New for 2015, Dan Wesson introduced a 1911-style pistol that was chambered for the 10mm and .45 ACP cartridges. According to the company, these new pistols were of a quality comparable to the top-of-the-line Dan Wesson Valor pistols.
Let’s take a look at the basics of these guns…
As is typical for a 1911, these are single-action guns with both a thumb and grip safeties. Barrels are 5″ in length for both calibers. Both guns weigh 39.0 ounces (unloaded.)
Silverback Specifications
| Caliber | 10mm | .45 ACP |
| 1911 Type | 70-Series | 70-Series |
| Magazine Capacity | 9 rounds | 8 rounds |
| Barrel Length | 5.0″ | 5.0″ |
| Overall Length | 8.75″ | 8.75″ |
| Weight (unloaded) | 2.38 lbs | 2.38 lbs |
| Frame | stainless steel | stainless steel |
| Action | single action | single action |
| Sights | adjustable tritium | adjustable tritium |
| Grips | G10 | G10 |
| MSRP | $2,064 | $1,883 |
Two-Tone Finish
The Silverback will be a two-tone gun. The frame will have a polished black finish, while a silver-stainless slide will ride the rails. It appears the skeletonized hammer will also have a stainless finish. All of the hardware below the slide – including the trigger, safety and slide stop – will have a polished black finish.
According to Dan Wesson, the Silverback is the only two-tone pistol in the company’s catalog. If these sell well, I imagine that will change in the future.
Silverback Sights
A set of tritium target sights are dovetailed into the slide. As is typical for target sights, they are completely adjustable.
The rear sight appears to be the BoMar BMCS Kensight, but I could be wrong.
Grips
Stocks on the Silverback are made of G10. According to Dan Wesson, the grips are “full-thickness.” The grips have a black and gray color scheme.
If you are not familiar with it, G10 is a laminate product that has fiberglass captured in an epoxy resin. It is very strong and lightweight. While it has a lot of great scientific and industrial uses outside of the shooting world, it has become popular for pistol grips and knife handles.
Classic Cartridge: .45 ACP
I don’t know if someone can make a 1911-pattern pistol and it not be chambered for the .45 ACP. This model uses full-size 8-round magazines.
Lipsey’s now has these guns listed in their online catalog. They show the suggested retail pricing at $1,883 for this caliber.
10mm: Even Better?
While purists love the .45, I expect that the hobbyists will be interested in the pistol because it can be had in 10mm. The mags take 9-rounds, plus one in the chamber. Lipsey’s shows the MSRP of the 10mm as $2,064.
Currently, Dan Wesson makes one other 10mm pistol, the RZ-10 Razorback. That gun was re-introduced to the company catalog at the 2012 SHOT Show. Functionally, the Razorback is very similar to the Silverback. But, the MSRP is a bit less at $1,349.
Shipping
Dan Wesson has not officially announced when the guns will ship. I expect to see these on display at the 2015 SHOT Show, so I will try to nail down a time then.
Last Updated: July 2, 2022
12 replies on “Dan Wesson Silverback 10mm and .45 ACP”
[…] Dan Wesson Silverback – 10mm, .45 ACP […]
Another ridiculously overpriced 1911.
Typically Ignorant Comment. If this firarm has the quality of Dan Wesson’s other top-line 1911s, this would be a BARGAIN: Best tolerances, fit, durability, reliability, accuracy in the industry. This would be a “100 year gun” and you’ll get 50,000 rounds of 10MM out of it easily. You can buy your polymer guns like the clueless masses. But even the very nice Glock G-20 10MM, with its plastic magagine catch, weak spring to frame set-up and semi -supported chamber can not shoot more than Ten (yes, 10) 10MM rounds loaded over 1275 FPS and 475 ft/lbs Muzzle Energy before blowing the magazine out of the gun, permantly damaging the mag catch seating and causing damage to the chamber and barrel rifling. And try to make ANY change to that G20 (even swapping out the weak recoil spring, replacing the incredibly cheap plastic guide rod with STS, or shooting even one round of non-factory ammo) and you have voided the miniscule One Year Limited Factory Warrany! Doesn’t that Warranty tell you what Glock thinks of the quality/durability of its guns?
