Dan Wesson has expanded the Pointman Nine, PM-9, series with the PM-C, which stands for the Pointman Carry. While the Pointman Nine is a Government Model size, the PM-C has a Commander sized slide and a OACP sized receiver. Losing just a bit of slide length and right much reliever size makes this pistol easier to carry concealed while not sacrificing much on comfort or accuracy.
Initial Impressions
The Dan Wesson PM-C, or Pointman Carry is a handsome pistol made from forged stainless with a brushed finish. It is an OACP, or Officers, sized receiver with a Commander size slide, four and a quarter inch barrel. Factory equipped with traditional wooden, double diamond stocks. The Speed, or Rowel, style hammer is serrated as is the generous thumb safety and traditional slide stop. One aspect I did not care for was the use of hex head stock screws, as I prefer a more traditional stock screw that can be removed using parts of the pistol as tools.
A deep beavertail grip safety is well blended to the receiver allowing for a solid purchase on the pistol. Slide to receiver fit is snug, as is the barrel bushing but no so tight to require tools to field strip. The rear sight is serrated on the face to block glare and is dovetailed in with a set screw that allows for windage drift adjustment. The mainspring housing is slightly bobtailed and is also well checkered. While the 9mm Luger all steel pistol produced little perceived recoil it was still snug in the hand without being overly aggressive.
The front green fiber optic sight is dovetailed in and nicely blended.
The front strap is well checkered while the trigger is serrated and adjustable for over travel. The trigger broke clean at five and a half pounds with a bit of take up and over travel. The slide stop is of the traditional style.
The PM-C uses a reduced radiused firing pin stop, which does help reduce perceived recoil. If you are curious about how that works here is an article by John Travis/1911 Tuner. Note this pistol does not have a firing pin safety.
All the steel internals looked as they should and my second complaint was the plunger spring is not kinked, so when you remove the thumb safety you better get control of it or the plunger will shoot across the room.
3 shot groups shot from a rest at 25 yards.
Range Time
Conclusions
The Dan Wesson PM-C is a fine new addition to the Dan Wesson family. In my opinion this pistol will serve well for it’s intended purpose as a solid carry gun, but will also serve as an excellent trainer venturing into the 1911 world. The ergonomics and trigger on the 1911 is what all other auto loaders are measured against so it makes sense that an all steel gun, with a great trigger and easily visible sights chambered in 9mm Luger, is a great segue into that style pistol. As mentioned in the video, maybe 20 years ago 9mm Luger would not have been the ideal defensive cartridge but with the great advancements in ammunition the 9mm can serve that role well. With over 400 rounds through the PM-C and with almost ten different shooters having not a single failure I would not hesitate to carry this pistol. We all know Dan Wesson pistols are expensive, but when you take into account the forged slide and receiver with all steel hand fitted internal parts you will understand the reason for that expense. The higher the quality of materials used, and the more time spent fitting the parts, the more it costs to produce that product. I am all about saving money by buying cheap paper towels and furniture but I buy nice guns and expensive cat food. I don’t believe in skimping on something on which you may have to depend your life. Expensive does not always equate to quality, as there are expensive guns I would not own, and there are inexpensive guns that work well. When it comes to Dan Wesson though, you do get what you pay for.
Specifications
Acknowledgments
This is such a beautiful gun and it shoots so smooth. Hunter, this review is excellent and really enjoyed it especially the video. As always thank you for allowing me to be a part of this review. Keep up the good work.
Barbara Elliott
Another great write up and Dan Wesson makes a great 1911, 9mm should increase their sales.
This is a really nice gun to shoot. Thanks for having me out to shoot it. It has a nice trigger that makes it real easy to shoot well. The grip was a little small for my hands, but it would make an ideal concealed carry weapon. Dan Wesson makes a great product and you need to feed it good food. I equate it to not putting 87 octane in a Ferrari. Thanks again for inviting me out to shoot.
I have 3 DW’s and love each one and l’m in the process of buying the Pointman Carry.
I also have a good number of custom Ed Brown’s and One Les Baer. They are very fine guns and precision shooters.
I feel for the money though, DW’s. are right up there with these custom pistols.
Too bad I live in the Republic of Ca. I’d have more DW’s! Thank you for making your great, accurate and beautiful pistols!