Dan Wesson Bobtail Commander

I got out of 1911’s for a number of reasons.  This gun seems to address every one of those concerns.

The Dan Wesson company was founded Daniel B. Wesson’s grandson.  He left the employ of Smith & Wesson during the Bangor Punta years, and the new company focused on a unique modular revolver design, which was very popular with silhouette shooters.  In the 1990’s, the company passed out of the Wesson family’s hands, and the focus was shifted to automatics.

I’d heard good things about Dan Wesson’s 1911’s, and they certainly deserve praise for keeping the 10mm cartridge alive.  It wasn’t until a few months ago that I actually had a chance to shoot one, though.

I found myself very impressed.  The gun was accurate, controllable and reliable.  It’s also quite unique.

The frame on the Dan Wesson has been given the “bobtail” treatment.  Originally invented by Ed Brown, the approach involves a scalloped mainspring housing containing a cap and spring from an Officer’s frame.  Though the grip is the standard Government length, it feels shorter.

The most noticeable difference is in hand fit.  Think of the difference between frames on S&W round and square butts.  The bobtail grip tapers at the rear and allows it to trace the arc of the palm perfectly.

The Officer grip frame was always too short for my hands, and on the traditional full-size grip, the bottom corner of the mainspring housing tended to dig into my palm.  An old-fashioned arched mainspring housing helped, but it always felt as if the grip was too thin, and my finger extended too far into the trigger guard for accurate shooting.

With the bobtail grip, the gun sinks further into the hand, and my palm is free to rotate toward the rear of the frame, resulting in perfect trigger-finger placement.

The bobbed-off frame also aids in concealment by knocking off that jutting corner.

Fit and finish are phenomenal.  The gun is tight as a drum, which is usually a red flag with 1911’s.  Notice the fit between slide and frame rails.  It’s worth noting that neither I, the owner, or the other two people shooting it ever witnessed a malfunction of any sort.  Despite the close tolerances, the gun feels incredibly smooth when cycling.

The workmanship is evident.  Dan Wesson uses Ed Brown parts, and the fitting is excellent.  They’ve thankfully chosen to eschew the full-length guide rods that are in vogue lately in favor of the traditional plunger.  That means you don’t need tools to disassemble the gun.  As such, I found it odd that a bushing wrench was included.  However, when I began to disassemble it, I realized why.  The bushing is fit quite tightly to the slide, perhaps more so than on any other 1911 I’ve seen.

The Bobtail Commander (often abbreviated as “CBOB”) boasts match-grade parts, and the gun is an interesting balance between race gun and fighting pistol.  It’s got a match-grade barrel, and trigger.  The grip safety is an Ed Brown “memory groove,” which allows a high grip on the gun, and the single-sided manual safety is extended and easy to reach.  The included stocks are attractive, well-checkered cocobolo.

In a nod to practicality, the gun has Novak-style Trijicon sights.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my specimen was outfitted with a green front sight and contrasting yellow rear sights.  Many of the edges have been smoothed off the frame and slide for easy reholstering.  The magazine release is extended, and the magwell is slightly beveled out.

I’d like to publicly and humbly thank Dan Wesson for checkering the frontstrap and stopping there.  There seems to be a fetish among handgun manufacturers to checker every surface of the gun possible, despite the fact that it’s incredibly uncomfortable.  Handle a Kimber for any length of time, and you’ll know what I mean.

Dan Wesson also gets the nod for resisting the urge to add front slide serrations.  Except for the discrete “Classic” moniker, the slide is free of any engravings or billboards.  Neither are there any unsightly lawyer warnings inscribed on the frame.

The ejection port is flared out a bit, which seems to be the norm these days.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of polish on the barrel throat.  An acquaintance, who’s a big fan of 1911’s, also remarked at this.

Dan Wesson claims that this is a Series 70 pistol, which is odd, since

• it doesn’t have the collet-style bushing (and thank goodness),
• it isn’t a Colt, and
• there never were any Series 70 Commanders.

Presumably, by “Series 70,” they mean it doesn’t have the Schwartz firing-pin safety.  I can easily live without it, as the gun has two other safeties which must be defeated before my meat hooks hit the trigger.  Though I’ve never noticed a difference, the lack of such a mechanism apparently helps the trigger pull.

I can certainly say I’ve no issues with the trigger on this gun.  It’s crisp, light and predictable.  Pictured below is the second magazine fired out of the box.  Pardon the flyer–I’m transitioning back to revolvers, and I slapped the trigger:

Having established that it can shoot, I undertook breaking the gun in.

I started with the bullseye and let the group climb as I ran out of paper.  You do get a bit tired of shooting and not seeing changes in the target.

Though I usually prefer grease on the slide rails of stainless guns, all we had on hand was oil.  There was no sign of stress on the gun, and it was still well-lubricated when I disassembled it.  Remarkably, the barrel showed little evidence of fouling.

Traditionally, 1911’s have required a “break in” regimen, and I’d certainly expect it in a gun this tight.  This isn’t to say that there’s not a certain similar period of acclimation with any type of pistol.  Sigs tend to shoot loose groups for the first couple of hundred rounds, and with revolvers, it never hurts to make sure the timing’s right and that it’s not stripping case heads.

Still, 1911’s are more complex weapons, and they tend to be finnicky.  Not so with this one.  While it takes at least 300 rounds before I truly trust a pistol, we’re well on our way here.