I went to the Range yesterday and one of my friends had his Dan Wesson 1911 there. While shooting it with factory hardball I noticed his groups kept moving farther and farther to the left. After I asked him if I could look at the pistol I noticed the small set screw that locks the rear sight in place had come loose. After we got back home I repositioned the rear sight (you could tell where it was by the marks) and tightened it up with the small Allen set screw. While doing this I wanted to hold the pistol very steady to get it perfectly aligned so I removed the grip panels and held it steady in my vise with wooden jaw face plates (I made them for gun Smithing work) to avoid any scratches. After doing so I notice that the G10 grips (I believe they are called VZ Grips) had completely scratched through the Electroless Nickeled finish! After using a little gun oil to clean it up so I could inspect it, one could plainly see the abrasive grip panels had scratched the grips frame up to the point where the finish was penetrated and permanently marked up pretty bad.

I was pretty shocked that Dan Wesson uses such an aggressive material on a gun, I believe it was G10 but am not 100% sure what they call it. The grip screws were tight and they were not moving around under recoil. He said he had never taken them off either. Anyway, I recommended that he replace them with another set of grips in another material or use a very thin spacer to protect the surface of the grip frame. He was pretty upset as the Dan Wesson is otherwise a pretty nice gun. I did not take any pictures but I should have - at least for this posting.

If you have a set of these type of grips on a pistol (any brand) I might suggest inspecting the grip frame! While G10 is durable and popular now (started off mostly on knives), it does NOT seem to play well with an applied finish to metal. It would also scratch up plain stainless steel too as they are pretty abrasive on the inside! Just wanted to give you guys the "heads up". Anyone else have this issue?

Chief I have had no issues with G10 grips on my DW's. You mentioned he had never taken them off. Well that in itself could be problematic from any residual junk left over during the manufacturing process. No issues with sight screws either. Now I do tend to remove those giraffe bone grips and replace with another type when firing those Valors as I have seen a report or two of them cracking during heavy use. Preventative measures one might say. They have all been wonderful guns with no issues here.

This is the SSC .40 and the grips are very aggressive. As you can see in the breakdown cleaning photo there are no grip issues.

Hmmm... I've made up a few stories to cover my stupid moves, too...

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Pisgah

No issues here , will keep an eye out for it .

Thanks for the heads-up !
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I have VZs on a couple of my .45s. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check into it.

I don't own any VZ G10 grips so I do not know if this is common or if his set is just a bit rougher than most - could possibly be. Like I said, I SHOULD have taken a picture, but I dod not want to make him feel even worse. It really chewed through the electroless nickel finish and he was pissed.

The lack of his never removing the grips from time to time could also be a factor as stated by Mike above. If possible I will snap a picture of his gun - you will be flabbergasted!

Hi Chief. I'm curious about which model DW this was. I wasn't aware that they ever used an electroless nickel finish on their frames.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

I will find out. I am not familiar with Dan Wesson models.

I just went on Dan Wesson's website and looked at their catalog. I believe the model (from memory of its looks) is "The Valor" and also believe you are correct regarding the finish. The finish is more than likely Bead Blasted Stainless. Fooled me!

My "out" - I am not familiar with DW models.

Neither have I

I've used several sets of VZs over the years, Very precisely made grips. No issues to report..

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NRA Life, COTEP 640

My 1911 is checked on the front strap and on the main spring housing and for me grip type can be a classic lite checkering or smooth but for sure strip check out a new to you firearm, clean 7 & lube well before shooting . Back side of grip panels can be cleaned or smoothed with very fine sand paper .

Just got a DW 10mm. I’ll be checking mine just to be safe!

(Need to do a details strip anyway…)