Last gunshow saw a Dan Wesson CCO NIB for $1400. Also a Colt LW Commander priced at $1300 with the original 1968 bill of sale. Colt was like new. I think I could get it a couple hundred cheaper. Don't know about the Dan Wesson.

I want a lightweight 45 acp to carry on occasion. I had a LW commander and like the size and weight, but it was a first yr 38 super and went down the road.

I understand the DW's are the cats meow in 1911 format now. It is that much better than the Colt?

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Charlie

Dan Wesson have no MIM parts. All machined from bar stock. Excellent gun. Don’t know much about the Colt.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Charlie...the Dan Wesson is a great one to have.

For a few more hundred you can get a Les Baer, and own a semi custom .

No offense, but I didn’t see any lightweight commander length guns in 45ACP on their website. And a few hundred more won’t buy any of them.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

8 Minutes after posting the original post, S&W Fan put a DW CCO up for sale in the classifieds. All I could think to say was " I'll take it".

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Charlie

And I for one believe you did the right thing.

I've been thinking about a DW myself lately. A local store carries them. I have a birthday coming up next month, which provides me a perfect excuse.

A CCO-sized 1911, to my way of thinking, is the perfect carry. I have a Sig C3 (their version of the CCO) that gets some carry time in the cooler months when I can wear a light vest. If I could find an IWB holster I like that accommodates their silly squared-off slide, I'd carry it all the time.

Is the one you just bought a Pointman? I look forward to hearing your impressions of it!

This is a DW ECO - my first DW product. I have been astonished by the quality of construction, finish, and accuracy. I might buy a Colt as a safe queen, but for actual use and carry, the DW is a heck of a pistol.

When it comes to 1911s I'm a Springfield fan. The DW is a good pistol. The Colt might be a good pistol if they had a good day at the factory when they put it together. I see the Springfield as comparable to the DW and probably better than the Colt at a much better price.

If you put all three in front of me and said pick one for your Bday present but you have to keep it, I'd probably pick the prettier of the DW or Springfield provided they both had ambidextrous safeteys since I shoot left handed. That assumes good triggers and smooth operation on both. The Colt name means little to me other than resale in 1911s. I have had several and still have 2 but no particular love for them.

Finally some folks are just Colt fanboys. Colt has made some good guns but they have also made some that require more money to a gunsmith to make them run than the pistol cost new. I have seen people pay crazy prices for the Colt name. I think the 1911 guys like DW right now because it is the latest high dollar 1911 but is cheaper than a Wilson or Les Baer so it is a bargain cool 1911. Kimber had that spot for a while but their quality went south when they tried for a better price point. I have a first generation Kimber that shoots very well. I took a new current generation Kimber on a fee that wouldn't feed hardball. It was so out of spec it wasn't readily fixable. ATI and Rock Island have the bargain market. Not particularly pretty but they have a good reputation for going bang w/o a gunsmiths help. I recently bought an ATI but it was picked because I'm going to try my hand at home gunsmithing and for that inexpensive is better particularly because of my lack of skill with hand tools and zero prior experience working on pistols. I picked ATI over the Rock bc the dealer had a commander size ATI but didnt have a commader size Rock and the buy bug was biting. While I'm a big believer in paying the smith for good work I'm curious to see if I can learn to do reasonable quality handiwork.

The DW 1911's are generally very well built, high quality items. For a light weight, carry version of the Commander, why not go for a Ruger lightweight commander? Ruger uses a titanium insert for the receiver feed ramp, eliminating the issue of hollow point bullets or the magazine follower gouging the aluminum feed ramp found in the Colt LW Commander. Another feature of the Ruger is the plunger tube is an integral part of the receiver, it is not a separate part that is staked onto the receiver. I do like the idea of a plunger tube that will never come loose.

I've been packing either a govt model or a CCO model Dan Wesson 10mm off and on for 15 years. Great guns.
I picked up a Colt Defender 45 for town living a few months ago. It's a good enough gun but it isn't a DW that's for sure.

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Eccentric old coot

A Colt Commander built in 1968 in great condition is the one to buy!!

Easy decision.

To collect..... the 68 Colt

To carry..... the Dan Wesson...... CCO's are the best combination for Concealed Carry IMO and with Wilson Combat magazines still 7+1

Bud,s had a couple last month going for $1800.00.Full size I know but just throwing it out there.