Dan Wesson Specialist Optics Ready 45ACP

[Sensei]

I fired another 120 rounds of Federal 230 grain AE and 25 rounds of Speer 230 grain Gold Dot. This time, all rounds were fired with a Surefire X300U-A and an assortment of DW and Wilson ETM mags. While there were no failures, I noticed that it seemed to be shooting 3 inches low at 10 yards offhand, and my clearance rate on a 6-plate rack was about 75% at 10 yards with most misses hitting the frame. Up to this point, 50% of my rounds were 5-yard Dot Tortures and the rest under 10 yards. Thus, I took the gun back to 20 yards for the first time and fired supported by a Caldwell shooting bag. While not a a real rest, I figured it would minimize some of the human element. It grouped 5 round of the AE in about 2.0” but 6” low and 2” left. Overall, that accuracy seems pretty reasonable from a supported position since 2” is covered by the width of the factory front sight at 20 yards. I believe that the front sight on the Optics Ready pistols is identical to standard guns, so my suspicion is that the rear sight plate is too high. I’m not going to make any changes in the sights until I’ve decided on an optic.

Total Rounds Fired: 425
-300 Federal 230 grain AE
- 50 Speer 230 grain Gold Dot

FTF 0; FTE 0; Passed 10-8 Extractor Test

[Sensei]

Today it was 50 rounds of Federal 230 grain HST without a hiccup.

Total Rounds Fired: 475
-300 Federal 230 grain AE
- 50 Speer 230 grain Gold Dot
- 50 Federal 230 grain HST

FTF 0; FTE 0; Passed 10-8 Extractor Test

I’m ready to go out on a limb and say this gun is pretty reliable so far. I normally don’t consider putting a 1911 into the carry rotation until it gets to at least 1000 drauma-free rounds with 20% being JHPs. However, I’m going to put the brakes on any more rounds through this gun until DW gets their act together. All optics plates have been out of stock at distributors for several months, and the optics plate for the ACRO hasn’t been released yet. Making matters worse, the DW web store has been offline for a few weeks for a “server upgrade,” and nobody at DW can tell me anything about their products while the server is down. So, there is no point in further vetting a gun that shoots 4-5” low and is in a plate availability holding pattern.

[RAM Engineer]

Although I’ve known both facts, it just hit me today that CZ owns both Colt and Dan Wesson.

[HeavyDuty]

I considered looking for one of these because my ECP experience has been so good, but to be honest CZ’s stewardship of DW doesn’t seem stable or reliable right now. I’ll revisit if they ever get their heads out of their prdels.

[45dotACP]

Although I’ve known both facts, it just hit me today that CZ owns both Colt and Dan Wesson.

And heaps of people likely hoped that DWs influence would make a better Colt product...but more likely than not, the problems at Colt are likely to infect the quality at Dan Wesson.

The girl you dated in college with the face tattoos who you hoped would turn her life around was only ever going to ruin yours. It was ever thus.

[SW CQB 45]

last year, I sent a DW Valor to CZ for re-blue. I used the online return to factory. I was quoted a decent price for the reblue as I wanted to sell the DWV and the factory was the lowest quote. Was in the 200 to 300 range (depending on the work) were Ford's Refinishing (who do good work) was in the 300-400 range.

The advised a turnaround of 6 weeks.

It sat at CZ for months, I think 4 IIRC.

I spoke to someone at DW about my pistol who said CZ was understaffed and my gun was untouched.

They had my gun shipped to DW and I think they had to outsource the blueing as I was told they dont blue.

I got SUPER lucky as they did not charge me for the inconvenience.

[Sensei]

Received my Trijicon plate from CZ today. It seems very well made. The fist picture is the optic mounting surface with Glock dovetail for back-up irons:



I particularly like the pattern on the plate-slide interface which really locks the place on to the slide and should minimize shear forces on the screw:




As for those screw, I 100% agree with Hilton Yam’s review. He noted that the screws are #6-40 which is the thread, but you will actually need a 5/64 Hex bit. This is incredibly small for the application and prone to strip under the recommended 12-15 inch-lb of recommended torque. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE BIT FULLY SEATED IN THE SCREW HEAD BEFORE TURNING. USE A MAGNIFYING GLASS AND STOP IF YOU SEE THE METAL GIVE WITHOUT TURNING. This choice in screw head is a great way to insure that CZÂ’s customer service line stays busy.

Below is the mounted plate with witness marks. I’m going to start playing with a 0.250-0.335” height Glock rears while I wait on a Trijicon RCR to arrive at Primary Arms as the .mil/LE pricing is comparable to an ACRO.

[HeavyDuty]

Below is the mounted plate with witness marks. I’m going to start playing with a 0.250-0.335” height Glock rears while I wait on a Trijicon RCR to arrive at Primary Arms as the .mil/LE pricing is comparable to an ACRO.

What are you using for witness marks? Everything I’ve found is either too coarse, too thin and runny or both.

[Sensei]

What are you using for witness marks? Everything IÂ’ve found is either too coarse, too thin and runny or both.

Sharpie Paint / Peinture

https://www.sharpie.com/markers/chal...P_37371PP.html

I have the medium point but would recommend the fine point if I had to do in again.

Another book keeping note on this optics plate. The Glock dovetail is raised over the optic plate. Hilton Yam described his .250” 10-8 Performance Glock rear sight for what he claimed was a 0.325” total height over the optic plate floor. This he described as producing an overall height of 0.325” which he noted allowed him see over the deck of his Holosun 508T However, this is a bit surprising to me since the Holosun 508T deck height is generally quoted at 0.335” which should not be cleared in Hilton’s setup. I put calipers to the dovetail and agree that it sits 0.075” over the optic plate. Regardless, this most likely will NOT clear an RMR, SRO, or RCR that have a rear deck height of 0.35”. You would likely need to go with at least a 0.300” sight. 10-8 Performance makes an optics compatible Glock rear that is 0.320” over the rear which will eat up more window space. A 0.30” would probably be perfect if going with a Trijicon optic.

[Sensei]

So, I rewatching Hilton’s video, he describes his 10-8 0.250” rear sight (above the dovetail) as being a total of 0.325” (including the 0.075” dovetail). However, this not the true height over the optic plate since the dovetail is raised another roughly 0.075” over the plate. Thus, he is probably a total roughly 0.39-0.4” over the optic plate which allows him about 0.07” clearance over his optics deck which sits at 0.335”. It is likely that his rear sight would also work on a Trijicon RMR/RCR with a deck height of 0.350” but it’s probably safer to go a tad taller.