Register
Log In
Home
October 2, 2021
Offline
Hi, I am new to DW. Usually shoot IDPA using Glocks or SA 1911s, all 9mm. Decided to move up and bought a new Guardian just 2 months ago. I love it. Absolutely the best pistol I have ever owned. Craftmanship is awesome and accuracy out of the box far better than my abilities.
However at Saturday's match it went full auto on me. 600 rounds to date, no mods other than grip panels. Loaded to 9 in a Chip McCormick 10 round mag with one in the chamber. I double tapped a close target. 8 rounds fired before I could let go of the trigger. Fired 9 and 10 at another target, reloaded and attempted another double tap - a 5 to 6 round burst was the result. Unload and show clear.
I called service this morning and they suggested I fill out the form on the web site as the fastest method to get the warranty repair effort started. I did that and I am sure they will follow up but I just wondered if anyone else has experienced something like this? I'm guessing there is a problem in the sear / hammer area but have never seen this happen before and have no real idea what could have caused this. Any thoughts?
Thanks - Jay
DWF Supporters
July 12, 2020
Offline
Wow that will get your attention real quick! Sear/hammer misalignment, broken sear or spring?????? Please let us know what it was when DW does the service on it. I have about 8k on mine and nothing but one stovepipe and a FTRB and that was all.
October 2, 2021
Offline
That’s my guess as well but I’m not going to touch it. I’ve taken all of my 1911s down to individual pieces but this is such a fine machine that I just don’t want to mess with it. Let the pros take care of her. I’ll post the results down the line.
Supporter
Dans Club
March 25, 2013
Offline
I would buy one of those chassis that you can slip the gun into and have aa full auto short barreled rifle. Get an extended magazine. AND DONT TELL ANYONE OR SHOW IT TO THEM. 😜. That's just me. 😉
October 2, 2021
Offline
Wellll … accuracy does suffer. My first 2 shots were as aimed, center mass. Next were a couple on a line straight up, with one in the head zone. The rest were above the target but thankfully below the berm. I admit it was exciting, but I prefer semi auto, especially with ammo prices where they are. Go gators.
October 2, 2021
Offline
Update. Filled out on-line form as suggested by customer service rep on Monday morning. Tuesday morning I received a FedEx shipping label with RA number attached. That was fast and appreciated. Drop off less than a mile from my house. All packed up and in transit in less than 48 hours of contact. Looking good so far.
February 16, 2016
Offline
A Glock 17C is unobtainium ! 
January 22, 2021
Offline
Danger Will Robinson! Might be a slam fire. Happened to me once on my 308 AR. Firing pin pierced the primer probably because it was too soft.
http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2012/10/firearm-malfunctions-slamfire.html?m=1
Supporter
Dans Club
March 25, 2013
Offline
I remember reading that MAB PA15s Wil fire full auto if loaded with 380 I stead of 9mm. I think it was the MAB. 
October 2, 2021
Offline
Moving right along. Form into DW via internet on Monday. Received FedEx label Tuesday. Gun delivered to them Wednesday. Received email notification Thursday of same with data logged in. Will be fixed in order of receipt, sounds fair. Expected time: 4 - 6 weeks, with weekly updates to be provided. Seems long time to me but this is a form response note so hopefully I will get lucky and the queue won’t have that many ahead of me. Standing by ...
DWF Supporters
July 12, 2020
Offline
Usually they have been on the quicker side in returning it to you, but with everything going on nowadays it may be at least a few weeks.
October 2, 2021
Offline
Yes, I assume the 4 - 6 weeks is a standard placeholder guarding against the unforeseen. Understandable. Of course I’m hoping it turns out to be a lot quicker than that. Time will tell.
October 2, 2021
Offline
Got another update Thursday afternoon. Kind of same form notification, but different message. They are waiting on a replacement firearm. Standard 4-6 week comment at the bottom.
This was unexpected. I assumed some parts swap and fitting. Guess the good news is fast evaluation in less than 24 hours of receipt. But, no idea as to replacement availability. I sent in an email to request they save my custom grip panels if they replace the gun, and expressed a willingness to consider a different model if a Guardian is not readily available. Will be interesting to see what develops next week.
October 2, 2021
Offline
Wow! Not a happy camper. Just got another note. Says gun is fixed and ready to ship. BUT, no problem found! Cleaned and checked for positive sear engagement and that safeties all worked. Test fired and no problem found.
