Dan Wesson vs Ed Brown 1911's **** EDITED****

[bc1023]

It's just my opinion. You are welcome to your own.

Maybe I don't get it. I've been ridiculed for questioning why people pay more for lower performance. Mostly in the area of watches, which takes a unique perception of reality to understand.

I'm not here to ridicule. You're certainly welcome to your opinion.

DW isn't close to the others you mentioned, in my opinion. Are they solid 1911's? Absolutely. Are they in the same class as Wilson, Ed Brown, and Nighthawk? Absolutely not.

I own and have owned many dozens of high end 1911's.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I'm not here to ridicule. You're certainly welcome to your opinion.

DW isn't close to the others you mentioned, in my opinion. Are they solid 1911's? Absolutely. Are they in the same class as Wilson, Ed Brown, and Nighthawk? Absolutely not.

I own and have owned many dozens of high end 1911's.

Maybe I can be more specific….

First, I buy guns to shoot them. When I shoot them, carry them, set them down, forget to clean them, etc, I still need them to run.

The only Nighthawk I have shot was a rental gun. It was fine as a shooter. That said, somehow somebody broke the thumb safety lever. Aren't these top shelf guns stronger and parts made of superior metals by superior processes. I have never seen another broken thumb safety lever in my life.

I have shot several Wilson's. All were great in every way. I went to order one and found finishes and sight options were highly limited considering the price you pay. I inquired and they did not have any flexibility for either. I'm not sure why they use the word custom. They do make a fine production 1911 with limited options. A great pistol.

I have handled and shot Ed Brown guns. They are fine, but never really caught my eye. They are just good. I'm sure they are great to all of their owners and I respect that.

Dan Wesson is similar. They are a production gun. They are not necessarily more flexible, but when they did their "custom" shop, they were willing to do what I wanted in addition to their great standard spec for the Specialist. The Vigil came how I wanted it. I shoot the Specialist as well as the Wilson. I shot the Wilson the best of the others

I'd be interested in specifics of why Dan Wesson is so far behind the other high end production guns.

 

[rockquarry]

I've never owned or fired a Dan Wesson 1911 so I'll not denigrate them. I thought ( perhaps mistakenly so) that they were just another Colt 1911 copy. It appears some of the many copies available may be as good as or better than a real Colt or they may be worse. I've had little experience in this area, only assumptions which may or may not be 100% valid.

None of this is worth arguing. I've found it best to go with whatever is safe, reliable in function, and capable of good to excellent accuracy. What factors are more important than these? Maybe I've missed out on something by sticking with Colt most of the time, but I don't think I have. Perhaps a Tisas will outshoot a Les Baer, but I'm not going to spend my time to find out. I'm glad we have lots of choices, but I'm not sure everyone can be pleased.

Someone with lots of means, money and accompanying arrogance may look down on a particular gun as being inferior to a more expensive one but they may have little or no extensive shooting experience or skill. They're certainly not qualified to judge.

 

[Autonomous]

We seem to have some sensitive souls here.
If you are satisfied with an off the shelf production gun you need make no apologies.
If you do not get pleasure from higher price guns don't worry about those that do.
If you desire fine tolerances and smooth, predictable performance buy at that level, have a qualified gun smith modify one or, if you have the skills, tune it yourself.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I've never owned or fired a Dan Wesson 1911 so I'll not denigrate them. I thought ( perhaps mistakenly so) that they were just another Colt 1911 copy. It appears some of the many copies available may be as good as or better than a real Colt or they may be worse. I've had little experience in this area, only assumptions which may or may not be 100% valid.

None of this is worth arguing. I've found it best to go with whatever is safe, reliable in function, and capable of good to excellent accuracy. What factors are more important than these? Maybe I've missed out on something by sticking with Colt most of the time, but I don't think I have. Perhaps a Tisas will outshoot a Les Baer, but I'm not going to spend my time to find out. I'm glad we have lots of choices, but I'm not sure everyone can be pleased.

Someone with lots of means, money and accompanying arrogance may look down on a particular gun as being inferior to a more expensive one but they may have little or no extensive shooting experience or skill. They're certainly not qualified to judge.

I think there is value in getting your hands on a variety of 1911's.

I too like my Colt. Buying a DW does not replace it. They are different. Essentially, they are trying to make money at different feature levels and price points. My Colt is the Wiley Clapp 5". Great blued gun. Not as fine of a finish as earlier Colts, but good. To me, the main differences are the accuracy level, trigger pull quality, general action roughness and materials. The Colt is inferior in all of those categories, but overall performance at 15 yds is close enough for 90% of folks. It's good enough for me. Buying the DW didn't get me much more practical performance.

 

[rockquarry]

We seem to have some sensitive souls here.
If you are satisfied with an off the shelf production gun you need make no apologies.
If you do not get pleasure from higher price guns don't worry about those that do.
If you desire fine tolerances and smooth, predictable performance buy at that level, have a qualified gun smith modify one or, if you have the skills, tune it yourself.

I think we have some discerning souls here rather than sensitive ones. I don't believe sensitive ones would last long.

 

[bc1023]

Maybe I can be more specific….

First, I buy guns to shoot them. When I shoot them, carry them, set them down, forget to clean them, etc, I still need them to run.

The only Nighthawk I have shot was a rental gun. It was fine as a shooter. That said, somehow somebody broke the thumb safety lever. Aren't these top shelf guns stronger and parts made of superior metals by superior processes. I have never seen another broken thumb safety lever in my life.

I have shot several Wilson's. All were great in every way. I went to order one and found finishes and sight options were highly limited considering the price you pay. I inquired and they did not have any flexibility for either. I'm not sure why they use the word custom. They do make a fine production 1911 with limited options. A great pistol.

I have handled and shot Ed Brown guns. They are fine, but never really caught my eye. They are just good. I'm sure they are great to all of their owners and I respect that.

Dan Wesson is similar. They are a production gun. They are not necessarily more flexible, but when they did their "custom" shop, they were willing to do what I wanted in addition to their great standard spec for the Specialist. The Vigil came how I wanted it. I shoot the Specialist as well as the Wilson. I shot the Wilson the best of the others

I'd be interested in specifics of why Dan Wesson is so far behind the other high end production guns.

Dan Wesson isn't high end at all. They are production 1911's, not semi custom guns. They aren't fit like any of the others you mentioned. The finishes aren't as good either.

As for "buying guns to shoot". I shoot and compete quite a bit.

I've owned several Dan Wessons. The only one I currently own is a DWX. Not saying they're bad, but they aren't Wilson.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Dan Wesson isn't high end at all. They are production 1911's, not semi custom guns. They aren't fit like any of the others you mentioned. The finishes aren't as good either.

As for "buying guns to shoot". I shoot and compete quite a bit.

I've owned several Dan Wessons. The only one I currently own is a DWX. Not saying they're bad, but they aren't Wilson.

It sounds like I'll have to take your word for it considering I've handled and shot both and did not see the huge chasm between them like you do. You must have a very discerning eye.

Frankly, I think this is great. Some people will see the value in the top end. I'm glad there are enough folks like you to keep something higher end out there.

 

[bc1023]

It sounds like I'll have to take your word for it considering I've handled and shot both and did not see the huge chasm between them like you do. You must have a very discerning eye.

Frankly, I think this is great. Some people will see the value in the top end. I'm glad there are enough folks like you to keep something higher end out there.

There's a long waiting list for high end, semi custom and custom 1911's. Nighthawk alone has a two year wait.

If Dan Wesson does it for, more power to you. That's all that should matter. What others think shouldn't.

DW is a fine production 1911. I never said anything to the contrary. Good day.