In November 1997, within 24-hours of purchase, I shot my first Dan Wesson. It was the Model 11 (.357 with 4" BBL.) and the event (test-fire) was very eye-opening to me. Now, at that time period (1997), I had quite a bit of experience with four-inch cop revolvers. I collected them and shot the same in the monthly service pistol match still being held today in 2012. I was primarily use to the Colt I-Frame Six-guns (OP, Python) Colt OP MK III & Metropolitan MK III (4" BBL.), Ruger Security-Six & Police Service Six, the Smith and Wesson Models 10 (4"HB, 4"Tapered BBL., 6" BBL.) Model 15 (4" BBL.), and Model 66 (4" BBL.). Throw in the Taurus Model 82 and that about topped off what I had shot in regards to cop six-guns. The trigger-action on each of the above listed was unique and I loved shooting "all" of them. My duty sixgun has always been my "beloved" Colt Official Police (4" BBL.) from Christmas Eve 1971 until today. Sometimes my J-Frame Colt Metropolitan MK III would spell my Colt on duty and in competition.

The first day of shooting that Model 11 found the trigger-action of a type never encountered by myself. On slowly squeezing for the double-action feature I found the cylinder-stop released the cylinder for a free-spin and "BOOM" then the hammer dropped so quickly it caught me by surprize and after the first six-rounds in a pistol perch I thought there were four-flyers with just two-hits in the center 10-zone of the B-27 target. As shared in a previous thread, upon closer examination, two 3-round cloverleafs about the diameter of a quarter. I remember taking a hard look at my odd-looking soon-to-be-favorite competition six-gun and walking back down to the firing line for another "go" at it to see if luck was playing a huge hand. I single-action this next 6-round string and got another repeat performance except the group diameter closed a little! In the first 12-rounds my new-to-me Model 12 went to the front of the pack of my cop six-guns for the monthly service pistol competition.

Over a period of time I got use to the short hammer-drop characteristics, the looks, actually I love the looks now, and finally deciding upon the best grips for this type of shooting. The original DW Target Finger-Groove Grips in beautiful walnut. In 1997 when I started bringing my Dan to the monthly comps the semi-auto pistol had already took center stage in law enforcement. One old guy was allowed, by benevolent supervisors trained by this old guy in previous times, to keep his six-gun. His "much-beloved" Official Police has been his starting quarterback for 4-decades now. My old OP is a story unto itself. Not about me, but about the quality and reliability a good six-gun brings to the table of self-defense.

Thanks my friends! I hope you enjoy this gun story about one Model 11 that has Mr. Dans name all over it. The "most" accurate four-incher I have ever shot!

David

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