Dan Wesson Specialist 9mm Review and Impressions

[Sensei]

So, my never ending quest to find a reliable 9mm 1911 has taken a new turn. My search for this white whale has previously led me to disappointments with Colt’s CCU and various Wilson offerings. In fact only, the Wilson EDC X9 series has been sufficiently reliable to carry.

Hence, I decided to auction one of my kid’s kidneys (the other will probably be up on organbroker.com next week) to buy this:



Total cost on GB after fees and shipping was a tad over $1800. It shipped new, inbox, with 2 10-round mags that were strikingly similar to my Cobramags.

Fit and Finish B+
This gun approaches the fit/finish of my Wilson’s and Springfield Pros (A-). The slide to frame fit is nowhere near as tight as as a Les Baer or Pro; it is almost identical to an Ed Brown. The interior of the slide has an etched serial number.





The safeties have no play with the thumb safety being very crisp. Grip has very aggressive texture and the front are 25 lpi. The finish reminds me of Wilson’s; time will tell how it holds up. The mag well is noice and seems well fit but not perfectly blended like my Wilson’s or Pros. I’d prefer not to have front cocking serrations but like the single notched rail.



The barrel/bushing/slide fit is tight and approaches my Pros and Baers. The barrel crown is recessed and blended perfectly to the bushing. The barrel has a feed ramp which should fell with reliability. I suspect that much of my Colt CcU’s reliability issues came from the barrel lacking this feature.



Trigger A-
Crisp 4.3 lbs with very little grit and take-up before the wall. Reset is very positive.

Reliability B+
DW recommends a 300-round break-in with ball ammo and cleaning after every 50 rounds. I put 50 rounds of 124 grain AE though it today with a mixture of factory, Tripp Cobra, Wilson ETM, and Wilson Vickers mags. No failures. The reason for only a B+ is that the cleaning after every 50 rounds is obnoxious. The grade may improve with time. Semi-custom manufacturers often test fire in the factory which earns the A at this point. Tomorrow, I will clean and repeat the 50 round with a 10-8 extractor test.

[TC215]

Reliability B+
DW recommends a 300-round break-in with ball ammo and cleaning after every 50 rounds. I put 50 rounds of 124 grain AE though it today with a mixture of factory, Tripp Cobra, Wilson ETM, and Wilson Vickers mags. No failures. The reason for only a B+ is that the cleaning after every 50 rounds is obnoxious. The grade may improve with time. Semi-custom manufacturers often test fire in the factory which earns the A at this point. Tomorrow, I will clean and repeat the 50 round with a 10-8 extractor test.

I get wanting to follow the instructions, but with my 21 Dan Wessons, I put FP-10 on the rails every 100 rounds or so for the first few hundred rounds and never had any issues. Hope you like the new gun.

[Sensei]

I get wanting to follow the instructions, but with my 21 Dan Wessons, I put FP-10 on the rails every 100 rounds or so for the first few hundred rounds and never had any issues. Hope you like the new gun.

My trials with 9mm 1911s make what Job endured seem like Disneyland. Thus, I’m going to follow the manufacturer’s instructions EXACTLY so that I know I’ve done my part of this gun shits the bed on quality JHPs.

[TC215]

My trials with 9mm 1911s make what Job endured seem like Disneyland. Thus, I’m going to follow the manufacturer’s instructions EXACTLY so that I know I’ve done my part of this gun shits the bed on quality JHPs.

Understood. I had far, far better luck with my 9mm DW's than I did with my 9mm Wilsons.

FWIW, my DW's seemed to like 124gr Gold Dots and HSTs, and 135gr Hornady.

[Sensei]

Understood. I had far, far better luck with my 9mm DW's than I did with my 9mm Wilsons.

FWIW, my DW's seemed to like 124gr Gold Dots and HSTs, and 135gr Hornady.

I’m liking that. 147 gr HST is my preferred round. GDHP at 124 or 147 are a close second.

[TOTS]

I get wanting to follow the instructions, but with my 21 Dan Wessons, I put FP-10 on the rails every 100 rounds or so for the first few hundred rounds and never had any issues. Hope you like the new gun.

Agreed; my Dan Wesson break in procedures include reloading the magazines every ten rnds and adding oil on each range trip (or not 🤷*).

[Ichiban]

I get wanting to follow the instructions, but with my 21 Dan Wessons, I put FP-10 on the rails every 100 rounds or so for the first few hundred rounds and never had any issues. Hope you like the new gun.

Okay, I'm officially jealous.

I have had about half that many but usually ran around 200 round per range session when new with no problems. 9mm, 45acp, same same. But then, I tend to clean and lube my guns after every range session.

Gotta say that I think highly of Dan Wessons.

[TC215]

Okay, I'm officially jealous.

I have had about half that many but usually ran around 200 round per range session when new with no problems. 9mm, 45acp, same same. But then, I tend to clean and lube my guns after every range session.

Gotta say that I think highly of Dan Wessons.

I’m down to just one. I switched to a Glock agency and got rid of almost all of my 1911’s. I do miss them, though.

[Sensei]

100 more rounds today. First, I performed an extractor tension test by sliding an empty casing under the extractor to make sure that it’s held firm in place when the slide is shaken. It held firm.

Next up was the 10-8 extractor test using 124 grain AE. This is where single rounds are fired without a magazine so that there is minimal support of the case on extraction; 8 are fired 2-handed then 8-single handed. Did great on the first 8 rounds 2-hand grip. It stove piped the last round (#8) on the one handed grip. I cycled another entire test and it did fine on all 16 rounds. All spent brass ejected between 2-4 o’clock. I’m going to give this a pass overall.

I finished up that box firing a DW mags. The only other issue was a failure to lock the slide back on an empty DW mag at around the 95-round mark. This was likely caused by my aggressive, thumbs-forward grip and occasional happens on other 1912 and non-1911 platforms.

After a quick wipe down and relube, I fired 50 rounds of 124 gr Speer Lawman using a mixture of mags. No issues.

So, we are now at 150 rounds. No feeding or extraction issues when using a magazine. 1 stove-pipe out of 24 rounds fired on 10-8 extractor testing.

Overall reliability grade still a B+.

[stinx]

be careful what you use to clean the gun if it has DW duty finish. Read the manual about what cleaners to use The finish is very abrasion resistant, but some cleaners will cause it to become cloudy and distorted. They recommend Kroil. YMMV