-- Thomas Jefferson, writing to his teenaged nephew.
I got a new gun the other day, a Dan Wesson Razorback in 10mm auto. It’s a full sized 1911 pattern gun. So far I haven’t had the opportunity to shoot it at paper, but I’ve taken it out a couple times and it’s certainly minute of dirt clod accurate. I’m pretty sure it shoots better than I do. Long shots seem easier than with my .45s, which is to be expected since that’s what I understand the 10mm’s original purpose was. I’m getting final round feeding problems with both factory supplied magazines. Hopefully I can order some Wilson mags next week and get that problem solved.
I like to go hog hunting, and I’ve also had a few chances to go out and try to dart wild bulls in heavy brush. Either activity can present some fast shots, with more stress involved than regular target work. It made sense to try and use those chances to practice with the same sort of gun I use for defense. It also happens that I can shoot my 1911s a little faster with confidence than I can my revolvers. Since it might be nice to have a little more penetration and “thump” than a .45 offered, that seemed like as good an excuse as any to try the 10mm.
This is intended to be an outdoors gun, and I’d like better night sights without going tritium. Tritium is great on my defensive guns, but not in line with the semi-traditional concept I’m going for here. I know it’s a stainless gun in a caliber other than the one John Moses Browning intended, with a beaver tail and a commander hammer. Still, there’s no forward cocking grooves, no ambi safety, no extended release or mag well or anything like that. Maybe simple, or even tasteful, would be a better description than semi-traditional. I’m thinking about trying a gold bar front and either leaving the back alone or going with a white line. Maybe I can find somebody to make a gold line rear sight, although that might make for a cluttered sight picture.
I’ve already got holsters that will fit it for hunting, but hopefully it will deserve a nice Threeperson’s holster in case I ever need a barbeque gun.
I have a DW Razorback as well and absolutely love it. Of all the production 1911s I've seen the DW is probably the closest I've seen to a custom gun, fit-and-finish wise. Whatever you'd like to do with a .357 Magnum you could probably also do with the 10mm, assuming you're shooting full-power loads with the 10. Do you load your own ammo for it? I like the 180-grain Berry's plated bullet over about 12.4 grains of Accurate No. 9 myself, good for about 1100-1130 fps. Another pet load I've tried in my Kimber Stainless Target II is the 155-grain Hornady XTP over 14.8 grains of AA #9, good for about 1370 fps and scary accurate, too. Haven't tried that one in the DW though...I don't know if I'd want to do that with used brass and and unramped barrel. I am still a bit of a noob at handloading.
ReplyDeleteI don't load my own, yet. I've been shooting Doubletap 200 grain FMJ and 180 grain JHP, listed as being 1275 and 1300 fps, respectively. I'm shopping for some lighter loads for practice, and planning on using their 200 grain hardcast load when darting bulls.
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about the Double Tap ammo but have never tried any of it. Before I loaded my own I just went with the Federal American Eagle and Remington 180-grain FMJs. That ammo's good for plinking & brass, being loaded down to slightly hotter than .40S&W levels. But with the way the brass is thrown, be prepared to hunt for it!
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