning it.

    If I had to do it all over again. I'd go with a gun with a finish, the black melonite looks good.

    To be 1000% honest with you, my CBOB is nice, but to tell you the truth.

    I've had a broken hammer. The grip safety was loose (lots of side to side movement) and the spring wasn't tensioned when I got it (I adjusted it, after an email with Dan Wesson, no big deal), I was new to 1911's and honestly, detail stripping it was very intimidating and frustrating, but I got everything worked out. I feel like that was a little lack luster. I adjusted the spring, the grip safety felt much better.

    I was worried it'd turn into something like this.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqGL_5AI4Yo


    Never had such experience.

    There was a generous amount of machining where the grip safety goes, so it has a lot of movement compared to my Father's CBOB.

    I have a lot of vertical movement in my trigger, my Father's doesn't.

    I broke a portion of the spurred hammer on mine. Mailed it to DW, they took care of it.

    I carry it, and I mean carry it, part of the reason I'd recommend that finish is it's really left a sour taste in my mouth with rust, but, that happens with any firearm, just to different degrees, it's not that bad this time of year, but, it still happens.

    The checkering in the top portion was buffed off a little bit, and then bead blasted, I spoke with DW about it, they offered to machine it off and re-finish it, I said some bad checkering was better than no checkering and decided to keep it. Saw something similar on the second CBOB, but not nearly as exacerbated.

    I liked the gun, I really loved it when I first bought it.

    I almost suspect I got a lemon.

    I posted a thread about these concerns over on the 1911forums. Got chewed out, saying I wanted to mod the gun, needless to say, the hammer that I was worried about or wanted to put super cool mod flame jobs on? Part of it hit the ceiling while dry firing it with snap caps a week after I posted that thread.

    http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=274674

    It's a good read, but, that's photographs of every issue I've mentioned. (I'm not going to photograph rust, unless you want me to... I need to clean it tonight)

    That and needing to replace magazine springs, I'm kind of coming to the conclusion that the 1911 should only be used with 7 round magazines. Guys are replacing their 8 round magazine springs, some recommending every 6-8 months.

    I won't even use my Chip McCormick 10-rounder power mags anymore.

    I have some failures to lock back intermittently., but, full disclosure, I changed out all the followers and springs for longer (more coils per spring, and about 1'' longer) Night Hawk Followers and springs. (ETA: I forgot to say, I did that because I thought they'd be more reliable, I really need to order some Wolff springs, what do you guys use, 11 lb springs?)

    I've never replaced any other magazine springs for any other weapon in my life. But, anyway.

    That being said, I think with the price increase, Quality Control is much better.

    Also, my father's exhibited almost none of the issues I had in mine. Except the checkering and that to a lesser extent.

    That's been my honest experience with them.

    It seems to be isolated.

    But even after that the gun MSRP'd for around $1000 and sold for 900-1000 when I bought it.

    I honestly suspect I got a lemon.

    Those are all issues I really had, no punches pulled.

    5-Year warranty too, to the original purchaser, so I'd be hesitant to buy them used, CZ is a bit of a stickler for that.

    If the gun's over a $1000 it should have a lifetime warranty, IMHO.

    Its nice to see someone take the time to give an honest evaluation on a pistol that they own, warts and all. Well done.

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by DUNDEM View Post
    Agreed. I go with the Kimber.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Are you really recommending one of the most problematic, MIM filled 1911's on the market in a thread about Dan Wesson with your first post? Other than Taurus, there are very few 1911's who have proven their lack of reliability and poor quality like Kimber has. The people who buy a Kimbers, are generally those whose eyes glaze over as they look at the glossy ad's in the rags as they sit on the can and drop the kids off at the pool...

    Take some time and start to read and learn before posting drivel.
    Last edited by d90king; 01-24-11 at 23:14.

  8. #38
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    Its nice to see someone take the time to give an honest evaluation on a pistol that they own, warts and all. Well done.
    I just tried to be honest.

    Honestly, that's how mine was, my Father's, it's a bit of a night and day experience.

    Didn't have any of the vertical play in the trigger, horizontal play in the grip safety, had the newer thicker hammer that they were using (and replaced my broken one with, all their models seem to come standard with the newer thicker one, or an Ed Brown Hammer). Grip Safety was properly tensioned from the factory, no side to side "wiggle" that I had. (ETA: I think my impression of that wiggle was also from the fact they didn't tension the spring correctly, again, but that was my out of the box experience, again, first 1911, first handgun) The checkering top row has some slight over buffing, where some of it was ground off slightly, but other then that, it's craftsmanship is fantastic, everything IMHO, is as it should be.

