Dan Wesson 744 or Model 44: Any Good?

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DW's are usually very accurate but FA's are basically the standard by which all others are judged.......inferior.

Not that other makes can't shoot superbly. This a 5/8" group out of my SRH.

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Huntolive said:
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.
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the current "collectors" price for DWs are misleading.
go back and look at the DW prices when they were new.
Freedom Arms cost a whole lot more than DW; like two or three times as much.
there was a big flail in the silhouette world about hand built, super custom revolvers competing against mass produced guns.
 
Huntolive said:
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.
Click to expand...

LOL

Well there is a 44 Freedom Arms on gunbroker now that may go fairly cheap. But be aware, I may be bidding against you! I don't have a .44 Freedom Arms as yet. :rofl:
 
Huntolive said:
What do you mean by "fairly cheap"?
I am sceptical about the auction s
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It has no bids and currently at $1250. Add another $50 - $75 for shipping and FFL fees. I will probably not bid though as I will be bidding on a couple of Manurhin's.

I have bought more than 50 guns from Gun Broker over the years. I do make sure the seller has a lot of feedback and all the feedback is positive.

I only had one issue where I paid for an item and the clowns (Kjergaard Sports) told me it wasn't in stock. They refunded the money but took their time about it, so when another came up I didn't have the funds available to bid. Needles to say, I was REALLY annoyed with them. The gun in question was a Coonan 10mm, and they are no longer produced and I cannot find one for sale anywhere. Just thinking about it makes me annoyed again! :fire:

Other than that, all good.
 
My 8" DW 44 is scoped. Off sandbags it will shoot 5 American Eagle 240 (?) Grain soft points into a 1" group at 100 yards.
 
Thanks again guys.
Bob M, what is involved in scoping a Dan Wesson as far as bases are concerned?
 
I don't shoot my .44 mag DW much but I love it and won't part with it without great remorse. I've got a 4" non ported barrel and half lug shroud, a 6" non ported barrel, a 6" ported barrel, a 6" half lug shroud, and a 6' full lug shroud. All sourced from the same LGS over a period of time.
 
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Huntolive said:
Thanks again guys.
Bob M, what is involved in scoping a Dan Wesson as far as bases are concerned?
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I believe the out of production B-Square scope bases are considered the best because of their elevation adjustment... I like mine. Some of the barrels come tapped for a scope mount... my 8" barrel is tapped. I am going to mount a thin rail on my 8" barrel so I can use a quick detach red dot and when I take it off still be able to use the stock sights. The B Square mount is too tall for using stock sights with the scope removed.

EWK made a few barrel shrounds with integrated picatiny rails which are pretty cool but good luck finding one. I love my EWK muzzle brake, it make a big difference in barrel flip and goes on or off in about a minute with no alrerations to the revolver.

B Square scope bases are hard to find and can be kind of pricey... but there isn't that much to them.

0930192137_HDR.jpg 0930192138b_HDR.jpg 0930192138_HDR.jpg
 
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I sent my 357 barrel (shroud only) back to CZ arms, as they now own DW.
They drilled and tapped it to factory specs, and installed a Weaver base.
If it were me, I'd check with them about doing your 44 DW.
 
Merle1 said:
I sent my 357 barrel (shroud only) back to CZ arms, as they now own DW.
They drilled and tapped it to factory specs, and installed a Weaver base.
If it were me, I'd check with them about doing your 44 DW.
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I would also reccomend tapping the shroud and I would also reccomend sending it to CZ.

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The 4" 744 barrel I bought from CZ was first rate all the way. Just as nice as my Monsoon 8" barrel.

P.S. I don't know the history on my Monsoon 744 but the SA trigger as good as the best S&W triggers I have ever shot... meaning much better than most stock S&W triggers. I don't shoot hot loads but I have been told that the DW's will easily handle Ruger power level loads.

0930192219.jpg
 
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Scope mounts are problematic and I wouldn't consider the B-square to be the "best". It's the cheapest. The Leupold, Burris and Buehler mounts are very good but scarce and expensive. I bought a .357 barrel I did not need just to get the Buehler mount and Leupold 2x it had attached to it.
 
Scoping my DW 44 was fairly easy. It has a vent rib and the scope mount had a piece that slipped through the rib, and then gripped it on both sides. Sorry, I put it on probably 20 years ago and I don't remember who made the mount. I put a similar mount on the 8" barrel of my DW 357 mag pistol pack 4-5 years ago, so I think they're still made.
 
MikeInOr said:
I would reccomend looking up the Dan Wesson forum. Tons of scoping a Dan Wesson revolver expertise there.

Clamp on scope mounts can be a little hard to come by. Tap and mount should be no problem though.

https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/
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They're all hard to come by, especially the D&T mounts. The most common I've seen are the Burris clamp-on mounts. I managed to snag two of them but it wasn't easy or quick. Nothing is made for them currently.
 
Huntolive said:
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.
Click to expand...

I'm going to throw another wrench in. Don't disregard a BFR -- I'll put them up against FAs on the accuracy front all day long - at a pittance (comparatively speaking).
 
How does the accuracy of a Desert Eagle 44 compare to say a Super Redhawk or 629 PC Mag Hunter in accuracy and huntability?
 
Huntolive said:
How does the accuracy of a Desert Eagle 44 compare to say a Super Redhawk or 629 PC Mag Hunter in accuracy and huntability?
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I hand load .44 and .50 for my Desert Eagle L5 and find I can get pretty close to the accuracy of my Dan Wesson 744 at 50 yards shooting from a bench. A revolver will of course shoot any load, some with more accuracy than others. With my Desert eagle I am a bit more limited and have to select a load that will cycle the action reliably but this still leaves me a lot of leeway to tune the load. I find I shoot my Desert Eagle better than my Dan Wesson. I attribute this to a couple of things: 1) The Desert Eagle L5 (Light weight 5" barrel) in .50ae is much softer shooting than my Dan Wesson 744... or any 44mag revolver. 2) I am a semi auto guy... I have a LOT more trigger time with Semi Auto's than I do with revolvers.

My Dan Wesson 744 is a heavy gun, quite heavy with the 8" full lug barrel and a scope. My Desert Eagle L5 with it's shorter barrel, lightened slide and alloy frame is considerably lighter than my DW 744. Even though it is considerable lighter the DE has a much softer recoil than the DW. There is also a Desert Eagle L6 - Lite weight 6" barrel version that is just a bit heavier than my L5.

P.S. The single action trigger pull on my Dan Wesson 744 is infinitely better than the single action trigger on my Desert Eagle L5. I shoot the Desert Eagle just fine... but my Dan Wesson trigger is every bit as good as my competition 1911's. My DW 744 is one of my favorite guns... but I would much rather carry my considerably lighter DE L5 than my DW. My DE L5 is light enough to carry on a belt. The DW 744 really needs a chest holster to be carried all day.

0128192157 - Copy.jpg

This is my DW 744 fully dressed with EWK muzzle brake and scope next to my DE L5 showing moth the .50ae and .44mag barrels. The DE L5's silhouette is pretty close to a 1911... but the 1911 is MUCH thinner!
 
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Bob Meyer said:
Scoping my DW 44 was fairly easy.......I put it on probably 20 years ago
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That's because 20yrs ago they were all much easier to get. Now, it takes some effort. There was a nickel Burris mount on Ebay last I checked at the going rate of $150-$175.
 
Huntolive said:
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?
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