The low-profile extended safety has a wide enough shelf to ride with the thumb, but it’s not so wide it digs into your side or would be inadvertently deactivated. The Valor's 25 lines-per-inch, machine-cut checkering is nicely done and gives plenty of traction without being abrasive to the hands during firing.

The Valor boasts several upgrades--a forged frame, a durable new finish and even more hand-fitting among them. During fitting, the Valor is built tighter than its brethren, and the hand-fitted extractor and grip safety are blended flawlessly.

Once the fitting is complete, the pistol is finished in a durable, matte black Cerakote (which the company calls Duty Coat). This finish is very corrosion-resistant and tough as nails. It is also applied very evenly and smoothly, which I cannot say about some companies' spray-on finishes. When the pistol comes back from finishing, every part has to be fitted once again to deal with the added thickness of the coating.

The Valor is built on Dan Wesson's forged slide and frame of 416 stainless steel. The frame sports an undercut trigger guard, 25 lpi checkering on the front- and backstrap, and a beveled magazine. The magazine release and forged Greider slide stop are slightly extended.

The trigger is Greider's solid, aluminum model. It is adjustable for overtravel. The slick trigger, Wolff springs and the hand-fitted, match-grade, tool-steel ignition parts combined to give the pistol a crisp, clean trigger pull that measured four pounds, nine ounces and felt even lighter.

The Valor's linen micarta slim-line stocks are by VZ Grips. They have a fair amount of texture but are not abrasive. The slim grips feel great in my small hands, and the gray color looks sexy against the matte black pistol.

The hand-fitting is very evident in the beautifully blended Ed Brown beavertail grip safety. There were no uneven gaps or sharp edges between the grip safety and the frame, and the raised bump made it easy to engage the grip safety every time, even with a less-than-perfect firing grip.

Ed Brown's tactical thumb safety is my favorite. It has a wide enough shelf for me to ride with my thumb, but it is not so wide that it digs into my side nor so large that it is prone to inadvertent deactivation. The safety engaged smoothly and positively, as I expected it would given the amount of hand-fitting involved.

The Valor's forged, five-inch slide is also a stainless steel part. It is devoid of the front cocking serrations that are so en vogue. That smooth slide and the tasteful Valor logo give it a classic, all-business look. Like all Dan Wesson pistols, the Valor's ejection port is flared, and the barrel and bushing are Dan Wesson-made, stainless steel, match-grade parts.

The front sight is neatly dovetailed into the slide. It has a green tritium insert with a white outline that the company refers to as a target ring. The adjustable Novak rear sight has two identical dots that glow white. The dual-colored dots are a pretty ingenious way to avoid confusing the front and rear sights in a low-light, life-or-death situation.

The slide-to-frame fit on my sample was exceptionally tight. The barrel locked up bank-vault solid, and the controls were smooth and positive. All that hand-fitting really showed.

As pleased as I was to see the amount of human attention given the Valor, I reserved judgment on the pistol because, in my experience, such tightly fitted pistols are hit-or-miss in the reliability department. Though they are usually incredibly accurate, tight pistols don't always run so great right out of the box. I had only 400 rounds to run through the Valor, so I was hoping it wouldn't require a lengthy break-in period to hit its stride.