NOW, on my Kimber 1911 TLE/RL 10MM all I did was swap up to a 22# Wolf Recoil Spring ($7.95) and in two years and over 20,000 rounds have had Zero problems. At $1,025 thats a better bargain than any polymer pistol, or two or three combined. Its more accurate than any shooter, and in one range session handles 250 -300 rounds of the great Underwood 135 gr. JHP, making 1625 fps, 775 ft/lbs muzzle energy. Coefficient of drop is 1.5 inches at 100 meters. Can take down deer, wild boar. My Nighthawk 1911 10MM 6″ Hunter does even better and my 7 year old DW 1911 Commander 10MM is still the best CC weapon I’ve ever seen.
Do weapons like this cost a few hundred bucks more? Sure!!!! But in overall value, they far exceed anything – over the life of the weapon and definitely over the life of the owner.
Save up and carefully choose a good 1911. Value and Quality are measured by much, much more than initial cost.
And if you don’t want “Pay to Play” stop making completely boneheaded, ignorant and unsupported claims criticizing any gun at all that is priced out of your comfort zone.
Otherwise, you’re just contributing more to the “Internet-as-Gossip and Lies” syndrome we have seen it deteriorate into.
I would be curious to know what kind of groups you can get at 15 or 25 yards with your Kimber TLE 10mm.
I had a Kimber CDP which shot a 1 inch group at 15 yards with a 4 inch barrel.
PS……and I agree with your estimation of Dan Wesson 1911s. I compared a Valor to a Les Baer and a Nighthawk. All fine weapons….but the DW had the best trigger I ever felt and cost several hundred less the the Baer or Nighthawk.
Daniel: I used my Kimber as an example of a good quality, reliable 1911 to show no need to go to a $3K-$5K Custom maker to get good 1911 10MM shooting high pressure loads. Some folks really dislike Kimber, but my experiences have all been good. Also have a STS 38 Super with around 20K rounds, no issues. The TLE/ RL 10MM rail adds some weight up front, helps w/muzzle rise. Sure, I wish every 1911 was made entirely from single bar stock steel. Kimber fits MIM parts well into its design and all high-stress areas are solid steel. Just remember the 22# or higher recoil spring for high pressure loadings. Porsche, Mercedes, BMW use more and more MIM parts in High End models, also aluminum alloys and carbon fiber. Ditto Boeing, and aircraft/defense contractors. So maybe real future of the semi-auto handgun is not polymer after all.
To your question: I’ve gotten 2″ -2 1/2″ groups at 60 meters with Kimber TLE/RL 10MM using Underwood 135gr JHP. That’s offhand at 5200 ft. elevation in our beautiful AZ mtns. Don’t know if many .45s can do that. My Nighthawk 6″ Hunter 10MM does about 1/2″ better than the TLE/RL. And my DW 10MM Commander Bobtail model can almost equal the Kimber, with only a 4.25 ” barrel. All these weapons seem to equal or exceed guarantees by Baer, Brown etc and would do even better from benchrest. Maybe ammo, low humidity and high elevation play a factor, I don’t know.
And yes, my 9 yr old DW had probably the most smooth, crisp trigger out-of-the-box of any of ’em. Still superbly reliable (just a bit of holster wear). I can’t recall any feeding isses. Would love to see a 3lb trigger from DW but not for carry. My DW was made before CZ acquired them. Am glad CZ allows DW to maintain its independence, quality. Prob the best overall value in a 1911 line. (BTW, if someone prefers a less expensive higher capacity non-1911 pistol in the Glock price range, the all-steel CZ 75 models are in a class by themselves, IMO). Stay safe.
2 inch groups at 60 meters? That’s unbelievable from a factory pistol.
