It was a few months ago the Dan Wesson Razorback arrived and we got right to work on the review. After I was convinced it was reliable with a good cross section of defensive ammunition I started carrying the pistol every day. So my review will cover the pistol as an every day carry handgun.
Range Time
First Impressions
I made some changes after the first couple hundred rounds. Here you can see I swapped in slot stock screws in place of the factory hex head stock screws. I like to be able to detail strip a 1911 without tools and with hex head stock screws you cannot.
The pistol is all stainless with a forged receiver and slide. All the small parts are steel with no MIM or cast parts. You will notice here I have swapped the factory wooden double diamond stock to a set of Alumagrips. While the factory stocks were quite attractive, with the hotter 10mm Auto rounds the Alumagrips gave me a better purchase on the pistol.
The extended thumb safety snapped on and off with an audible click. The extended ledge on the thumb safety gave some extra real estate to not only manipulate the safety but a firm ledge for your thumb to ride on during live fire. This method can help mitigate some muzzle rise under recoil. The trigger was very nice, breaking at five and three-quarter pounds, with little take up and just a bit of overtravel.
The grip safety has a deep beavertail for comfortable and secure purchase on the pistol. With an incorporated palm swell on the grip safety, you have a bit of added insurance of disengaging the grip safety. All steel mainspring housing is well checkered.
The sights are dovetailed in and worked very well with the rear being drift adjustable. The front sight is textured but is all black so it could get lost on a black silhouette target. I painted some White Out on the front sight and that helped a great deal adding some contrast to the front sight against the rear sight. If this were my pistol I believe I’d be swapping in a front night sight or brass bead.
After about 600 rounds downrange, from standard ball target rounds to several types of defensive JHPs, there were no failures or stoppages. The ramped barrel is five inches and has a supported chamber. All the small parts show no signs of wear or breakage. While 600 rounds is not a lot of ammunition down range if there was a problem with the gun or timing it would have shown up by now.
The pistol averaged three rounds just under two inches at twenty five yards from a rest.
Accuracy chart three rounds shot from a rest
Conclusions
I have been reviewing firearms for near ’bout 20 years, with Range Hot being about five years old. I have had a few publishers before I began writing for myself so I do have some experience in this field. I would say the 1911 pattern pistol would account for almost half of the guns I have tested and I can say without hesitation the Razorback is my favorite 1911 I have ever reviewed and very close to the top of all firearms I have reviewed. I did find a few things I would change but none of those were deal breakers, were easily corrected, and they may not be an issue for many individuals. I see this pistol marketed to the handgun hunter as being a primary or secondary firearm for the sportsman, lending itself to being a fine hiking and trail defense pistol. In my opinion, it also makes a fine every day carry handgun. With the supported chamber, I had no apprehensions about running the full power 10mm ammo which gives you excellent choices for personal defense from two or four legged critters. With a quality holster and gun belt, the 1911 carries and conceals well with trigger and ergonomics that has set the standard of handguns. That platform has a lot going for it as a defensive sidearm. Add in the quality of Dan Wesson and the 10mm Auto chambering you can understand why I feel the way I do. I have all confidence in this pistol and am satisfied with it.
Specifications
Acknowledgments
An in depth article by an experienced writer who I have been following for over 11 years, as I totally trust his analysis!
Thank you very much my friend. I do hope you have been well.
Great review Hunter on a very good rendition of the 1911 platform. Dan Wesson aka CZ make a great pistol and this one is just another example.
Take Care
Bob
Thank you my friend. Article shared on your site.
Nice review Hunter. Add another gun to the wish list!
This whole unsupported vs. supported chamber thing, surprised to see you bring it up here, did I not just read an article about that on this website- saying that an unsupported barrel is not really any concern if you are using legit spec ammo, that you only have to worry if you are using the dangerously over the top nuclear loads?
I ask as someone that just bought a Colt Delta Elite. I’ve heard so many different opinions on this subject…whats the reality? As near as I can tell the stout Buffalo Bore and Doubletap stuff should be fine in a Delta.
You are totally correct Jason. In spec ammo will be fine in any pistol chambered in 10mm, the Delta Elite included. I have a couple of Deltas and have shot the hot stuff through them with zero issues. I bring it up because it is a big deal to some and not so much to others. I try to point out the features and let the reader decide if that truly matters. The Dan Wesson has a bit more support at the case webbing than the Delta BUT the 10mm brass is much thicker at the webbing for this very reason.
The only real difference it may make is if you had an overcharged round, you have just a touch more support in that case. How much difference in the real world does that matter? Not very much.
Thank you for the kind words.
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Looking good, and running good!
Great site, thank you!
I do agree, Dan Wesson makes some of the finest production 1911 pistols. I do prefer the Valor model due to the 25 LPI checkering in the front, and the 2-dot night sites. For the three Valors that I own (VBob 45, Commander 9mm, and Govt 10mm) all seem to run a lighter trigger than the Razorback at about 4 lbs. I’m not sure if accuracy is better with the Valors over the Razorback, I suspect that is a matter of how well the match barrel is fitted to the gun.
That would be an interesting test for the two guns – Valor vs Razorback. The gun I shoot the best is the Dan Wesson Bruin, but this may be a result of being older and the longer site radius.
I’d like to see Dan Wesson add RMR cut to their Govt. Valor and a rounded butt magwell option.
How does Dan Wesson compare to Les Baer? I own couple DW love them but curious about Baer if they are significantly better or really not enough better to justify cost differerences.
Thanks
Rocky
Rocky I admit I have only shot a couple of Les Baers so my experience on Baers is somewhat limited. With that said in my opinion Dan Wesson is just as nice of a handgun. I believe with Dan Wesson you are getting the best value of a high end pistol for the money. Past that you have surpassed the law of diminishing returns.
I agree and I believe that the Dan Wesson look better!
Hunter, interesting that your favorite is the Razorback. Mine is the DW Bruin in 10mm, but not for carry. In fact, my second favorite Dan Wesson gun is my V-Bob in 45 ACP, very accurate, and nice size when holstered cross carry.
My #1 carry 1911 based gun, believe it or not, is a reliable tack driving officer model with a 10-stack magazine. This little gun came from the factory pretty messed up, but with a Wilson Bullet Proof extractor properly tuned, and a quality steel slide stop, it can run all day with the best of them. Now,I know I’ll take some heat for this, but it is the truth – the bull barrel Kimber Ultra Ten; it is an amazingly small, light and very accurate 45 that I’ve made super reliable with MIM part change outs. Great gun, but Kimber didn’t do it justice with their horrible MIM mass-production gun concepts. Have you ever seen one? Have you ever shot one?
Great gun, great secret!
Thank you very much for your kind words. I do love the Razorback, but the Specialist is quickly climbing the list.
Interesting analysis I carry with the underwood 135gr lightning fast and still packs enough punch to get attention. I cheated on the grips and went with Pachmayer and More control means better accuracy
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