[dels]

Picked up a new DW Valor a couple of weeks ago.

First the good things. Great out of the box trigger and everything was nice and tight. My first experience with the Duty Coat(?) finish, and I like it! A nice matte finish that seems to hold up great to a kydex holster. No problems with accuracy out to 25yds.

I have changed out the trigger to a short Wilson Combat one, exchanged out the mag release for an extended version, and have installed a Techwell magwell and grips.


Now to the issues.

Out of the first 300 rounds of factory 230gr ammo I have put through the gun (Speer Lawman), I have had 5 failure to feed malfunctions with 4 different magazines, including those that came with the gun. All of the FTFs were of the same type. Fired case ejected fine, but next round does not chamber all the way. I have to drop the mag and rack the slide to clear.

A friend advised to check the extractor tension, and I found it to be tight. Tuned it up, and moved on to the next issue.

Next, the slide would get hung up on the disconnector in a big way. If I rode
The slide toward slowly, I could actually get the slide to stop its forward movement as the bottom of the breech face got stuck on the head of the disconnector. Polished things up a tad, adjusted the spring a smidgen and now no hang up. Passed all safety tests.

Going to put more lead downrange this coming weekend to make sure the FTF issue is resolved.

This was not a cheap gun for me, and I'm a little disappointed that it required the tweaking as much as it did. The goal is to shoot this in competition so I need to get things ironed out.

 

[Guyfromohio]

Have you oiled it properly? Mine ran its first 200 failure free and very wet.

 

[DFL]

I have a SS Valor, purchased back in June. I've run @ 1200 reds through it without a single problem. My shooting buddy purchased a SS V-Bob at the same time and is having similar FTF issues as you are. Is in the process of sending the gun back for a unrelated issue, but it is annoying to have issues like this with fairly expensive guns.

 

[buckhorn_cortez]

Even though the gun is Duty Treated, it will still self-polish in certain areas. The rails and the feed ramp are two of the areas.

I had the same type of problems with a Valor and VBOB. My advice is to use fairly hot ball ammo, keep the gun lubricated, don't clean it - and shoot the snot out of it.

At one point, I put 1800+ rounds through my Valor without cleaning - just kept it lubricated. The longer I shot it - the better it worked.

I had problems with the factory magazines (many people don't - I did) - so I switched to Wilson Combat ETM magazines and the gun functioned much better.

 

[dels]

Thanks for all of the advice!

Yes, I ran the gun wet with the supplied bottle of lube.

I understood that the wearing in process for these tighter fit guns are lengthier, I guess I had higher expectations for out of the box function.

Hopefully I can get the reliability to match up with the accuracy.

 

[dels]

BTW, the mags I used were the stock ones, Wilson ETM, Wilson 47, and Chip McCormick. All 8 rounders. After all of the work on the gun, they all feed great even if I'm riding the slide.

 

[1911Rust]

Just curious, what brand were the stock mags? I've seen check mates & metalform, with my Valors.
Hope the issues resolve to your satisfaction.

 

[dels]

Just curious, what brand were the stock mags? I've seen check mates & metalform, with my Valors.
Hope the issues resolve to your satisfaction.

I honestly don't know. They have a flat metal follower with a base pad that kind of looks like the ones that come with Tripp mags.

Thanks, I'll find out this weekend!

 

[Dean C.]

Dont feel bad my new VBOB the feed lips on one of the check mate mags came too wide and would not work properly. Heck even the rails show signs of galling but I think the duty coat finish will prevent that or I might be in trouble. And just last night I figured out i could push the rear sight out with just my fingers.

The messed up thing is my ECO that is a year old has none of these issues at all. I love Dan Wesson firearms but this QC stuff has to get fixed ASAP especially at the price point. Even emailed DW about it and still have yet to get a response.

 

[bluto77]

I had the same type of problems with a Valor and VBOB. My advice is to use fairly hot ball ammo, keep the gun lubricated, don't clean it - and shoot the snot out of it.

At one point, I put 1800+ rounds through my Valor without cleaning - just kept it lubricated. The longer I shot it - the better it worked.

