Dan Wesson 744 or Model 44: Any Good?

[Huntolive]

So with Dan Wesson becoming the flavor of the month on here, and already being convinced owner of Dan Wesson 15-2 357, I'm curious about their 44 Magnums.

I have a Red hawk 44 w 5 in ported barrel
A Super Redhawk 44 with a 7.5 inch barrel
S& W 629 PC fluted 8 3/4" barrel
S&W 629 PC Mag Hunter (2 tone w muzzle brake).

Does anyone here have any experience with the Dan Wesson 744 or Model 44?
I'm an avid deer Hunter and even though I've kind of got 44 covered, if they're 44 Magnums are as good as their 357 I'd love to add one to my stable.

I believe the Dan Wesson 15-2 is the best bang for the buck n 357 especially for hunting or Target use.

Is that also true for the 744 or Model 44 or any other versions of a Dan Wesson 44 Magnum for the same purposes?
What's a reasonable price range and where would you recommend I try to find one?

How do the Dan Wesson 744 and Model 44 or any other 44 they make stack up to the revolvers I listed that I have?

 

[375supermag]

I own three Dan Wesson revolvers, so I have a bit of experience with them.
My .44Magnum Dan Wesson is the second most accurate handgun I own only being exceeded by my S&W 686 Silhouette Model in .357Mag.
All three of my Dan Wessons are Monson guns...the other two are a .22LR and a .375 SuperMag. All are excellent accurate revolvers but the .44Mag is outstanding, IMHO.

 

[Huntolive]

Excellent
What exact model is your 44 Dan Wesson?
And do they have interchangeable barrels for the forty fours like the model 15-2 357?

 

[warnerwh]

There is the Model 44 and the 744 the latter being stainless. They are outstanding guns with of the best accuracy especially at long distances and they are built like tanks. You can run full power ammo all day and all year and the gun will stay tight as numerous Silhouette competitors will attest.

 

[375supermag]

Excellent
What exact model is your 44 Dan Wesson?
And do they have interchangeable barrels for the forty fours like the model 15-2 357?

Hi...
Mine is the stainless 744 model.
It has a five inch barrel...it came with a 2-1/2 or 3" barrel as well, but I have never switched the barrels. Just didn't want to mess with a good thing.
With the 5" barrel, I can regularly hit a 10" gong at 200yds...maybe average 3 or 4 hits out of 5 shots. That's with a Hornady 240gr HP/XTP with a slightly below book maximum charge of 2400.
The revolver is heavy and very strong and can shoot that load all day if I so choose. I also shoot that load in a Virginian Dragoon and a Super BlackHawk which while they easily handle the load, neither is quite as accurate at the 200yd mark. I also have a S&W 29 that I rarely shoot with that load, not that it won't handle it but I just don't care to push the envelope with that revolver. I have the other three revolvers to shoot heavy loads in, so I tend to take it easy on the 29.

 

[Huntolive]

Okay so now that you've convinced me end enabled my revolver addiction
Where you recommend I try to find one and what would be a reasonable price?
I imagine they're less common and more expensive than a 15-2 monson 357.
So where should I start looking and how much should I start saving?

I'd love to get one with a six and a four inch barrel ideally. Maybe even a longer one, and a 5 wouldn't be bad. as long as I can at least get one with a five-inch Barrel I'd be happy to start there.I guess if I could only pick one barrel it would be a 6

 

[Huntolive]

200-yards you said? Wow!
Any particular optic you're using?
IF That's with iron sights what type of front sight are you using?

 

[375supermag]

Okay so now that you've convinced me end enabled my revolver addiction
Where you recommend I try to find one and what would be a reasonable price?
I imagine they're less common and more expensive than a 15-2 monson 357.
So where should I start looking and how much should I start saving?

I'd love to get one with a six and a four inch barrel ideally. Maybe even a longer one, and a 5 wouldn't be bad. as long as I can at least get one with a five-inch Barrel I'd be happy to start there.I guess if I could only pick one barrel it would be a 6

Hi...
I found mine because I regularly visit multiple gun shops which is how I acquired the majority of my firearms.
GunBroker is another option.
I have no idea what the current tariff on a Dan Wesson revolver in .44Mag might be...I have owned mine for quite some time.

