That is a Dan Wesson Commander Classic Bobtail. It's basically the same as the Ed Brown Bobtail guns, except a tiny bit simpler in execution; but from what I've seen no less well done. In fact, the pistol is essentially Ed Brown hard parts, Wolff springs, and a custom forged frame and slide; assembled by the DW folks who have moved Massachusetts to I believe New York. Put an Ed Brown piece, and this up against one another, and I think the only difference you'll see is MAYBE a bit better finish on the Brown piece, and a bit tighter lockup. Oh, that and the $1300 extra and six months wait for the Ed Brown of course.
The Dan Wesson name has a pretty interesting reputation behind it; one of good guns, bad business, and bad luck. It was defunct for a few years, then under new ownership went into very limited production for a while, only to fail and be sold off... I think it was two more times. About two years back they brought out these new 1911's, and then a few months later they were bought again; only this time by a company that can really do something with the brand.
DW has recently been revived under CZ-USA ownership, and so far what they've produced has been of excellent quality. In particular they are noted for the one feature that specifically has me wanthing this gun.
It's in 10mm.
Better; it's not just a conversion; the new DW models were all originally designed and created with 10mm in mind, so they'll have no problem with a full service life of full power loads.
Take a look at the feature specs:
· Round top slide with fixed 3 dot tritium night sights (Novak)Funny enough, that's a lot like what I've had done to my Champion, though I used mostly Wilson or Yost-Bonitz parts not Ed Brown.
· Forged, one piece match grade barrel and bushing.
· Ed Brown Bobtail mainspring housing
· 20 LPI checkered front strap
· Hand polished flat surfaces with contrasting bead blasted rounds
· Beveled magwell
· All sharp edges dehorned by hand
· Lowered and flared ejection port
· Ed Brown memory groove grip safety
· Ed Brown slide stop
· Tactical, extended thumb safety
· Commander style match hammer
· Match grade sear
· Aluminum trigger with stainless bow
· Extended serrated magazine catch
· Wolff springs
· Tuned, machined, internal extractor
Their standard 1911 styles are jsut as well made, and of course have the traditional full frame. IMportantely they are also available in 10mm.
See, I love the 10mm; I jsut dont much care for the Glock 20 or 29 as carry pieces, and I didnt like most of the 1911 conversions out there for reasons of long term reliability.
Now all I have to worry about is, where am I gonna get the money for it???
