What would cause the B/C gap to close up to this point? Yoke/crane/bushing wear? The gun was probably only set up for .002-.003 in the first place so it wouldn't take a lot I guess. I picked it up today for $300 cash and a non firearm item that I never used that was collecting dust in a spare room. It has some blemishes on the cylinder I didn't see before but the frame and shroud are practically perfect. I don't think I've ever seen a deeper, darker blue on a revolver before. Now I've got to wait for the barrel tool to arrive so I can reset the gap. When I release the cylinder I've got to guide it out or it will free fall. Is this normal with Dan Wessons?Take a stone with you so you can touch up any burrs caused by the rubbing of the barrel against the cylinder to get an accurate b/c gap measurement.
I used to have a 357 mod 15 for yrs, great shooter, lucked into this mod 40, 357 Supermag, base gun with 8" barrel for less than my original mod 15. Yrs if Ebay shopping got my almost complete kit.I have two Monson Mass. DW-15”s: one came as part of the 2-4-6-8” Vent-Heavy shroud pistol pac with all the goodies described in the earlier post and one I bought as a frame and added a 3” VH EWK barrel/shroud and Hogue wooden grips. Both guns are in great shape, and I do what I can to keep them like that.
I love DW guns: stout, versatile and more accurate than I am.
$500 isn’t the worst I’ve seen, but I’d offer $425 right now to the proprietor and see what happens. You may just get it for something close to that.
Now, if I could just get a DW .357 Max Super Mag or a .22 Magnum DW to appear in my stocking on Christmas...
Stay safe.
The barrel is under tension and should unscrew easily once the shroud is removed. I've had a few DW's and currently have a Model 40 and have never had a problem removing a barrel, if there's no obvious rust and oil/grease in the action, the barrel shouldn't be a problem, and the .002 gap definitely will affect the double action rotation of a model 15. My mod 40 is supposed to use .002 but caused cylinder bind on a specific area, backed out to .003 and enough clearance for easy double action without bind.I went to look at the gun today cash in hand. It looked great, no worn bluing, no plum color blue anywhere, the forcing cone showed no wear and no flame cutting. The balance the gun is fantastic and you'd never think it was nearly 40 years old by looking. The cylinder locked up tight and the locking lug was barely showing any wear at all. Single action was excellent.. I asked him to take the rubber grip off and it showed no rust underneath or frame wear. He offered to take off the side plate. No rust and no signs of problems except very oily and looked like someone had used some light grease inside. Also the hammer had an arc rubbed in it on the left side deep enough to easily feel with you finger nail. Then I tried DA and something was wrong. The trigger would go back some and hit a wall and have to be forced by more pressure to get past it if you were pulling the trigger DA slowly. If you pulled the trigger more quickly it wasn't as noticeable. It was binding. I checked the B/C gap and pretty much wasn't any as it took some effort to get a .002 gauge in. I looked at the face of the cylinder and you could see marks where it had been binding on barrel. The cylinder didn't have excessive build up on it. He had no barrel tool so we couldn't reset the gap. Also he had put a Wolff "competition" trigger return spring in and several times the trigger stuck back and wouldn't return without help. I suggested he put the stock trigger return spring back in and order a barrel tool so we could unscrew the barrel some to get .006 B/C gap and see if that was the problem with DA. This is his first revolver so I offered to help him with the barrel adjustment when the tool comes in. He honestly didn't realize there was a problem as he only shot it SA. We both left disappointed. After we adjust the BC gap, I'll try it and make a decision. Hopefully the barrel will unscrew without a major problem after who knows how many years.
If I could like x3 I would, that’s one rare beauty right there!View attachment 856364I used to have a 357 mod 15 for yrs, great shooter, lucked into this mod 40, 357 Supermag, base gun with 8" barrel for less than my original mod 15. Yrs if Ebay shopping got my almost complete kit.
I did try taking the grip off and it didn't help. It's binding and leaving rub marks on the cylinder face, so maybe that's the cause(I hope) I've noticed when I hold it up to the light the contact point is on the top of the forcing cone/barrel on all chambers. I can see a slight sliver of light through the rest of the gap.I 150% agree with Middletown @stonebuster . Mine with the laminate grip would bind when I screwed it tight. The screw will go up until it hits where the mainspring rides and stop it.
I ended up acraglassing in a sleeve for the screw to bottom out in the grip to have it out far enough to not bind.
With the cylinder latch on the crane, the revolver will only open as fast as you allow it to with your thumb. Just allowing it to fall isn't good for any revolver; regardless of brand.Thanks for the schematic. I didn't explain myself well. The yoke assembly is retained and doesn't slip out forward so I believe the clip is in place. What I meant to say was, when I release the cylinder latch the cylinder will drop down freely and bottom out in the loading position if I don't ease it down. Letting it fall can't be good for the mechanism I wouldn't think. I thought there might be something to prevent it dropping down so freely. I'm new to the DWs. They're a different animal than my Smiths and Rugers.
Yes on the model 14 and 15's, don't try the Supermags without a tutorial from the DW forums, I learned by trial and ERRORS to take apart and rebuild the model 40, it's a whole new animal; no side plate; the trigger group drops out and everything must come out in a specific order and replacing the trigger group requires a 3rd hand to line up everything.Congratulations on your new Dan Wesson.
Fear not about taking it apart. These are some of the simplest revolvers to work on.
The long side plate screw will capture your mainspring, and everything can be done with the barrel tool wrenches.
These are some of the most robust revolvers ever made.
You're right about how simple they are. After watching a Youtube video and reading the "Average Joe tuneup" posted on the DW forum I tackled the complete breakdown and reassembly with no problems. I've had it apart several times now trying to improve the DA trigger. If I can do it anybody can.Congratulations on your new Dan Wesson.
Fear not about taking it apart. These are some of the simplest revolvers to work on.
The long side plate screw will capture your mainspring, and everything can be done with the barrel tool wrenches.
These are some of the most robust revolvers ever made.
which is cheap mate.I just read the posts that went up while I was editing my last post. On second thought, without the original grips, freckled and turn lines, I'd say it's over priced.
My LGS has a DW 15-2 Monson Mass pistol pack with all 3 (or 4?) barrels, presentation box, tools, etc., and the gun looks perfect. However, the price is $1800