Anyone have a Dan Wesson A2? What are your thoughts? How has the bluing held up?

I had one for a bit. The gun itself was great. Just as nicely done as my fancier Dan Wessons, just with a few less bells and whistles.

I did end up swapping out the arched mainspring housing for a flat one by Wilson Combat, which took a couple hours of hand-fitting, but worked much better for me.

The bluing was... well... bluing. It looked great out of the box, but showed noticeable wear after only light handling and holstering. It didn't seem to be especially durable, even as far as bluing goes. Just one insertion into a holster left a large and very noticeable rub/scratch on the top of the slide.

I ended up letting it go after a couple months. Nice gun, but just didn't do it for me. (Luckily, I bought it LNIB at such a great price that I still made money on it.)

If you want a great quality range gun, and don't mind your range guns not looking 100% pristine, the A2 could be a good choice. But personally, for the same money, I'd go with the Vigil instead, which has a better finish and a couple additional nice features. (Especially if you plan on ever using it as a carry gun.) https://danwessonfirearms.com/product/vigil/

Here was my A2, after flat mainspring housing install and some new grips.

Thanks, Rogue. I really like the Vigil - it has everything I want, but I just can't come to grips with the alloy frame. I know I'll never shoot it enough to wear it out, but, still, the thought would always be there that I have to treat it more gently than a steel frame gun.

I too have been looking at the A2. Hope more owners chime in.

I was eyeing the A2 also but I just want the front checkering on the grip. I ended up finding a stainless Valor and went with it. I have 2 of the ECP's (alloy frame) one in 9mm and one in 45. I shoot them as fast and treat them the same as the steel guns and I'm not seeing any issues. I do keep them oiled with Lucas oil too.

Looks like DW has decided to bring the Valor out of its short retirement!

I also like the new Specialist Commander.

Such a nice line-up!!

I have one if the blued Valors. I have three holsters for it. Leather and kydex. It’s wearing along the corners and edges. Seems comparable to other blued guns.

I bought it as an accident. It was a god price I thought it was their Armor Coat or whatever 5hey call it. Nope, blued. It’s pretty. I’m not a fan of bluing but I decided to make this my user DW over the stainless because blued guns with wear just look cool to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Cookster:
Looks like DW has decided to bring the Valor out of its short retirement!

Yep, in an updated form.

The new Valor has some differences from the O.G. Valor, including an added magwell, tapered grips, ambi safety, skeletonized trigger, recessed slide stop lever, different sights, different side serrations, and serrations added to the top of the slide.

The new Valor kind of reminds me of the car Homer Simpson designed - it's got a little too much of everything.

I like that new valor except for the ambisafety and the magwell.

I like the look of the A2, classic with just the upgrades you need.

But I REALLY like the Nighthawk Colt Series 70 best...

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:
The new Valor kind of reminds me of the car Homer Simpson designed - it's got a little too much of everything.

Agreed. I'm glad I snagged one before the original model was discontinued. It has everything you need, and nothing you don't.

I had a blued Valor and I sold it and decided to go for a blued Dan Wesson custom gun with all of my favorite features. It was pretty reasonably priced and I was pretty excited.

Well, the gun was basically finished when they let me know they couldn't do the polished flats like the blued Valor anymore like I specified, but could only do an A2 like finish. Something to do with their bluing vendor or something.

I turned it down because it was simply too much money to not get exactly what I had wanted. I felt a little bad at the time, but not now.

4x5 - If you want an A2, but want a more durable finish than bluing, Dan Wesson offered a limited number of parkerized A2s back in 2018-2019.



https://danwessonfirearms.com/product/a2-parkerized/

You most likely can't get a new one from a distributor or retailer any more, since they've been discontinued for over a year, but you might keep an eye out on the secondary market for a used one.


Edit: Looks like Cabelas has a LNIB one in their Gun Library, which you can have transferred to the Lehi, UT Cabelas for pickup: https://www.cabelas.com/produc...cial-Buy/3368473.uts

Only thing is that Cabelas wants the same price for a used (albeit very lightly) parkerized A2 as other online retailers want for a new blued A2. But you'd still save a little bit of money in shipping and transfer fees, and have the more durable finish to boot.

The A2 is a slightly upgraded version of the CZ 1911 A1 , that they only made a little more than a thousand of back in 2015 and which CZ went out of their way to deny (unconvincingly) was made by Dan Wesson. It was a basic GI style 1911 but with typical Dan Wesson quality. The MSRP was $849 and I think in truth, they didn't want you to know they could sell a Dan Wesson for that price.

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
The A2 is a slightly upgraded version of the CZ 1911 A1 , that they only made a little more than a thousand of back in 2015 and which CZ went out of their way to deny (unconvincingly) was made by Dan Wesson. It was a basic GI style 1911 but with typical Dan Wesson quality. The MSRP was $849 and I think in truth, they didn't want you to know they could sell a Dan Wesson for that price.

There is a lot more to it than that. However, those CZ 1911s were a steal. I wish I'd picked a couple up.

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:
There is a lot more to it than that. However, those CZ 1911s were a steal. I wish I'd picked a couple up.

Agreed. I paid $750 for mine and it is the best fit 1911 I own. Very pleased.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mbinky,

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
The A2 is a slightly upgraded version of the CZ 1911 A1 , that they only made a little more than a thousand of back in 2015 and which CZ went out of their way to deny (unconvincingly) was made by Dan Wesson. It was a basic GI style 1911 but with typical Dan Wesson quality. The MSRP was $849 and I think in truth, they didn't want you to know they could sell a Dan Wesson for that price.

There is a lot more to it than that. However, those CZ 1911s were a steal. I wish I'd picked a couple up.

Elaborate please.

Only a sample of one but the front sight wasn't installed properly and slid off two magazines in. Customer service was "okay." The gun was out of my hands for a month. I owned the commander size. I moved it along shortly thereafter.

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:

quote:

Originally posted by NK402:
The A2 is a slightly upgraded version of the CZ 1911 A1 , that they only made a little more than a thousand of back in 2015 and which CZ went out of their way to deny (unconvincingly) was made by Dan Wesson. It was a basic GI style 1911 but with typical Dan Wesson quality. The MSRP was $849 and I think in truth, they didn't want you to know they could sell a Dan Wesson for that price.

There is a lot more to it than that. However, those CZ 1911s were a steal. I wish I'd picked a couple up.

Elaborate please.

I apologize, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm not able to go into anymore detail. I should not have alluded to knowledge I am unwilling/unable to divulge. Suffice to say, those things were an extremely good deal.