 

[375supermag]

200-yards you said? Wow!
Any particular optic you're using?
IF That's with iron sights what type of front sight are you using?

Hi...
That is with the factory open sights off of a steady rest.
Shooting at distance off a rest isn't that difficult once you know the distance and where you need to hold.
It's a lot more difficult when you don't know the range and don't have a rest. I know that I probably can't hit an 10" gong off hand at half that distance.
It does require a certain amount of practice.
I typically only shoot my self defense handguns off hand and generally no further than 25yds.
The only handgun I have an optic on is a red dot on my Super BlackHawk Hunter in .45Colt.

 

[Huntolive]

Prices I've seen online range from:
Just the gunw one extra Barrel but only one barrel shroud $800
To more complete sets with 8 and 6 inch barrels and Barrel shrouds and replacement 8 and 6 barrels with a case etcetera for around fifteen or sixteen hundred.

Does that sound about right?
What about getting additional barrels and shrouds?
I'd love to have 8, 6, and 4 or 5 inch barrels and shrouds.
But I'd be content to start with the pistol with a 6-inch barrel with shroud

 

[Apuesto]

A DW is not going to give you much, if anything, over what you already own. If you want to own more of the same/similar, buy the DW. If you want that "something special" in 44 mag, try get a Freedom Arms or if you are rolling in $$, get a Janz.

 

[Merle1]

So with Dan Wesson becoming the flavor of the month on here, and already being convinced owner of Dan Wesson 15-2 357, I'm curious about their 44 Magnums.

I have a Red hawk 44 w 5 in ported barrel
A Super Redhawk 44 with a 7.5 inch barrel
S& W 629 PC fluted 8 3/4" barrel
S&W 629 PC Mag Hunter (2 tone w muzzle brake).

Does anyone here have any experience with the Dan Wesson 744 or Model 44?
I'm an avid deer Hunter and even though I've kind of got 44 covered, if they're 44 Magnums are as good as their 357 I'd love to add one to my stable.

I believe the Dan Wesson 15-2 is the best bang for the buck n 357 especially for hunting or Target use.

Is that also true for the 744 or Model 44 or any other versions of a Dan Wesson 44 Magnum for the same purposes?
What's a reasonable price range and where would you recommend I try to find one?

How do the Dan Wesson 744 and Model 44 or any other 44 they make stack up to the revolvers I listed that I have?

Back in the day I shot IHMSA silhouettes with a M44. I liked t a lot, and the extra weight really helped dampen recoil. No fun to carry it all day in the woods.

 

[CraigC]

I paid $1200 for mine with two shrouds and three barrels.

They are excellent but a bit heavy. Mine with an 8" lightweight barrel is a good bit heavier than my 7.5" SRH at 61oz vs 54oz.

Frame (less barrel) - 40oz
Barrels:
10" HB - 32oz
6" HB - 19oz
4" HB - 11oz
8" LT - 21oz

Personally, I still think the RH/SRH are better, stronger guns.

 

[Huntolive]

"Redhawk/Super Redhawk better stronger guns" ?
"DW not going to give you much if any saying over what you have now" ?

What do y'all think of this?

I have a Freedom arms model 83 454 casull where the 7 and 1/2 inch ported barrel and I adore it. I wish it could be double action but I guess you can't have everything.
How much better do you think a 44 by FA is than a DW 744?
Price range?

 

[Apuesto]

How much better do you think a 44 by FA is than a DW 744?
?

I compared 357s. A 4 1/4” barrel model 97 with fixed sights against a DW mod 15 with 6” barrel. The groupings of the Freedom Arms where 1/2 to 1/4 the size of the groupings with the DW depending on ammo. And yes, I did shoot the DW single action.

I was so disappointed with my DW that I put it on consignment at the range - I didn’t even bother taking it home.

That said, the DW was no less accurate than any of my S&Ws, Rugers or Colts.

 

[CraigC]

An FA is better than anything else on the market. Quality-wise, I'd put Dan Wesson even with Ruger. Due to case capacity, I'd put the 'practical' strength of them as similar, in that you really can't get enough H110 in the case to hurt any of them. I got the DW's because they're different, made of blued steel and have interchangeable barrels. I could've easily bought an FA .44Mag for less but chose to have my Bisley rebuilt with a linebored, oversized six shot cylinder and octagon barrel. So it really just boils down to what you want and how much you wanna spend.

