I recently perceived a hole in my 1911 collection (read that to mean I found an excuse to buy another pistol). The Dan Wesson A2 Commander checked several of my “want” boxes — quality, all-steel Commander sized pistol in .45; no bobtail; and an arched mainspring housing with a beavertail grip safety. A range review will have to wait. I found out today that I have a mandatory dance recital to attend tomorrow. What we do for family!
Thanks to CZ-USA’s corporate ambition, CZ and Dan Wesson are closerthanthis. That’s because CZ-USA purchased the pistol maker in 2015, placing it under the care and feeding of CZ-USA CEO Alice Poluchova, the Slezská univerzita v Opavě grad who’s been running CZ’s U.S. operations for no less than 18 years. The Wesson brand, once known for its revolvers, now concentrates on building a range of 1911-style semi-automatic pistols.
There’s the Commander format, finalized by Colt in 1949 and hitting the market a year later. Three-quarters of an inch shorter at the front than the Government 1911 Colt had manufactured for nearly forty years, it was also the first semiautomatic pistol to be produced with a light aluminum frame.