It all depends on your definition of "better made."

Personally, I think the Dan Wesson guns were not particularly attractive, and have no use for a sideplate secured with Allen/Hex screws, which are seemingly incapable of not stripping out with the cheaply made Allen head screwdrivers. Torx seems a better idea, but a traditional screw is far more elegant.

The Dan Wesson did have its strong points, which included very fine accuracy, apparently due to the method of mounting the two-piece barrel, which provided tension at both the frame and the muzzle, but the originals and that exposed barrel nut were just plain ugly. At least they later extended the shroud to hide the barrel nut!

Another strong point was the grip "frame," if you can call it that. The "stud" allowed almost any type of grip, but few were offered at the time.

Finally, I personally did not find the action to be as nice or as refined as the S&W action. I also did not find the full lug barrel to my liking, but then again, I am one of those people who honestly wish S&W would have simply offered the L frame in both full lug and standard ejector rod housing. Why they have not made more 686 Plus Mountain Guns is beyond me.