“The .45 longside, with laser sighting.” Ever since I saw the scene 37 years ago when Arnold Schwarzeneggar utters that line I’ve wanted a long slide 1911. Now this one is not in .45, and it definitely does not have laser sighting, but I’ve also been looking for a 10mm companion for my Bren Ten for a couple of years (the 1980s were quite an influence on my handgun collection!) and this one fills both of those requirements quite nicely. I’ve owned two Dan Wesson 1911s in the past (a Heritage and CCO, both in .45) and have been impressed with their quality. My initial look at this one certainly suggests that it will continue that tradition.
The first thing that you notice is the long barrel—6.3”. I was expecting it to feel a little muzzle heavy but surprisingly it balances very well in the hand, and the longer sight radius is certainly appreciated by my post-cataract eyes. Speaking of sights, they provide the type of sight picture that I like best. The front is a Tritium-Fibre Optic sight from Truglo:
While the rear is an AmeriGlo target-adjustable Tritium night sight:
Here’s the daytime sight picture—and this was taken on a cloudy evening. The front sight is super bright, while the rear dots are just visible enough to add some alignment help.
Here’s the night sight view—the rears are noticeably yellower than the front, making them easily differentiated.
The flush-fit muzzle has a lovely crown, and this view also shows the distinctive angled recoil spring plug and frame. The sides of the slide are distinctively angled, too.
As with many Dan Wesson 1911s, the trigger is solid, and this one is adjustable for over travel, too (although it feels pretty good as-is!) You can also see the enlarged mag release—which my short thumbs always appreciate!
Here’s the nicely-checkered backstrap, and the usual bumped grip safety. As with the other Dan Wesson 1911s I’ve owned, the bottom of the mainspring housings slightly beveled to be a little less-obtrusive.
The frontstrap has nicely aggressive, but not too sharp, checkering. Oh right, the pistol came with VZ Frag grips. They’re OK, but I prefer the feel and look of VZ 320 grips, and these are in Desert Sand pattern—they’re about my favourite grips on dark-colored 1911s.
The pistol has no firing pin safety:
And here is the extra-long barrel:
Which has an integral ramp:
Somewhat surprisingly, the pistol has a standard guide rod (with extra long spring, I think):
And here’s the beveled barrel bushing and angled recoil spring plug. It does make reassembly a little fussier since the plug has to be oriented to match the bushing.
So, that’s the initial look—very favorable so far. I’d hoped to get this to the range but COVID restrictions will prevent that for a little bit—I’ll update with a range report when I have a chance to get out.
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. The first ten rounds grouped a bit to the left with about a 4 inch group. I do like 1911 triggers a lot, but I find that I need to re-learn them after being away from them. By the end of the session my last group was a well-centred group about two inches—I was pleased with that. Recoil was very pleasant, with less muzzle flip than I was expecting, and none of the clunk-clunk feel that I was concerned the long slide would cause when cycling. It was a real treat to shoot!
