Any opinions on the Dan Wesson 1911's?

[Hoploholic]

I am toying with the idea of picking up a 1911 and I was wondering if any of have any opinion on the Dan Wesson offerings. What can I say, I am a sucker for new toys!

 

[withawhat]

Patriot Marksman

I purchased a Patriot Marksman about 3 months ago and I love it. The only problem I have had is with some reloads i was shooting. It is a very accurate pistol. Alot of bang fot the buck. Also their Custome service is great.

 

[Hoploholic]

Well, that sounds promising. Thanks for input with!

 

[Murphster]

I had a Pointman Major for a while. Outstanding value. Lots of custom features. Gun was very accurate. Very nice trigger. Gun was finicky about magazines. It liked some and didn't like others. Never figured out why but figured it was one of those tight tolerances sort of thing. I'd buy another one in a minute. Never had to use customer service but I hear it's very good.

 

[Siggyboy]

The DW Patriots are one of the best values in current 1911 offerings...good guns.

 

[Zak Smith]

I have over 10,000 rounds through my Patriot. I shoot it in IPSC and 3Gun. It had some teething problems but runs 100% nowadays.

-z

 

[stans]

I have only seen three, maybe four DW 1911's. They all seemed to be quality pieces, at least on par with Springfield Armory.

 

[Hoploholic]

Thanks for all the great info and for taking the time to share it. Have any of you had issue with the external extractor?

 

[Murphster]

Mine didn't have the external extractor. This should answer your question.
(if I did it right)

http://www.1911forum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?daysprune=-1&f=52tions:

 

[jefmad]

I have a Patriot Expert with about 2500 rounds through it and it has never had a problem with any ammo I have put through it. About 2000 of those rounds have been my own reloads for shooting bullseye and it has always been dependable and accurate (at least more accurate than me). It came from the factory with a very nice and crisp 3 pound trigger. A very nice 1911 for the money.

 

[jefmad]

Hoploholic, I have had 0 problems with the external extractor.

 

[Zak Smith]

I referred to some "teething" problems in my previous post. I'll elaborate.

1. I kept breaking the cross-pin that holds the two halves of the Bomar copy adjustable sight together. This was I think in part due to the elevation required on the rear sight to get POA=POI at 15 yards. I've since replaced the rear sight with a rear Bomar and a new shorter front sight and it's for thousands of rounds with no problems.

2. It stopped extracting after about 3000 rounds. This lead to FTE failures and I eventually chipped the extractor hook. I believe this was due to gunk getting in the channel the external extractor is in restricting its movement. DW sent me a replacement free of charge. I stoned the top and bottom sides of the new extractor before I put it in so there was less friction and more clearance, and have had 0 problems since then.

About a year since I bought it, this gun is a workhorse. I don't clean it often, it runs reliably, and shoots good.

-z

 

[tetchaje1]

Read my review of my new Dan Wesson Bobtail Commander here:

http://1911forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75583