kuma said:all of the talk about DW being luck of the draw is kind of a turn off, so it may end up being the Kobra Carry all the way
If you read Dave Severns' reviews, you would think that every Dan Wesson comes perfect from the factory. I've had the opposite experience and if you've read my posts above and looked at the photos, you'll realize that they're still a production gun and both of mine had significant issues that I was able to fix myself. Other than replacing the slim line grip bushings with standard height grip bushings and replacing the grips with VZ ETC grips, I'm done with the Valor and V-Bob. I've resolved all of the issues and have installed new Ed Brown Videki triggers in both (I don't like solid triggers). I had to deburr and polish the inside the frame to prevent burrs from scratching the triggers during installation. Something else that isn't a problem with Ed Brown 1911s.
The last issue to resolve was to figure out the problem with the Valor thumb safety. I stripped the Valor down and first checked that the TS had adequate frame clearance which it did. I inspected the TS plunger and it was showing way too much wear for a new pistol. I then inspected the dimple in the TS where the plunger resides when the safety is off and it looked odd compared to the V-Bob dimple. It looked like the Valor dimple didn't extend down to the edge enough so I used a dremel/file to extend the dimple at the 6 o'clock position so that the plunger would slide out more easily. That corrected the problem and now the safety snaps on/off with normal effort. Here are some photos.
Valor thumb safety plunger (top) shown with new Ed Brown parts (bottom).
Here are some photos comparing the perfect V-Bob thumb safety to the Valor thumb safety. Valor (left) and V-Bob (right). The "dimples" look different.
Here's a summary of the issues I found with my 2010 Valor and 2010 V-Bob.
Valor
- I.D. of barrel bushing +0.006" compared to barrel
- Noticeable movement of the barrel when in battery when pushing down on the barrel hood - fixed with +0.002" EB bushing
- Thumb safety very hard to engage - fixed by extending the dimple in the TS at 6 o'clock position
- Burrs inside the frame gouged magazines making them hard to insert and also prevented them from dropping free - fixed by deburring with file and polishing sharp edges with emery paper
- Burrs inside the frame scratch trigger during removal/installation - fixed by deburring with file and polishing sharp edges with emery paper
V-Bob
- I.D. of the barrel bushing +0.007" compared to barrel
- Noticeable movement of the barrel when in battery when pushing down on the barrel hood - fixed with +0.002" EB bushing
- Magazine release not working properly making it very hard to insert magazines - fixed by filing and polishing the mag release where it engages the magazine
- Burrs inside the frame gouging magazines making them hard to insert and also preventing them from dropping free - fixed by deburring with file and polishing edges with emery paper
- Burrs inside the frame scratch trigger during removal/installation - fixed by deburring with file and polishing sharp edges with emery paper
I will end by saying that a Dan Wesson Valor or V-Bob that arrives with a +0.002" bushing and none of the problems described above is a very, very good 1911. I am now happy with my DWs but for the price wouldn't have expected to have any of the issues described. I'm most likely done buying DWs but will add to my 1911 collection with more Ed Browns. I have too many other projects going on to spend $2,000 on a 1911 only to discover that I need to spend money and a lot of effort to get it to where it should be from the start.
One final thought ... everyone should handle an Ed Brown and DW before buying. You may be surprised by the significant difference in feel due to frame size, grip size and front strap checkering. Now I know why DWs ship with VZ slim line grips!!