Dan Wesson Revolvers?

[BBDartCA]

Looking at a couple different used Dan Wesson 357. Not sure what models, maybe a model 15? They come with two barrels. One 4-inch and the other 6-inch. I think the vintage is 1980's.

Are DW revolvers good stuff? Any to avoid? Prices seems better than S&W, about the same as Ruger in the used market. Thanks

 

[icanthitabarn]

Do not hesitate, if the gun is sound

 

[tpelle]

Kinda OT, but the luckiest shot I ever made with a revolver was with a Dan Wesson!

One evening years ago I heard a series of gun shots coming from behind my neighbor's house. Looking over, I saw my neighbor and the old man from across the street over there looking at something. I decided to walk over and see what's going on.

When I get over there, my neighbor shows me this Dan Wesson revolver that he had just bought to go deer hunting - either a .357 or a .44 Magnum (I forget now) - and complains that the sights must be messed up, because he can't hit anything with it. He asks if I want to try it out. He's actually shooting at an old whiskey or wine bottle that is sitting on a log down in the creek behind his house about 25 yards away (dumb choice of target, but it's his creek and at least there's a safe back stop).

He starts to hand me six cartridges, but I tell him I don't want to shoot up all of his expensive ammo, so I'll just shoot one. I load one cartridge, index the cylinder around, take a solid two-handed position, cock the hammer for a single-action shot, and blow the neck off of the bottle!

I hand the revolver back to him and tell him that the sights seem OK to me!

I heard later he sold the revolver.

 

[Red Cent]

They are solidly built. They are hefty but very serviceable. Superbly accurate. And very easy to tune.

 

[chromerunner]

Any details on that last one?^

Great quality but are getting semi hard to find around here.

 

[Mr.454]

They are great revolvers, I just talked my BIL into buying a DW .44 last Wednesday. We will have a range report for it tomorrow night. Now I'm going to say this quietly. Dan Wessons are the best kept secret of the used revolver world. They shoot great and go for a a few hundred less than a used Smith or Colt, and ruger. So let's just keep that between us here I would hate to have competition at the local gun shows.

 

[hardluk1]

Bud you want a 15-2 or if realllly lucky a 715, thats stainless steel. Look for a monsom mass. made revolver. and if you buy any lenght barrel it only takes a couple minutes to change it to something different. Average price ,400+ for a nice revolver but 350 for a uuuugly one of it works well buy it. More than likely even if 35 years old one would out shoot abrand new SW custom shop special. Custom grips are avalible and custom barrels like the one in post #4 are from EWK and can be found also at the dan wesson forum.

 

[Steve CT]

Strong, durable, very accurate. DW's are very adaptable and easy for the owner to customize, maintain, and tune.

Much more info here, we can help with questions:
http://www.danwessonforum.com/forum

 

[warnerwh]

Best bargain in revolvers there is. I'd rather use Dan Wessons than the other major names and I do! You can sell a barrel for 150 or maybe more if in nice condition which may drop the price you paid for just the revolver significantly.

 

[Red Cent]

Chromerunner, I recently started shooting a new competition that requires a 3" or less barrel on a revolver. I got a Smith M10-60 and was not satisfied with the revolver. Not a thing wrong with the M10.
I have a few 4" Smiths and the DW. I realized I needed to see if I could get a three inch for the DW.
EWK made the barrel. My other barrels are for my 15-2 Heavy Vent rib but the slabside puts a look on the revolver.

http://www.ewkarms.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9

http://pocketcarrycomp.com/default.aspx


.....

 

[wheelgunslinger]

I carry one of the Monson models in 357.
Fantastic weapon. Laser accuracy and a nice action. Not as slippery and buttery as a slicked up Smith, but very nice for a weapon that's being used.

A lot of people make a big deal about the place of manufacture, but the truth is that they're all good weapons with quality exceeding that of many new production revolvers that people buy every day.

 

[madcratebuilder]

A lot of people make a big deal about the place of manufacture, but the truth is that they're all good weapons with quality exceeding that of many new production revolvers that people buy every day.

+1

The Monson guns may have had better QC but that's about it. Both plants turned out some very nice revolvers. If you can use the "Monson story" to get a reduced price, go for it.

 

[DM~]

They are pretty good revolvers, i've owned several of them.

My two BIG dislikes of them are, rough actions and triggers that need to be dealt with, and a cylinder release that takes two hands to use.

All of my Dan Wesson revolvers are long gone and i don't miss them one bit...

DM

 

[hardluk1]

DM every dw I have ever handled has a trigger than is first class, I only have 3 of them. All revolvers somewhere in the process of unloading take 2 hands. I can open dump and close with one hand. It just a head game for ruger or sw shooter, same with the trigger. I am not impressed with sw triggers and nothing i have ever shoot feels like my old and well warn in and wolff sprung taurus 85. at 4 3/4lb DA pull. The DW still are the most accurate real production revolver made. Freedomarms is still not what most conceder production or affordable but they can out shoot the dw's but dw's still win match's.

 

[Hunterdad]

Just picked up a DW myself about a month ago. It came with the 2.25" barrel and I just bought the 8" barrel off a member of this forum. It shoots insanely straight and I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[DM~]

DM every dw I have ever handled has a trigger than is first class, I only have 3 of them. All revolvers somewhere in the process of unloading take 2 hands. I can open dump and close with one hand. It just a head game for ruger or sw shooter, same with the trigger. I am not impressed with sw triggers and nothing i have ever shoot feels like my old and well warn in and wolff sprung taurus 85. at 4 3/4lb DA pull. The DW still are the most accurate real production revolver made. Freedomarms is still not what most conceder production or affordable but they can out shoot the dw's but dw's still win match's.

