2011: High end high end semi, what would you buy?

[smittyb]

I have a Wilson Combat Experior on the X9 frame. Hands down the absolute best pistol I have ever shot. It's almost like you just can't miss.

Have you ever shot a Dan Wesson?

 

[toddnjoyce]

Have you ever shot a Dan Wesson?

Yes, all various Valors/V-Bob/Guardians in both 9mm and 45AARP.

My grail gun IS A DW Valor SKU 01941 that I passed by the wayside for my X9.

 

[Txhighlander]

I have a VBOB 45, it's awesome as well but not as refined as the Wilson. But the DW is a 1/3 of the cost though. For the money I will admit DW is hard to beat.

 

[Txhighlander]

Yes, all various Valors/V-Bob/Guardians in both 9mm and 45AARP.

My grail gun IS A DW Valor SKU 01941 that I passed by the wayside for my X9.

That is pretty though.

 

[smittyb]

I have a VBOB 45, it's awesome as well but not as refined as the Wilson. But the DW is a 1/3 of the cost though. For the money I will admit DW is hard to beat.

Let me start by saying I don’t personally own a WC.
I have, however personally seen more than one (2 actually) WC have to be sent back to the manufacturer by the dealer. Not the purchaser, the dealer.
For what they cost, that is absolutely unacceptable, and would prevent me from ever purchasing one. I’m sure it’s an anomaly, but it is what it is.

 

[toddnjoyce]

I have a VBOB 45, it's awesome as well but not as refined as the Wilson. But the DW is a 1/3 of the cost though. For the money I will admit DW is hard to beat.

At the time (late 2018), DW had just been acquired by CZ and the Valor was undergoing engineering changes to an AL frame and some standardization of parts across the entire Valor line. The VP of Sales at DW was given the opportunity to empty out the parts bins of all the steel frame stuff. There were a hundred or so CCH frames, some ivory grip sets, some leftover heartwood grip sets, straight 8 sites, and misc parts that Keith could use to build guns to close out the steel frame production line.

I could have gotten the 01941 above for $2199 from Anthonys, who had a lot of 25, or get my X9 for $2699 minus sales tax out of Michiguns.

At the time I had decided my collection going forward would all be functional heirloom guns and I still carry my X9 almost daily. The DW is/was definitely a functional heirloom gun, but it wasn’t going to see the use my X9 would and that drove the decision.

More the a few folks here have shot my X9 and been surprised at the value.

 

[Txhighlander]

Let me start by saying I don’t personally own a WC.
I have, however personally seen more than one (2 actually) WC have to be sent back to the manufacturer by the dealer. Not the purchaser, the dealer.
For what they cost, that is absolutely unacceptable, and would prevent me from ever purchasing one. I’m sure it’s an anomaly, but it is what it is.

I completely agree, so far I have about 2000 rounds down range with no malfunctions of any kind. Not saying Wilson is the best, it is the best I have experienced. I know 7 people personally who have WC with no malfunctions. It is man made so it can have issues, but you are 100% correct. At that price point there should not be any problems. I have loss count of the number of other high end companies that have had problems. It isn't just a WC thing.

 

[Txhighlander]

At the time (late 2018), DW had just been acquired by CZ and the Valor was undergoing engineering changes to an AL frame and some standardization of parts across the entire Valor line. The VP of Sales at DW was given the opportunity to empty out the parts bins of all the steel frame stuff. There were a hundred or so CCH frames, some ivory grip sets, some leftover heartwood grip sets, straight 8 sites, and misc parts that Keith could use to build guns to close out the steel frame production line.

I could have gotten the 01941 above for $2199 from Anthonys, who had a lot of 25, or get my X9 for $2699 minus sales tax out of Michiguns.

At the time I had decided my collection going forward would all be functional heirloom guns and I still carry my X9 almost daily. The DW is/was definitely a functional heirloom gun, but it wasn’t going to see the use my X9 would and that drove the decision.

More the a few folks here have shot my X9 and been surprised at the value.

I paid $1800 for mine used and yes it is an CZ made DW. The experior was $ 3195. My DW has had a few malfunctions with certain ammo early on in break in but after that 1000 malfunction free shoots. I won't hesitate to carry either one. But the WC just runs like a machine.

 

[smittyb]

Are there any in the wild yet? Timing on that thing sucked. Also signaled the end of the Valors as we knew it.

Guess what this guy got to shoot today.

 

[Tnhawk]

My WC and DW pistols have performed flawlessly out of the box. I have an Ed Brown which had issues for several hundred rounds when new. It has become a very reliable pistol are 5-600 rounds.

 

[Txdweeb]

Guess what this guy got to shoot today.
View attachment 392322

Oh la la! How did it do?

 

[A1Oni]

CZA01 LD because its probably the most accurate high end double stack automatic on the market that is worth the dough.

 

[Plinker300]

Another vote for Bul Armory. I don’t own one yet, but have read/watched enough reviews to cause me to buy one soon..

 

[RankAmateur]

OP asked about 2011s, and several responses have recommended 1911s. Your mileage may vary, but I find the two platforms feel/shoot differently. For 1911s, I like Wilson, but my Nighthawks are more refined and are easier to shoot accurately. Nighthawk Bob Marvel in 9mm and Firehawk in .45 are my favorites. Staccato P and XC would be corresponding 2011s, and I like them both for different reasons (they feel pretty different from each other). The DW Valor looks and feels great, but has had some reliability issues in my hands.

 

[Tnhawk]

The DW Valor looks and feels great, but has had some reliability issues in my hands.

I have 9mm and 45acp Valor pistols. They have been 100% reliable since new.

 

[RankAmateur]

I have 9mm and 45acp Valor pistols. They have been 100% reliable since new.

No intention of arguing or denigrating DW pistols as a whole. Every manufacturer has periodic QC issues. I have the specific pistol shown in post #22 above. When I took it to the range for the first time, the front sight fell off the pistol on the 4th round fired. The pistol then failed to load 3 rounds from that first mag (a new DW mag provided with the pistol). I switched to a proven WC mag and had another failure to load. The pistol went back to CZ/DW where they reattached the front sight and polished machine tooling marks from the feed ramp. The pistol has been flawless since and is certainly one of my go-to barbecue guns . No manufacturer is exempt from this. These are not completely hand fit pistols despite their much-better-than-good standard of fit and finish.

 

[larcat]

I voted Staccato because they seem to maintain high QC despite selling in large numbers to LEOs, and are proven from when they were STI/competition guns until today.

We're about 5k rounds through each of ours, and other than a few, probabaly technique induced, failures to lock back they've been flawless. Variety of ammo, too.

We do clean and oil regularly, including removing the extractors and cleaning those.

 

[larcat]

I've had the chance to shoot some high end 2011 semi pistols, and was very impressed with the performance, from accuracy and ability to have a tight followup shot. So I started saving up for one. What preference do you have from everything from a Staccato XC to an Atlas Erebus and anything in between. What's the best shooting, best followup shot pistol you would recommend?

FWIW, our C2s with the dawson comp are great. Not a carry gun, though.

 

[studenygreg]

Dwx

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[TXAZ]

I received the Erebus Friday.
here are 10 shots at 10 yards:

Best I’ve ever shot.