Dan Wesson Specialist in 10mm

[Sensei]

Well, it went out FedEx today. Fingers crossed for a turnaround that is under 2 months.

[JAD]

Well, it went out FedEx today. Fingers crossed for a turnaround that is under 2 months.

my experience is very dated; they are not the same folks at all. However, my sole experience was 2 weeks door to door.

[Dov]

Yeah, it’s going back to Dan Wesson. I only got through about 5 rounds of AE with the Wilson magazines. The pistol would not chamber a round from slide lock with one of the mags. When shooting from the other two mags, the gun would have a catastrophic FTF where it was slightly out of battery after 2 rounds. No amount of reasonable force could be applied to retract the slide even after dropping the magazine to clear the malfunction. The slide was essentially locked up. The back of the side needed to be hit several times to send it completely home. Then, once seated, the slide still could not be retracted and the only way to clear the malfunction was to actually fire the live round in the chamber. Yeah, not good.

While this only occurred with the Wilson magazines, I have a hard time blaming an inability to retract the slide once a round is chambered on the mags. I didn’t try it with the DW mags since I was afraid that the gun may have an out of battery malfunction that couldn’t be cleared leaving me with a partially chambered hot round.

Oh well.

Yeah that's same issue I had with mine.

[SwampDweller]

Damn. I've been looking for a 1911 that would be reliable for 1k without a stoppage (given proper lube and cleaning between range trips) since I was 16. Between Colt and Springfield, I haven't been able to find one yet. Was considering a Dan Wesson Valor 5" Gov't Model in .45 Auto, but it just seems like all options are finicky compared to my USP, G21, or a Hk45 or previously-owned HK45C. Was a hair away from buying a Wilson CQB, but a friend bought one and had to send it back for reliability issues. It came back alright, but if I paid that kind of money for a self-defense-worthy .45 and it ended up like that, my head would explode.

[JAD]

Damn. I've been looking for a 1911 that would be reliable for 1k without a stoppage (given proper lube and cleaning between range trips) since I was 16.

I wouldn’t draw conclusions about Dan Wesson in general from this 10mm saga.

I have a lot of guns that meet your criteria.

[Sensei]

Agreed. A DW 10mm is not a predictor of their .45 or even 9mm offerings. Take a look at my thread on the 9mm Specialist - no failures in the first 600+ with a mixture of ball and JHP ammo across a range of DW, Tripp, and WC magazines.

[Sensei]

Yeah that's same issue I had with mine.

Was it addressed by changing the barrel link and some chamber polishing as described earlier in the thread?

[Dov]

Was it addressed by changing the barrel link and some chamber polishing as described earlier in the thread?

I sold it to buddy that does lot more handloading and tinkering with guns than I do, he was aware of the issue since he'd been helping me with it to start.

IIRC we sent it back to DW once while I still owned it and it came back with same problem.

I'm not sure what all he tried after I sold it to him, he kept it longer than I did but eventually sold/traded it away. What I remember him saying is that it had really tight chamber.

Edited to add:

Eventually got Glock 29SF to replace the DW and it shoots the ammo DW choked on absolutely fine.

Still have fair bit of that ammo left because I ordered case of it, and I don't shoot the 10mm a lot anymore.

Because of health/pain issues I mainly shoot 9mm, 38's, and 44 special in handguns now.

i can shoot the G29SF without pain from recoil but the harder grip required is borderline for triggering my hand pain issues.

[Dov]

On positive note the gf really likes the G29, or liked the challenge of shooting it vs her own G19 & G26 and shot up most of the 10mm when we last took it to the range.

Since she doesn't like revolvers it will probably eventually become her critter handgun.

I can find comfortable but effective hunting gun/loads combinations with revolvers.

[BWT]

Damn. I've been looking for a 1911 that would be reliable for 1k without a stoppage (given proper lube and cleaning between range trips) since I was 16. Between Colt and Springfield, I haven't been able to find one yet. Was considering a Dan Wesson Valor 5" Gov't Model in .45 Auto, but it just seems like all options are finicky compared to my USP, G21, or a Hk45 or previously-owned HK45C. Was a hair away from buying a Wilson CQB, but a friend bought one and had to send it back for reliability issues. It came back alright, but if I paid that kind of money for a self-defense-worthy .45 and it ended up like that, my head would explode.

My SA TRP went a thousand without any hiccups with Tripp Magazines.

It had an issue with one Wilson 500 mag (ETM - non flat spring) and I’m done with Wilson magazines. That’s like three-four failures between that one and my Dan Wesson CBOB.

What had worked for me is Cobra magazines. YMMV.

ETA: I know guys swear by them but I found something that so far has always worked and my search stopped. That search included - Wilson 500 (ETM - non flat spring), Wilson 47D, and Chip McCormick 10 round magazines. I had a night Hawk magazine that gave no issues and from what I recall my DW factory mags gave no issues. Finding a reliable magazine cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Honestly, it was one of my criteria for going Glock but anyway.