First, what happened to the “replacement” firearm we were waiting for? Second, did the test firing duplicate the conditions when full auto resulted? FAST DOUBLE TAP. No information provided as to actual test. We already know that single round firing is not a problem.
They may have tested thoroughly and had no failures, but with nothing changed, what makes anyone believe I won’t have it go full auto again?
Note was sent by “do not reply” computer minutes after switchboard closed for the day. I’ll try tomorrow to talk to a person about this. Time will tell.
DWF Supporters
July 12, 2020
Offline
Hmmmm... in for the story here. If it happens again after receiving it back get in touch with Keith@czusa.com.
October 2, 2021
Offline
Update. Talked to a very nice gentleman at CZ. There is nothing in my file about gun replacement. Perhaps someone clicked a box by mistake when that email was sent to me.
I expressed a concern that, with nothing changed, nothing was really fixed. I wondered if the test performed was the fast double tap which was the condition under which the gun had failed. Firing single shots would not have been a valid test. He talked to the tech and then assured me that he has a high level of expertise and that if he says the gun is good to go, it is. Frustrating, but "failure to recreate the problem" situations usually are.
Gun will be returned shortly. I will be delighted to have it back and will resume competition with it right away, but admit to still being a bit concerned. Will it be safe and dependable or will it spray bullets in an uncontrolled fashion on the next double tap? I'll let you know.
DWF Supporters
July 12, 2020
Offline
I really hope not! No one ever wants any AD's as they are where the horror stories come from.
October 2, 2021
Offline
Gun is back. Enclosure repeated my problem statement. Indicated the work performed was basically to clean it and check for problems, none found. Also, test fired, no problem found. While my problem statement explained this happened when I did a fast double tap, and not with single fires, the test they performed was not explained so I have no idea if they tried a DT or not.
Gun was terribly dirty. To be fair, I had about 60 rounds through it and sent it in uncleaned so it would be in the exact state as when it failed. Perhaps the "clean and inspect" was limited to the lower part of the gun. I can't tell but since they did nothing substantial to the gun, I am concerned it will soon fail again. A friend suggested I bend the sear spring middle prong backward, if the two left prongs are even. I'm not going to modify any base DW parts at this point, but I did have a Springfield OEM sear spring handy. Middle prong is already bent rearward while the DW prongs are even and appear polished as well. I switched the parts. Trigger feels the same but now is at 4.5 lbs vs 3.75 - 4lbs before.
Match in 2 days. Will test it out. If it fails, will put the DW spring back in and test again, with video. If it fails, then contact DW. However, if it works well with the SA spring in place, then I will stick with that solution. I just want a dependable gun that fires when I press the shot, not when it decides on it's own to rock and roll.
October 18, 2021
Offline
It is so reassuring to know that someone received the same generic response we received with two DWs--Valor and Razorback. They have had them longer than we have. They are being resistant to do the repairs because my husband used "inappropriate" language about their guns and they threatened to refused to honor their warranty--until we had a long heated legal discussion with them!! FYI--it is the Federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The Valor is now back at them for the second time and has been in their shop for 6 weeks because we can't get the barrel in or out. They won't accept the Razorback for the second time until the Valor is done. In the meantime we don't have either one to use. My husband is a Marine Scout Sniper and Scout Sniper instructor--30 year Marine and has had a 1911 since he was 12 years old. We have about 30 1911s--predominately Sigs, as well as Springfield Armory, Rock Island Armory, Colt,. We have 4 DWs and there won't be any others. The Vigil is a great gun but it also went back for repair because the slide would not go home. The Razorback does not feed, eject, extract, the slide won't go home, the rounds nose dive and, of course, it is the ammo and we don't know what we are doing according to them. We have tried 5 types of ammo and several magazines. Same as you--they had no firing issues. Also, same as you, the gun came back "cleaned and inspected". We clean our guns after every use and when we got the gun back it was filthy including SAND--wherever that came from!! The first round we fired out of the Razorback the slide would not go home!! So, it sits here waiting till the Valor comes back to us so we can send the Razorback back again. Needless to say, we are not friends of DW!! Our advise is to stay away from Dan Wesson--buy Sig Sauer. Of 20 Sig 1911s we sent 2 back over the years and the turn around time was less than 2 weeks. Same with the Springfield. Dan Wesson should live up to its claim to be as near to custom as production can be. Good luck at your match. Will be looking forward to how your gun runs.
1 Guest(s)
