I took possession of my brand new Dan Wesson Commander Classic Bobtail .45 about four weeks ago (see pics below - second and third for size comparison).
I have since had the opportunity to take it out on three 100 round sessions, for a total of 300 shots fired thus far with no problems at all.
I am extremely pleased to report that this pistol has not only met, and exceeded, my already high expectations, but rather gone even beyond that in every way.
I did a LOT of research before buying (hands on included), and I concluded that this pistol was exactly and definitely what I wanted. It is kind of a knock off of an Ed Brown Executive Carry Bobtail and no quams are made about that (you can compare them at the CZ-USA and Ed Brown websites).
Only two companies offer the unique Bobtail feature: Ed Brown who invented it and CZ-USA (Dan Wesson) who currently use it under license.
The Dan Wesson has a level of fit and finish in all respects that rival guns costing as much as twice as much. The frame-to-slide and barrel-to-slide tolerances are of bank vault quality - couldn't be tighter or more precise.
Everything is of excellent quality. The slide is forged, frame cast and there are no polymer or MIM parts.
The Bobtail mainspring housing is an Ed Brown part, as are the Ed Brown "Memory Groove" beaver tail, the slide stop and the thumb safety.
The trigger break is phenomenal and on the lighter side of what's conventional for a carry gun (this is something I was hoping for). This is due in part to the gun being of series 70 design.
The trigger is fully adjustable and light weight. The sights are fixed Novaks with Trijicon tritium inserts. Owning tritium sights has made me a total believer - under low or no light conditions, these things totally take the cake (no comparison to regular or fiber optics sights - none). I used to think they were somewhat of a gimmick until now - I won't be without them ever again.
The front strap has a rather mild feeling 30 lpi checkering, accomplished by machining the points into little pyramids rather than sharper points. The grips are quality Cocobolo wood. Marketed as a carry gun, the whole gun has been dehorned by hand, and every little sharp edge or corner taken care of, as advertised.
The gun came with two stainless 8 rounders that are of good quality. It is also available in a 10mm format.
This is my first Commander length .45 and I have totally fallen in love with it. I am actually shooting better with this gun than with my full length versions (but I've been getting better all around by practicing). In any event, I can solidly state that, despite what I had heard about Commanders, this one shoots (in my hand) at least as well as the full sizers, and its recoil is not noticeably harder in any way (and I'm shooting full size 230gr round nose bullets).
The gun just seems 'right' in the Commander format - my 5.0s seem rather bulky by comparison now, and almost unnessessarily so (I'll stop at this point before I have to censure myself for blasphemy here - but I think you get the point).
The Bobtail feature allows the gun to be carried while minimizing it's "print" through clothing. The Bobtal mainspring housing is smooth. The beaver tail is also smooth, as is the whole back of the gun for the same reasons. As stated, the front strap is checkered. The gun fits in my hand like it was made for it (and I've got fair sized hands).
The only small issue I had with the gun the way it came was not a functional one, but rather the hammer strut seemed too skinny and you could see that from the rear view of the gun. So I bought a new Ed Brown strut for about 7 bucks and swapped it out. Perfect in my eyes now.
The people at CZ-USA (Dan Wesson) were really super too! I was able to easily get a hold of the actual people who build and service/repair the guns and talk to them on multiple occasions - all BEFORE I even bought. They spent much time on the phone and answered all of my many detailed questions and were a pleasure to deal with.
In closing, I could not be, in every way, a more satisfied customer, and from my extensive hands on and informational research, still feel like I stole the gun because, considering what I got here, I honestly believe that it was sold to me $500-$1000 UNDERpriced. For the money, this gun is truly over the top.
I have since had the opportunity to take it out on three 100 round sessions, for a total of 300 shots fired thus far with no problems at all.
I am extremely pleased to report that this pistol has not only met, and exceeded, my already high expectations, but rather gone even beyond that in every way.
I did a LOT of research before buying (hands on included), and I concluded that this pistol was exactly and definitely what I wanted. It is kind of a knock off of an Ed Brown Executive Carry Bobtail and no quams are made about that (you can compare them at the CZ-USA and Ed Brown websites).
Only two companies offer the unique Bobtail feature: Ed Brown who invented it and CZ-USA (Dan Wesson) who currently use it under license.
The Dan Wesson has a level of fit and finish in all respects that rival guns costing as much as twice as much. The frame-to-slide and barrel-to-slide tolerances are of bank vault quality - couldn't be tighter or more precise.
Everything is of excellent quality. The slide is forged, frame cast and there are no polymer or MIM parts.
The Bobtail mainspring housing is an Ed Brown part, as are the Ed Brown "Memory Groove" beaver tail, the slide stop and the thumb safety.
The trigger break is phenomenal and on the lighter side of what's conventional for a carry gun (this is something I was hoping for). This is due in part to the gun being of series 70 design.
The trigger is fully adjustable and light weight. The sights are fixed Novaks with Trijicon tritium inserts. Owning tritium sights has made me a total believer - under low or no light conditions, these things totally take the cake (no comparison to regular or fiber optics sights - none). I used to think they were somewhat of a gimmick until now - I won't be without them ever again.
The front strap has a rather mild feeling 30 lpi checkering, accomplished by machining the points into little pyramids rather than sharper points. The grips are quality Cocobolo wood. Marketed as a carry gun, the whole gun has been dehorned by hand, and every little sharp edge or corner taken care of, as advertised.
The gun came with two stainless 8 rounders that are of good quality. It is also available in a 10mm format.
This is my first Commander length .45 and I have totally fallen in love with it. I am actually shooting better with this gun than with my full length versions (but I've been getting better all around by practicing). In any event, I can solidly state that, despite what I had heard about Commanders, this one shoots (in my hand) at least as well as the full sizers, and its recoil is not noticeably harder in any way (and I'm shooting full size 230gr round nose bullets).
The gun just seems 'right' in the Commander format - my 5.0s seem rather bulky by comparison now, and almost unnessessarily so (I'll stop at this point before I have to censure myself for blasphemy here - but I think you get the point).
The Bobtail feature allows the gun to be carried while minimizing it's "print" through clothing. The Bobtal mainspring housing is smooth. The beaver tail is also smooth, as is the whole back of the gun for the same reasons. As stated, the front strap is checkered. The gun fits in my hand like it was made for it (and I've got fair sized hands).
The only small issue I had with the gun the way it came was not a functional one, but rather the hammer strut seemed too skinny and you could see that from the rear view of the gun. So I bought a new Ed Brown strut for about 7 bucks and swapped it out. Perfect in my eyes now.
The people at CZ-USA (Dan Wesson) were really super too! I was able to easily get a hold of the actual people who build and service/repair the guns and talk to them on multiple occasions - all BEFORE I even bought. They spent much time on the phone and answered all of my many detailed questions and were a pleasure to deal with.
In closing, I could not be, in every way, a more satisfied customer, and from my extensive hands on and informational research, still feel like I stole the gun because, considering what I got here, I honestly believe that it was sold to me $500-$1000 UNDERpriced. For the money, this gun is truly over the top.
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