Dan Wesson Bruin, civilized Brute

Posted February 22, 2017 8:18 pm by R.P. Mcmurphy Comments

By Hunter Elliott

Dan Wesson Civilized Brute – Hunter Elliott

First Impressions

Solid aluminum trigger, adjustable for overtravel, breaking crisp at four pounds with just a bit of takeup and almost no overtravel. The slide stop and extended thumb safety are serrated, while the magazine catch is checkered.

Some of the features: green fiber optic front and rear yellow night sights dovetailed in the slide, skeletonized speed hammer, angled rear cocking serrations, match grade 6.3″ barrel, lowered and flared ejection port, twenty two pound recoil spring, G10 stocks, and checkered mainspring housing and front strap at twenty five lines per inch.

Other than the recoil spring plug being angled, the Bruin detail strips as any other 1911 style pistol, not incorporating a firing pin safety. After some 500 rounds, paying attention to the sear, disconnect, hammer, and radial locking lugs on the barrel and their mating area inside the slide, all was holding up well. Dan Wesson uses an all steel GI length guide rod and reduced radiused firing pin stop in the Bruin. The plunger spring is not kinked, so be advised when removing the thumb safety. The pistol ships with two eight round magazines and a polymer bushing wrench.

Going to the 6.3″ barrel and longslide has many benefits for a handgun if you are not concerned about easy concealability. Increased sight radius, accuracy, and increase in velocity are all pluses.

Conclusions

Dan Wesson builds fine pistols but they are, indeed, expensive. They are not standard production pistols but hand fitted with forged steel and no MIM parts. Considering time and material cost one would exspect such an increase in cost. The Bruin is a pistol that fills the handgun hunting niche while easily spilling over in many other categories, such as defense and range duty. The 10mm Auto surpasses the .357 Magnum in energy with a larger and heavier bullet. Add in the increased capacity and speed of reload and to me it is a clear option. Many states regulate handgun barrels must be six inches or better to be legal for hunting, and the Bruin satisfies that with room to spare. When the dust cleared and all the brass was policed I was satisfied that the Bruin performed as Dan Wesson claims. This pistol is also available in .45 Automatic and all black finish.

Specifications

Product Name DW Bruin Bronze – 10mm Auto

SKU 01881

Firearm Type Handgun

MSRP $2,194.00

Chambering 10mm Auto/.45 Auto

Magazine Capacity 8

Magazine Type Single Stack

Frame Black Duty/Bi tone Bronze receiver black slide.

Trigger single action breaking at 4 pounds

Sights Adjustable Tritium with Tritium/Fiber Optic Front

Barrel Length 6.3″