    I feel it's a good quality firearm, but, I wanted to tell the truth about what I got.

    They still have a 5-year Warranty on the new ones.

    I get the impression the new models are definitely higher quality.

    They MSRP for about double the price, I would not accept any of the things I listed for their prices these days.

    But again, seem to be much higher quality. I'll keep this gun the rest of my life.

    It's an accurate gun, I just wanted to say all of the negative things I had with mine, but, it's a very accurate gun, and I feel it's a "Production" gun, so I don't feel cheated, honestly.

    Anyway, good luck to the O.P.

    ETA 2: For the price, I feel some of those things are acceptable, at the price I bought it at, again, but anyway, I'll leave it at that.

    ETA 3: As a side note, I also got mine in '08.
    Last edited by BWT; 01-24-11 at 22:07.

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by AJD View Post
    Just a few quick thoughts.

    The new Dan Wesson's Valor models have improved small parts, forged frames, better checkering, undercut trigger guard, improved sights and a better finish(the new Ionbond type finish, on some models) than older Dan Wesson models. And many would say better fit and finish as well. So to compare an older DW to a Les Baer and say that the newer Dan Wesson models aren't worth the price doesn't make any sense really as they aren't one and the same.

    Saying a used Les Baer, Ed Brown, etc. costs the same as a new Valor is kind of a silly argument...I could just reply and say to go find a user Valor because it will cost the same as a high end Kimber.

    Speaking of price, a stainless Valor can be found new for under $1400. They really aren't priced the same as a Les Baer. If your talking about the black finished ones then its going to be close to the Baer...but then you are comparing a gun with a $300 Ionbond type finish to a traditional blue finish. Refinish the Baer in Ionbond and then compare prices again.

    I'm not trying to imply that Dan Wesson's Valor models are just as good or better than a Baer but they are comparable in terms of quality of parts used at least if not fit and finish as well(Haven't had close up time with a Baer so its not my place to make blanket statements about which is "better" in that regard.) I would say that you could probably trust the Baer name more than Dan Wesson but that also doesn't mean that a Valor won't run just as well as a Baer.

    I will make this brief... I understand the point you are trying to make and you articulated in a well thought out manner.

    Here is the biggest things that you are missing in your equation though. DW 1911's are manufactured or as many would say... simply put together like a puzzle. They are a regular production pistols like Kimber, Colt and SA (except for the custom shop Pro) to name a few of the major players in that segment...

    My point is very simple and maybe it is lost due to its simplicity. When you go up to that next segment (semi custom) its not just the parts that are superior to production line 1911's. You are getting countless hours of hand fitting of every single part on the gun and in many cases no two are alike...

    One of the most critical components to a reliable 1911 is the fitting of each and every part as you BUILD the pistol vs "putting it together" .... Its not just the parts used, its the actual fitting of the pistol that separates the production segment from the semi custom market.

    This is why I feel that if you are having to spend middle to high teens for a 1911 that the Baer is a tremendous value when compared to an off the line 1911.

    There is a great article and video floating around about the amount of hours and fitting spent on each and every Baer that is worth the watch / read.

    You bring up finishes which are valid however in this case its mute as you could buy a used Super Tac for middle to high teens...

    The other thing I am struck by with many in the DW click is how little they actually shoot them... In some ways they dont seem to have a good basis to see if the damn thing is actually reliable. I see so many I have 400 flawless rounds, I have 1300 flawless rounds etc... I have shot tens of thousands of rounds through Baers in very harsh environments and thats how I know they work and are an excellent value in the marketplace...

    I wont get into the shilling that goes on over on TOS that you guys are referring to. Sadly m1911 is dead as there used to be a good amount of information their for a long time...

    Hopefully this better clarifies my point and position.

  10. #40
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    I understand your point. I will say that my Dan Wesson Valor and Vbob are head on shoulders above my previous Colt Special Combat's pistols in terms of fitting and quality throughout and to group them with Colt, Kimber, etc. just isn't accurate in my view. They use better parts and show a much higher level of fit and finish throughout. They seem to fall above the other standard production 1911's and below the semi customs I guess. Which is a position they had before, they have just moved up in price and quality. Maybe too high in price as you have suggested.

    At this point the biggest problem with a DW is that DW is still a niche 1911 that few people consider or own and therefore they will continue to be viewed with doubt concerning their quality and they have yet to prove that quality through years of hard use by a large enough branch of shooters.

    To be honest they need someone like you d90king to buy one and put it through its paces. I will donate $1 towards this charitable effort.

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