Your Dan Wessons were probably made by a gentleman named Bob Serva. He sold DW to CZ and then went on to form Fusion Firearms. You may be familiar with him, but if you’re not, you should check out his website. He builds some of the most beautiful and high quality 1911s you can imagine.
Strong fanboy. Not commenting the quality of DW 1911s but “best tolerances, fit, durability, reliability, accuracy in the industry” is a stretch. Furthermore, pretending that the 1911 is the best platform for 10mm is laughable. It doesn’t take a genius to acknowledge that the 1911 platform was designed around the relatively slow-moving .45acp. Assuming that OTD price is a few hundred less than MSRP (difficult with DW) there are a good amount of high-quality 10mm options available for 1800. Erroneously praising an unavailable 2,000 gun to a 500 Glock 20 is precisely the sort of “completely boneheaded, ignorant and unsupported claims” that I would expect from a “shooter” who spends the majority of his time making claims about how many rounds of “hot” 10mm he shoots through his Kimber.
P.S. I highly doubt you’ve shot “over 20,000 rounds” of hot 10mm out of your Kimber and only needed to replace the recoil spring once…
What exactly does “fanboy” mean?? With no skin in the game, financially or personally, its Just my Opinion that DW makes high quality 1911 pistols at reasonable price points.
Wonder why you’d reply with ad hominem attacks and say my opinions are wrong – Without Ever Making A Counter-Suggestion of you own about what is better and why. I like these threads when there is an exchange of information, personal experience and facts.
If I made a “stretch” according to you, in praising DWs, why didn’t you give an example of what YOU consider better and why??
And you either don’t comprehend my Statement on my Kimber 10MM longevity or you just want to set up false accusations in order to tear them down: I didn’t say it has lasted 20,000 rounds with a single spring change, but rather changing the Recoil Spring is the only modification I have made on the gun. I usually put in a Wolff 22 lb spring around every 1200 to 1500 rounds.
Your history is right, but your knowledge of current production 1911s is Not Right. Yes, over 100 years ago the 1911 was designed for the 45 ACP caliber. In the mid/late 1980s Colt used those standard frames for the original Delta Elite 10mm 1911 pistols. Those frames frequently cracked under the greater pressure of the 10mm. So production halted and years later Colt reintroduced the DE with substantially stronger forged frames. Other manufacturers took note: S&W created their vety Stout 1006/1066/1076 line of pistols with virtually indestructible stainless steel construction specifically designed for the 10mm pressures.
EVERY 1911 maker today who puts out a 10mm (from RIA to Kimber to DW to Wilson Combat) gives their 10s a stronger frame (as well as chamber, barrel and other parts) compared to their 45s. So, sorry, but well-made all Steel 1911s today actually Do Make an Excellent 10mm Platform. Longer match barrels, usually fully supported chambers, stronger forging – and No Polymer.
I’ve experienced magazine failure, mag catch failures and witnessed a catastrophic failure in G20s.
And why would you put the term Shooter in Quotes? Because anyone whose opinion differs from you can’t possibly be a shooter? Even when you never even give an alternate opinion? Does it offend you that others (like me) shoot Underwood 135 gr JHP 10mm and that you need to ridicule those rounds as “hot”??
I’ve got my experience and my opinions. Not everyone has to agree. I’d be pleased to engage in a rational good faith discussion.
But your answers speak more about your personal problems rather than pistols. You are a TROLL. Don’t bother.
I’m outta here.
Own a Valor in .45 and a silverback in 10mm, close to 4k for the two. WORTH EVERY PENNY!
You have no idea what you are talking about. This is about as close as you will get in quality to a 3 – $4,000 Nighthawk, Les Baers, Wilson custom made gun.
The Dan Wesson Titan is also available in 10mm, double stack of 10mm goodness.
[…] the line up. Several gun companies are introducing new 10mm guns at the SHOT Show including the new Dan Wesson Silverback and the Glock 40. While the 10mm has always enjoyed a loyal following, there seems to be an upswing […]