Dan Wesson is discontinuing the majority of their 1911 pistols including the CBOB, Pointman 9, Pointman 7, Pointman Marksman, Razorback, and SS Custom. They will be focusing on the more recent Valor, CCO, and the new VBOB and Guardian. The new pistols are significantly more expensive than the old lines. The Valor has also been been bumped up in price by almost $500. This is interesting to me because, until now, I felt that Dan Wesson's niche was to provide the best value for production guns. They used higher quality small parts and had better fit and finish than, say, SA or Kimber. By focusing on their best pistols and bringing in two more of similar price, Dan Wesson is seemingly trying to become a cheaper altenative to Ed Brown and other semi-customs. On a personal note, this news sucks for me because I really wanted to get a Valor and CBOB. The Valor might now be out of my price range and the CBOB will have to be used.
I've never really looked at Dan Wesson because I could put a couple more hundred dollars with my money and get a Les Baer or Ed Brown. Which is what I did.
I bought my first blued Les Baer with factory night sights for $1,500. I'll put that up against any gun ever made any where, any time. But, I know I got a racehorse deal on it. Mike, the owner of my favorite gun store, was trying to get rid of it and cut me a deal.
That is a hell of a deal. Les Baer is probably the best value out of all the semi-customs. I can't afford that either, unfortunately
I still really don't get this. When it was the Wesson family running the company, they made some mighty fine revolvers and 1911's. But, now it's just a name. CZ wanted to get into the 1911 game and rather than market a klunker gun under their name (that only the cheapest of the cheap would buy), they bought Dan Wesson and went into big time mass production. The name is there, but the craftmanship is not. They really weren't an option before, but now they've priced themselves into the Les Baer and Ed Brown market while providing a Spingfield and Kimber quality product. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with Spingfield or Kimber. I own both. But they're not worth that premium. Hell, I wouldn't even pay the current going price for a Springfield TRP or Kimber Desert Warrior when I can get a freakin' Les Baer for the same price!
The site sucks. I don't even think they update it. You have to go there to really take it in anyways. They sell guns. That's it. They have a limited supply of ammo and very, very little by way of accessories (except for AR-15's). But, they have hundreds and hundreds of guns. You want it, they've probably got it in stock. If they don't have it in stock, they'll have it for you on the next business day. He carries several complete catalogs in stock too. Every model available of Glock, Sig, Springfield Armory, Kimber, Les Baer, Wilson Combat, and Nighthawk Custom He's also got a little area for Class III (read as: fun) stuff. Last time I was in there, he had a select fire CAR-15, a couple surpressed Ruger MkII's and 10/22's, two Uzi's, and a MAC-10. He only wanted $12,000 for the CAR.
I should point out that they weren't really mass producing their newer guns. I think only 200 Valors were made last year and a similar number of CCO's. They're harder to find than most semi's. Maybe part of a huge marketing gamble? I don't really get the price increases either, and you're right about Kimber and SA doing it with their "custom shop" guns too. I think the Kimber Gold Combat is about 200 bucks cheaper than an Ed Brown and even slightly more expensive than some of the cheaper LB's. I guess people are still buying them or they wouldn't be doing this.
Everybody is going up, but not to this degree. About two years ago, I bought a new Stainless Springfield Loaded 5" with Novak sights for $700 out the door. When I bought that Kimber a month ago, I noticed that same gun today will cost you $790. I also saw where the Stainless TLE II is going for $1,200.
