Among modern gunmakers, Dan Wesson is a particularly revered figure. In the late 1960s, he broke off from the family business—that business being Smith & Wesson—to start his own gun company. The ...

His great grandson, Dan Wesson II, worked at that company from 1938 to 1963. Then his family sold their interest in the firm to Bangor Punta in 1965, but his love for firearm design didn’t retire.

The Dan Wesson DWX barrel (center), compared to the 1911-style Staccato P barrel (top), and the 1943 vintage VIS 35 (bottom), which combines 1911 and Hi-Power designs. Tyler Freel. The Dan Wesson DWX ...