I don't know what to tell you, i had a gunshop for many years, sold DW and none of them had triggers as good as the S&W that came in.

Funny thing is, my best friend still has a DW, and a few days ago he told me, he wish it was as smooth as his S&W M-29.

Generally, they are NOT all that smooth..... at least all the ones i've handled weren't, and i've handled a LOT of them....including one at a gunshop a couple weeks ago.

I can open my Smith with one hand, (while still on the grip) and reload with the other... Try that with a DW.

BTW, in all the long range handgun matches i ever shot in, i've never been beat by a DW.

DM

 

[Red Cent]

DM
I can easily drop the latch, push the cylinder out, kick out the rounds with the left hand. My right hand is filled with a Safariland Comp III waiting to load.
Replace the ball latch spring in the recoil shield, radius the thumb latch, and polish. Take the edges off the area between the star legs and provide a smooth trail for the ball to ride in to the hole. Lightly bevel the hole and finih the outside lip of the hole with a good radius.
Make the trigger and hammer strut match up (squared up) polish, lighten the main spring (Wolf) reduce the bolt stop spring, reduce the hammer strut spring. Smooth mating surfaces inside the action.
The way my DA is set up, it cancels the SA. Runs about 7-8 pounds and sets everything off reliably.
That slabside 3" holds down the recoil and that hi-viz is noticeable.
WARNING!! This was done for competition purposes. Not to be done with a carry gun or a Self Defense gun.

This is NOT my gun.

 

[DM~]

DM
I can easily drop the latch, push the cylinder out, kick out the rounds with the left hand. My right hand is filled with a Safariland Comp III waiting to load.

If you can do all that without takeing your hand off the grip, i'm truly truly impressed!

Fact is, DW's are nice revolvers, most are quite accurate, they just aren't up to the fit/finish or as smooth as the average S&W. That's not a huge deal for many folks, but it is for me.

DM

 

[hardluk1]

Dm Don't even go to stroking sw revolvers today. With production cylinder gaps running from 6th to 10th's, THERE WORDS and barrels being mounted cocked off at angles and brand new guns not working. And Custom shop guns that are not any better than what was production a few years ago at there stupid high cost. fit and finsh!!!!

When DW was a family business ,like charter arms, they produced darn good guns with great CS if needed. They did fix there problems unless the owners fail to contact them, like some firearm owners still do today. I am sure you know of the kind that say its junk and sell them. Buy the time cz bought what was left, well warn equipment was starting to become junk for some models. It will be interesting to see the new DW model CZ brings out to see what the latest equipment can do for them.

It really ain't a problem to wotk the latch , dump empty rounds and close with just the left hand while grab'n reloads and dropping them with your right. I have more trouble reloading a conventional rear latch revolver by far. I have 35 years of shooting and reloading DW's. It's 1st nature. Its all just a head game. You must like smiths ,good for you. keep shooting them.

 

[DM~]

Well, considering i used the same S&W's for hunting that i shot competively, winning many matches, what's not to like?

I've hunted and taken big game with them, from moose on down. I'm still shooting the same two M-29's, with the same load. 23.0/H-110/CCi 350/ with my own hard cast SWC bullet, and it's still working for me.

None of my S&W's (including "K" and "N" frames) have needed to be worked on, and i won a LOT of long range matches with the above combo., in both my M-29's...

Like i said, what's not to like???

Maybe if i had read your "exaggerated claims post above", before i bought my S&W's, i wouldn't have ever seen just how GREAT S&W revolvers really are, and not bought them?

I'm still shooting the M-19 i bought in 1971...lucky for me i choose to go by MY OWN experiences!

DM

 

[Dain Bramage]

I have a Monson DW 15-2, with a 6" barrel, that I like quite a bit. It's exceedingly accurate and fun to shoot. It has a great SA trigger and an okay DA that has a pretty steep stackup.

I also have S&W's made from the 1970's to the present, and there is not a bad trigger among them. They go from very good to excellent, while the DW, with its hitchy DA, is just good.

I like them all, and I'm not willing to fight about them. Now, by Daniel B. and Dan Wesson's ghosts, can't we all just get along?

 

[C5rider]

Got two and like them both. Was very tempted to pick up a 44 recently but, figured that I didn't need to start up another caliber. I like my .357s. Got both a model 14 and a 15. Both are great. The 15 looks great with it's polished blue but the action of the older model 14 is smooooooooth.

 

[HammerheadSSN663]

Had a 357 3.5 inch barrell. trigger and barrel rotation would go out of sink occassionally. Sold it for what I paid.

 

[mrbro]

I'm never selling mine.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

I can easily drop the latch, push the cylinder out, kick out the rounds with the left hand. My right hand is filled with a Safariland Comp III waiting to load.

that's exactly how I do it, as well.

There are a lot of DW products that don't have the trigger action of their contemporary smiths (older models, anyway). I've never seen that as a big deal. Almost every revolver I've ever had took some tinkering to make it just right, aside from the cheapo Enfields I used to collect.

No one brand is perfect. That's why they make Fords, Ferraris, and Fiats.