Zak Smith
Member
Here are some pictures of my new Dan Wesson Patriot Expert (Blue). I picked this up locally for a decent price and have put about 500 rounds of S&B ball through it so far. The trigger is good, and it shoots to point of aim when I do my part. The adjustable sights needed no changes from the box.
(click for large image) Right-hand side profile
(click for large image) Left-hand side profile. Blemishes are my fingerprints.
(click for large image) Right-hand rear quarter profile. Bluing is deep and consistent.
(click for large image) Left-hand side from the front.
(click for large image) Muzzle front view. Polished grain on slide flats is perfect.
(click for large image) Left-hand side view outdoors. The sunlight brings out the blue very well. The white on the underside is just a visual effect of the matting.
The pistol smoothed out considerably in this break-in period. Ejection has become flawless and consistent. The trigger remains excellent. The thumb safety "snickiness" has improved considerably. Frame/Slide fit was and remains tight. There is a small amount of barrel/slide play, just a hair over "perceptible movement." Feeds okay from CMC 8-round mags and Wilson 47D. The tight chamber won't work with my SWC handloads which work fine in a Kimber and Colt, but it chambers Proload 230's fine.
The pistol only had two imperfections out of the box:
The rear sight rides aweful high when zerod. It could use a shorter front sight.
There's a recess in the right-hand side of the trigger raceway. It looks like someone took a soldering iron to some plastic. The word from Dan Wesson is that this is from the "broaching tool for the trigger" and it's "OK", "not a defect", and "some frames will have it." I found it disappointing that they weren't embarassed it left their factory, but I did buy this pistol for shooting a lot, not looking at.
I don't have a picture, but there are rub marks on the last 1.5" of the right-hand side of the slide where it intermittently rubs the top edge of the dustcover. This is somewhat annoying. D.W. said they'd refinish the slide, later.
The original cross-pin for the Bomar-style sight was junk, and I had my local smith replace it with a full-width properly sized solid pin.
I will probably replace the FLGR with a 1911A1-style plug, since the two-piece FLGR keeps unscrewing itself (even with med. locktite).
All in all, I like it.
(click for large image) Right-hand side profile
(click for large image) Left-hand side profile. Blemishes are my fingerprints.
(click for large image) Right-hand rear quarter profile. Bluing is deep and consistent.
(click for large image) Left-hand side from the front.
(click for large image) Muzzle front view. Polished grain on slide flats is perfect.
(click for large image) Left-hand side view outdoors. The sunlight brings out the blue very well. The white on the underside is just a visual effect of the matting.
The pistol smoothed out considerably in this break-in period. Ejection has become flawless and consistent. The trigger remains excellent. The thumb safety "snickiness" has improved considerably. Frame/Slide fit was and remains tight. There is a small amount of barrel/slide play, just a hair over "perceptible movement." Feeds okay from CMC 8-round mags and Wilson 47D. The tight chamber won't work with my SWC handloads which work fine in a Kimber and Colt, but it chambers Proload 230's fine.
The pistol only had two imperfections out of the box:
The rear sight rides aweful high when zerod. It could use a shorter front sight.
There's a recess in the right-hand side of the trigger raceway. It looks like someone took a soldering iron to some plastic. The word from Dan Wesson is that this is from the "broaching tool for the trigger" and it's "OK", "not a defect", and "some frames will have it." I found it disappointing that they weren't embarassed it left their factory, but I did buy this pistol for shooting a lot, not looking at.
I don't have a picture, but there are rub marks on the last 1.5" of the right-hand side of the slide where it intermittently rubs the top edge of the dustcover. This is somewhat annoying. D.W. said they'd refinish the slide, later.
The original cross-pin for the Bomar-style sight was junk, and I had my local smith replace it with a full-width properly sized solid pin.
I will probably replace the FLGR with a 1911A1-style plug, since the two-piece FLGR keeps unscrewing itself (even with med. locktite).
All in all, I like it.