What does not cleaning, yet still lubricating do?

 

[AdamG247]

What does not cleaning, yet still lubricating do?

Allows the gun to create its own honing oil paste. As the gun gets dirty, the small particulate matter builds up and creates a oil slushy that some feel will work as a honing product and help the surfaces smooth out.

 

[NDL]

Allows the gun to create its own honing oil paste. As the gun gets dirty, the small particulate matter builds up and creates a oil slushy that some feel will work as a honing product and help the surfaces smooth out.

I'm of the school that cleans/lubes my guns after each range session. I've been doing this for 40+ years with various guns - and all retaining their accuracy and reliability without any degradation whatsoever.

The slurry spoken of does hone over time - and changes the tolerances we paid so dearly to get in our 1911s. I would surely be less concerned about this with a Glock, for example.

I know fully well there are those who have the opposite approach - like a friend with more years shooting than me. I'm not proposing my MO to anyone as the the only approach - just relating what has worked for me with a broad range of firearms.

 

[AdamG247]

I'm of the school that cleans/lubes my guns after each range session. I've been doing this for 40+ years with various guns - and all retaining their accuracy and reliability without any degradation whatsoever.

The slurry spoken of does hone over time - and changes the tolerances we paid so dearly to get in our 1911s. I would surely be less concerned about this with a Glock, for example.

I know fully well there are those who have the opposite approach - like a friend with more years shooting than me. I'm not proposing my MO to anyone as the the only approach - just relating what has worked for me with a broad range of firearms.

NDL, I am of the same religion as you. Clean and Lube after every range session. I was answering a previous question, not endorsing the practice.

 

[NDL]

NDL, I am of the same religion as you. Clean and Lube after every range session. I was answering a previous question, not endorsing the practice.

 

[spclopr8tr]

I am of the religion of following the recommended break in process from the manufacturer. In the case of the Valor, it is shoot 50, clean, lube and repeat. Do I like that process? No. I prefer the Les Baer process of shoot 500, then clean and lube. But I do not want to have to go for warranty work and have to explain why I didn't follow their procedures for break in.

 

[NDL]

I am of the religion of following the recommended break in process from the manufacturer. In the case of the Valor, it is shoot 50, clean, lube and repeat. Do I like that process? No. I prefer the Les Baer process of shoot 500, then clean and lube. But I do not want to have to go for warranty work and have to explain why I didn't follow their procedures for break in.

+1 Agreed

 

[citiot]

I am of the religion of following the recommended break in process from the manufacturer. In the case of the Valor, it is shoot 50, clean, lube and repeat. Do I like that process? No. I prefer the Les Baer process of shoot 500, then clean and lube. But I do not want to have to go for warranty work and have to explain why I didn't follow their procedures for break in.

+1


Manufacturer sanctioned break in process only. No voodoo unicorn tears.

 

[TSOL]

Try another brand of ammo and see if that helps. I went to a local indoor range that requires you to by their ammo with my PM7. This has been one of my most reliable 1911's and it was well past the break in period and all of a sudden I was having FTF after FTF I tried the DW mags, Wilsons and some Kimber mags and still had issues. I finally stopped shooting and went back up to the counter. I can't remember what the ammo brand was but we pulled out a box of S&B & federal American Eagle and the rounds that they had sold me for the range were a good bit longer than the both the S&B and American Eagle. They swapped out my remaining ammo and I didn't have a single issue the remainder of the time. So you could have gotten a slightly off batch of ammo or could be it doesn't like Speer. I have found 1911's to be more picky than many of the plastic massed produced guns.

Hope this helps..

 

[jonbondave]

my duty treat vbob did the same thing about that many times in the frist 500. in the proceeding 1500+, things have been 100% smooth and reliable.

 

[evets5321]

Most tight pistols need an extended break-in period. Warm loads and LOTS of lube will take care of 99.9%, the other .1% is usually mags. My custom 1911's were the same way for the first 50-100 rounds, now they both have close to 20K rounds each and just get better and better.