Dan Wesson 9MM Specialist Issue

[Trukinjp13]

That is one of my concerns. They addressed one seen issue but are there others? How does a gun go from having issues to running like a top? 550 rounds is not a lot of ammo but it is spread over three different sessions, with no cleaning between two of the range trips. Again, not a ton of ammo but at least it is running!

The only thing an FI and I could come up with was when the 14lb spring was inserted it ground down whatever was causing the issue (outside of the feed ramp needing to be recut). DW got the gun back, ran another 300 rounds through it and whatever "wearing" in needed to be done was complete.

Just to clarify, non of what I wrote above is acceptable with a duty weapon. We were just trying to figure out why the gun now runs like a house on fire.

Wesson builds their guns differently then other manufacturers. Which is also why they are so big on the “break in” cycle for them. Basically the first 5-750 rounds through the fun help finish the machining process. I know that sounds crude. But instead of everything being perfectly hand fit and costing thousands. They have good parts built to a certain spec. Sometimes they need thousands of an inch to sync perfectly together.

As far as the recoil spring. I was told that they use a 12# spring in the 9mm commander guns from the factory. That was from Wesson and a well known smith. Maybe in the past they used 10# springs?

I have found grease or a heavier oil really helps with this. Just lube the fuck out of it and run ammo in her. I like em really wet for the initial. I also usually will break it down and disassemble the slide and feel how freely it cycles by hand.


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[jeep45238]

Mainspring is 18lbs and the commander recoil spring for 9mm is 12lbs.

Like I said at the beginning of this thread, the DW 9mm's are sprung really light. Nothing wrong with going up to 12lb spring for a 5" gun or 14lb spring for a commander.

Just repeating directly what Kieth from DW said. He acknowledged it isn’t standard per Wolf’s charts, but it’s what they do.

I just swapped my Springfield gov over to those specs, and it is a much better shooting gun.

[TC215]

Just repeating directly what Kieth from DW said. He acknowledged it isn’t standard per Wolf’s charts, but it’s what they do.

I just swapped my Springfield gov over to those specs, and it is a much better shooting gun.

This is directly from Keith Lawton:

Updated 5/13/2019


All Chrome Silicon Recoil Springs
(all weights are approximate, they can vary slightly)

5" & 6" .45 18.0 lb
5" & 6" 10mm 22.0 lb
5" 40 S&W 18.0 lb
5" 38 Super 12.0 lb
5" 9mm 10.0 lb

4.25" .45 20.0 lb
4.25" 10mm 24.0 lb
4.25" 38 Super 14.0 lb
4.25" 9mm 12.0 lb

4" .45 Flat wire 22.0 lb
4" 9mm Flat wire 13.0 lb

3.5" .45 Flat wire 22.0 lb
3.5" 9mm Flat wire 18.0 lb

These are all standard springs. No variable springs.

Full sized mainsprings 18.0 lb

Officer and bobbed mainsprings 23.0 lb

Firing pin springs
Extra power

At one point, the full-sized mainspring was 18.5lbs, but the 9mm commanders have always been 12 lbs (at least back to 2008).

[TC215]

Wesson builds their guns differently then other manufacturers. Which is also why they are so big on the “break in” cycle for them. Basically the first 5-750 rounds through the fun help finish the machining process. I know that sounds crude. But instead of everything being perfectly hand fit and costing thousands. They have good parts built to a certain spec. Sometimes they need thousands of an inch to sync perfectly together.

That has not been my experience at all.

DW CNC machines their parts to very close spec's, and hand-fits the rest of the way. What you're describing is Les Baer's build philosophy.

I've had 21 DW's and plan on ordering number 22 soon. All of them have run out of the box without any special break-in procedure, other than running them wet for the first couple hundred rounds.

[Trukinjp13]

That has not been my experience at all.

DW CNC machines their parts to very close spec's, and hand-fits the rest of the way. What you're describing is Les Baer's build philosophy.

I've had 21 DW's and plan on ordering number 22 soon. All of them have run out of the box without any special break-in procedure, other than running them wet for the first couple hundred rounds.

I have quite a few friends with 9mm Dan Wesson’s and more than not they had to run them really wet for the first 500 rounds to work perfect. Especially stainless steel guns that were not coated. Mine has been great out of the box with over lubing. They do not have the fit and finish feel of a Wilson. But they will be great guns the more you shoot them.

Every one can keyboard fix your gun but at the end of the day these are finely crafted pistols. They require a certain level of attention and care. Sometimes the manufacturer may be off a step on the build or it simply needs a little tuning to get it to run correctly. I have seen guns get oversprung when they simply just needed a lot of cycles for the slide to travel freely upon the frame. Sometimes that trigger that feels a little hitchy will also smooth out and feel great. The great part is there is so much material out there to help you. 10-8 has some really great info on figuring out if your gun is over or undersprung. Once you get them right though ain’t nothing shoots like em.


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[M2CattleCo]

It would take a seriously soft and low quality piece of metal to wear itself by just lightly rubbing on another piece of metal. If it did, it wouldn't magically quit wearing when it got to JMB's spec. It would keep wearing and be trashed wore out in short order.

If it takes a heavier recoil spring to smash the barrel over the slide stop to get the thing back in battery, your barrel fit is bad. If you want to live with that, is your decision, but you're not going to get the potential life, accuracy, and reliability of a properly fit barrel.

Finely crafted 1911s should be brute workhorse pistols. All the special care they should need is dump some oil at it and shoot the hell out of it. Snowflakey little things that take special maintenance and rituals are not built right.

[19852+]

I'm not a gunsmith but my experience gained from running 3 2000 round challenges with my Colt .38 super is load and spring for reliability. For me and my super it meant a 124/5 gr. bullet at close to 1200fps and a Wilson #15 flatwire recoil spring. My mainspring is stock Colt. I found this combination to be able to power through accumulated gunk build up.
I did have the feed ramp and breach face polished.

For what it's worth.

[jeep45238]

This is directly from Keith Lawton:

At one point, the full-sized mainspring was 18.5lbs, but the 9mm commanders have always been 12 lbs (at least back to 2008).

No, the mainsprings for full-size are the same weight regardless of caliber, the recoil spring changed depending on slide length and caliber for full-size grip'd frames. 18.5 or 19# is close enough for me to be able to tell. By keeping the same mainspring weight it ensures the same impact to the primer, and streamlines manufacturing processes by having one unit regardless of caliber or slide length if the mainspring fits.

For what it's worth, a 19# ISMI mainspring and a 12# Wolf recoil spring have the same resistance as the factory spring setup on my 9mm commander, and the same mainspring and 10# recoil spring in my 5" 9mm feels insanely light compared to the factory from Springfield, yet shoots so much smoother it's silly.

Anyway - just because DW runs those spring setups doesn't mean it's locked in stone, but you do need to make sure the mainspring and recoil spring weights are paired together for proper operation and smooth recoil impulse.

[TC215]

Double tap

[TC215]

No, the mainsprings for full-size are the same weight regardless of caliber, the recoil spring changed depending on slide length and caliber for full-size grip'd frames. 18.5 or 19# is close enough for me to be able to tell. By keeping the same mainspring weight it ensures the same impact to the primer, and streamlines manufacturing processes by having one unit regardless of caliber or slide length if the mainspring fits.

I’m aware, I was referencing the 12 pound recoil spring of the 9mm. Just trying to point out what the spring weights actually are from the factory.

Mainspring is 18lbs and the commander recoil spring for 9mm is 12lbs.