The Dan Wesson name is synonymous with switch-barrel revolvers. After all, that's all it made for as long as I can remember, in good times and in bad. And there were plenty of bad times.

Dan Wesson struggled through much of its existence. Not surprisingly, quality rose and fell with the company's bottom line, and the company changed hands several times over the years. The first 1911s that rolled off the production line in 1997 were a product of the bad times. Quality had improved a bit by 2004, but when CZ-USA purchased Dan Wesson in January of 2005, things got better fast.

The main differences between the guns of old and today's Dan Wesson 1911s are the quality of the individual parts and the hand-fitting that goes into each gun.

Dan Wesson VALOR
Type:	1911 semiautomatic
Caliber:	45 ACP
Capacity:	8+1
Barrel Length:	5 in.
Overall Length:	8.8 in.
Height:	5.5 in.
Width:	1.5 in.
Weight:	2.4 lb.
Frame/ Slide:	stainless
Sights:	low-profile adjustable Novak night sights
Finish:	black matte ceramic
Trigger pull:	4lb. 9oz.
Grips:	VZ slim line micarta
Price:	$1,494
Manufacturer:	Dan Wesson Firearms, 800.955.4486

Every Dan Wesson pistol is built on a forged slide and cast frame, with the exception of the new Valor, which is built on a forged frame. Each frame and slide is run through Dan Wesson's state-of-the-art CNC machines, then sent to the polishing department to be de-burred.

Those same folks then hand-fit the barrel, frame and slide. Finally, they hand-radius every sharp edge, blend the rear of the slide and frame, sandblast every radius, polish the flats, and throat and polish the feed ramp. This is all done by hand.

Next, they stake the plunger tube, pin the ejector and thoroughly clean the gun before sending it to the assembly department. There, the small parts are polished and fitted to each pistol. Dan Wesson does not use any drop-in parts on its 1911s, which is one reason they are so accurate and reliable.

Every trigger job is tuned by hand with the use of a Power Custom Jig. The extractor hooks are polished and tuned, and the match barrel bushing, oversized firing pin stop, grip safety, thumb safety and slide stop are all fitted. After assembly and function testing, each gun is test fired in the test tunnel before a final quality-control check.

The parts used on today's Dan Wessons are also superior to those made in the pre-CZ days. Ed Brown makes the tactical thumb safety, slide stop and beavertail grip safety. Greider makes the trigger. The stainless barrels and bushings are match-grade parts made by Dan Wesson, as are the tool steel ignition parts. The springs are by Wolff.

Back in 2006, I tested the Pointman Seven, a stainless steel, full-size 1911 with Bomar adjustable sights. It was nicely fitted, accurate and totally reliable. But I was not surprised given the quality of the parts and the overall fit and finish of the pistol.

Another gun I tested, the Commander Classic Bobtail is aimed at the concealed carry market. The 4.25-inch barreled pistol adds frontstrap checkering, Ed Brown's bobtail mainspring housing and fixed, Novak-style sights with three-dot tritium inserts. Its polished slide flats and rich, figured cocobolo grips give it a classy look. My test gun was beautifully fitted and shot great. In fact, I liked it so much I bought it.

As much as I like my Commander Classic Bobtail, when I wrote the review I mentioned that I thought the company should change the 20 lines-per-inch checkering. Well, the powers that be must have agreed because a much smoother 25 lpi checkering is one of the many improvements on current-production Commanders and the new Valor, which I recently tested.