 

[hemiram]

I sold my Redhawk, but the DW 44 stays on, even with the "barneyed" frame.

 

[Huntolive]

Interesting
I must say that my Dan Wesson 15 - 2 357 does shoot better than or equal to the best of my Smith & Wesson's I'm better than my ruger's.
I believe the Freedom arms could be more accurate as I did ultimately trade away my trusty old SuperRedhawk 454 but kept the model 83 field grade 454 Freedom arms and that is definitely on my forever keep list.

So if a Freedom arms 357 trashed a Dan Wesson 15-2 then you definitely have my attention.

so where would you recommend I look for a Freedom arms 44 magnum and what should I expect to pay for one and what models do they make?
My experience in the Freedom arms market is that the prices are all over the place but that they tend to be fairly astronomically expensive.

 

[Huntolive]

I looked on GunBroker and some other sites and I can't find a 44 Magnum Freedom arms 4 less than $1,500. Most are closer to $2000.
Looks like I could buy two Dan Wesson 744s for that price or a heck of a nice kit with pretty much all the barrels I could ever want.

 

[robhof]

Okay so now that you've convinced me end enabled my revolver addiction
Where you recommend I try to find one and what would be a reasonable price?
I imagine they're less common and more expensive than a 15-2 monson 357.
So where should I start looking and how much should I start saving?

I'd love to get one with a six and a four inch barrel ideally. Maybe even a longer one, and a 5 wouldn't be bad. as long as I can at least get one with a five-inch Barrel I'd be happy to start there.I guess if I could only pick one barrel it would be a 6

Check Gunbroker, that will give you a reasonable idea of the going prices, EWK industries makes barrels for the DW's cheaper than factory, also I got a complete set for my 357 SM on Ebay, one at a time over a few yrs,.

 

[robhof]

I compared 357s. A 4 1/4” barrel model 97 with fixed sights against a DW mod 15 with 6” barrel. The groupings of the Freedom Arms where 1/2 to 1/4 the size of the groupings with the DW depending on ammo. And yes, I did shoot the DW single action.

I was so disappointed with my DW that I put it on consignment at the range - I didn’t even bother taking it home.

That said, the DW was no less accurate than any of my S&Ws, Rugers or Colts.

Surprising, I started with a mod 15 in 1970 that shot a clover leaf at 25 yds, had a few over the yrs and all shot great, my current 357SM was picky and I finally got cloverleafs at 50 yds with 4227 powder and 200 gr. LBT rfn's gas checked...

 

[CraigC]

Well, a new Premier Grade is $2800, Field Grade $2400 and if you order one, that's what you pay. I felt very fortunate to get my Field Grade .454 with extra .45Colt cylinder for $1500. So $1500-$2000 is the going rate for a used one. Sometimes the Field Grades can be had for less but they're usually .454's. I've got about $2000 in my Dan Wesson .44 with four barrels. As I said, it's all a matter of what you want and how much you want to spend. IMHO, a used FA is a much better value because you're getting a lot more than you're paying for, while there's a collector premium attached to Dan Wesson prices.

 

[Huntolive]

So Craig c etc do you agree that a Freedom arms 44 is fundamentally more accurate than a Dan Wesson 44 or 7:44

 

[ClemY]

I have had a DW 744 for about 35 yrs. I used it with an 8” HB for handgun silhouette and it did very well. After I stopped doing that, I put on a 6” light barrel and found it wasn’t as accurate as I remembered. I had a set of pin gages by this time and I checked the chamber throats; they were in two sizes: very tight and excessively tight. I got a 0.431” chamber throat reamer and reamed the cylinder. Now it is the most accurate .44 mag I have.

I use it only single action; it has what I consider a weird double action pull. My 5 ½” Redhawk is particularly good double action; the DW, not so much.

 

[Huntolive]

Wow now I'm really on the fence about the Dan Wesson vs. Freedom arms.
Did a price and availability I'm probably leaning back towards the Dan Wesson again.