New pistol; been looking for a 9mm 1911 for awhile and a version of Dan Wesson's "Specialist" produced for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept. became available through vendors up here at a decent prices - so ordered one and it arrived in the mail today. Wanted something mid tier, for lack of a better description, price wise and read a lot of good reviews on DW's in particular for the price range I was looking at.

Initial impressions limited to fondling only lol at this stage - hope to get it to the range this weekend if weather cooperates. Those first impressions are very good though - not a rattle nor looseness nor superfluous movement anywhere to be found, feels absolutely solid like it was milled from a single block of metal. The parts that are supposed to move, all glide as if on ball bearings - very much reminds me of my P210 for overall feel and solidity. My Ruger SR1911, while I'm very fond of it too and it's treated me well, feels like a collection of parts flying in formation in comparison lol. It's certainly works fine, but just holding the two...well it's a bit of a difference in fitment/feel no doubt. The DW's trigger has a short takeup and then a very clean, crisp break - I don't have a trigger gauge, but it feels a touch heavier than the P210 and a touch lighter than the SR1911. It came with three mags, and I bought one extra to try (Dawson Precision, all are 10 round mags), but other than the logo of DW or DP, they are EXACTLY the same mag! The grips are VERY aggressive feeling, which I like, and the front and back strap checkering have some serious bite as well - makes for a confident grip! The safety (right side only but that works for me) is very precise, engaging and disengaging with a solid snick/click, grip safety feels very positive as well. Have a bunch of snap caps and it loaded/fed/ejected those fine. The finish, "duty black" is really nice too - it's a clean, matte colour that hopefully wears well, just a few oil smudges in the pics below that don't do it justice. So yea a few unboxing pics, of course .....

Very nice. I have one in 45

Ooooh, that is really really nice. Range report please. With more pictures.

Nice!

I've read nothing but great things about DW pistols. One day I will have one myself.

DW pistols are great. Well fitted, finish is good, excellent triggers, reliable.

Cosmetically, one of my favorite aspects is the lack of roll marks on the slides.

I've got a DW Valor 9mm with the same finish and grips. You're going to love it!

A beauty, you will enjoy the DW. I have the PM9, VBob 45 and Guardian 9mm

That's a beauty. I had no idea any LASD personnel might use a DW, in 9MM no less. But there it is, right there on the slide I've had a couple DWs,still have one. Definitely a notch or two above most production 1911s.

BTW, I'm stealing your phrase, "feels like a collection of parts flying in formation". That pretty well describes so many 1911 type pistols I've owned. Most of those "parts flying in formation" were Colts. Production 1911s, like the much maligned Kimbers, and especially the STI Trojans, displayed a more precise fit of barrel/slide/frame. Not quite to DW or P210 standards, but closer than those "parts flying in formation" guns.

I have a number of DW 1911s and you are gonna love it! They make a really nice pistola!!!!!!

Thanks everyone, have a bunch of different factory ammo in 124 and 147 to try out first, fingers crossed our (in)famous weather cooperates tomorrow lol.

quote:

Originally posted by Tooky13:
I've got a DW Valor 9mm with the same finish and grips. You're going to love it!

That's a beauty too no doubt, was looking at a Valor also but this one came it at several hundred $ less so it got the nod .

quote:

Originally posted by rock185:
That's a beauty. I had no idea any LASD personnel might use a DW, in 9MM no less. But there it is, right there on the slide I've had a couple DWs,still have one. Definitely a notch or two above most production 1911s.

BTW, I'm stealing your phrase, "feels like a collection of parts flying in formation". That pretty well describes so many 1911 type pistols I've owned. Most of those "parts flying in formation" were Colts. Production 1911s, like the much maligned Kimbers, and especially the STI Trojans, displayed a more precise fit of barrel/slide/frame. Not quite to DW or P210 standards, but closer than those "parts flying in formation" guns.

I first heard that phrase many years ago when I bought my first Ford LOL!

quote:

Originally posted by rock185:
That's a beauty. I had no idea any LASD personnel might use a DW, in 9MM no less.

They won't be using any of these. For various reasons I won't go into too much detail on this was going to be a commemorative gun for their deputies. After it was all set up and the first 500 or so (was going to be quite a bit more) were made it got canceled. For legal reasons all but a handful (I think 3 or 5, can't really remember. May be a few more) got shipped to Canada.

PS - Nice pistol

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:

quote:

Originally posted by rock185:
That's a beauty. I had no idea any LASD personnel might use a DW, in 9MM no less.

They won't be using any of these. For various reasons I won't go into too much detail on this was going to be a commemorative gun for their deputies. After it was all set up and the first 500 or so (was going to be quite a bit more) were made it got canceled. For legal reasons all but a handful (I think 3 or 5, can't really remember. May be a few more) got shipped to Canada.

PS - Nice pistol

I know next to nothing about what LEO's carry, but did think it a bit odd that in these days of various preferred higher capacity options, that 1911's would still be in use. Good to know the real background on these, thanks for the info! And my apologies to whatever Deputy was supposed to have this one, I'll look after it!

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:

quote:

Originally posted by rock185:
That's a beauty. I had no idea any LASD personnel might use a DW, in 9MM no less.

They won't be using any of these. For various reasons I won't go into too much detail on this was going to be a commemorative gun for their deputies. After it was all set up and the first 500 or so (was going to be quite a bit more) were made it got canceled. For legal reasons all but a handful (I think 3 or 5, can't really remember. May be a few more) got shipped to Canada.

PS - Nice pistol

I know next to nothing about what LEO's carry, but did think it a bit odd that in these days of various preferred higher capacity options, that 1911's would still be in regular service use with a large department. Good to know the real background on these, thanks for the info! And my apologies to whatever Deputy was supposed to have this one, I'll look after it!

Stripped/inspected/cleaned and all ready to go for the range tomorrow.

quote:

Originally posted by Newf:
Good to know the real background on these, thanks for the info!

Glad I could shed a little light on why you're getting a brand new "LA County Sheriff" gun in Canada.

Something you may or not be aware of is that in addition to the engraving there is one other difference between these and a regular Specialist. By request, these have a single sided safety instead of the regular Specialist ambi safety.

quote:

Originally posted by alptraum:
...By request, these have a single sided safety instead of the regular Specialist ambi safety.

The vendor did point that part out too yup; price on this one was (at today's exchange rate) aprx $US 1400, again several hundred less that it would have cost me up here for a "regular" Specialist.

I'm usually on the 1911-hate bandwagon, but lately I've been lusting after 9mm 1911s.

The DW Specialist is on the short-list if I decide to get a 9mm 1911; it has every aesthetic feature I want that and I've not heard a bad thing about Dan Wesson.

Thanks for the history. A specialist made its way to a local store- listed as a “salesman’s sample”. Couldn’t resist.......

Very nice...and cool. A DW Valor in Duty Black remains on my wantlist and someday, perhaps soon, I'll finally activate that impulse and order one for myself.

quote:

Originally posted by tcba_joe:
I'm usually on the 1911-hate bandwagon, but lately I've been lusting after 9mm 1911s.

The DW Specialist is on the short-list if I decide to get a 9mm 1911; it has every aesthetic feature I want that and I've not heard a bad thing about Dan Wesson.

The 9mm Government 1911's are very nice shooting pistols. I have a couple of them. Dan Wesson puts out some very very nice ones. I recently bought a Colt Competition 9mm in S/S and it's a very well put together 1911 and I'm very happy with it, so take a look at those as well.