Dan Wesson revolver set, Opinions please

[tazman]

I have absolutely no experience with Dan Wesson revolvers. I have never even handled one.
I ran across one in 357 mag with a 4 barrel set yesterday. The blueing is immaculate. The gun looks nearly unfired. It has 2 grips with it(I don't know if those are standard or not).
I still have not handled it.
I don't know the specific model number.
The price was $1100.
What I need to know is
Are they good revolvers?
Is the price about right?

[M-Tecs]

That would be a 15-2 and they are excellent. Check GunBrokers for price. They are in current production in stainless.

[tazman]

I just came from Gunbrokers. The buy it now prices for the set like the one I saw were running about $2200. That seems a bit excessive. I haven't seen any in gun stores locally in years.

[redhawk0]

I bought my dad a Dan Wesson 357 Blued with a 8.25" barrel back in 1985. It will someday come back to me...but I'm in no rush...I'd have to loose him to get it. But...its a well built revolver and very accurate. He uses it for SD...but he doesn't carry...just keeps it in the night stand. It came with only one set of wooden grips. It sounds like someone purchased a second set for the revolver you saw. AFAIK they don't come with extras.

redhawk

[M-Tecs]

https://www.danwessonforum.com/supporters/models/revolvers/

http://danwessonfirearms.com/product/715-revolver/

[jeepyj]

Just an opinion. Yes they are fine revolvers. If you are a double action shooter I think you'll find they are quite a bit different than a Smith, Ruger or Colt in such a way that they seem to pull a bit harder as your getting towards
the breaking point that being said after a couple cylinders they are quite enjoyable to shoot. As far as pricing without seeing the package it's subjuct to change but my opinion that is a fair price. Lets just say if it was at my LGS I'd likely have a lay-a-way going. Best of luck and if you end up getting it please post pictures.

[Bohica793]

I'll take it for $1100. The barrels alone are worth that.

[rancher1913]

The old Dan wessons are much sought after, the new ones are made by a different company that has the name rights, may or may not be as good. All mine are from the original company and not for sale at any price, they were the first guns I ever bought

[Walks]

Make sure you get an ORIGINAL barrel nut wrench & Barrel/Cylinder gauge.

[Texas by God]

That was called the Dan Wesson Pistol Pack. My brother had that set and all 4 barrels were very accurate. Great revolvers.

[Three44s]

It is said that the best “Dans” were the Monson guns (made in Monson MA)

I lucked out and acquired two Monsons both six inches both blued, a full under lug .41 Mag and a 22 Standard rim fire.

It is a fact that their double action is different than a Smith or Ruger DA. I thought they resembled the Pythons but I have only fired one Colt revolver (a New Service) and only just a little bit at that so I can’t say much about that.

The fellow who was the engineer on the Python project came over and gave Dan Wesson a hand at getting going which might explain some things .....

My Dan in 41 has a single action break the likes you dream about. I bought both of these revolvers used though you would think the 41 just came out of the box and the oil in the 41 had really gotten stiff. When you broke the trigger in SA the trigger shoe was yanked forward ... very disconcerting to say the least.

My local favorite gunsmith’s assistant told me to pull the grips and douse the action in Gun Scrubber. A bit of Tetra Gun after that and replace the grip to find the revolver in stunning form in SA!

In silly wet shooting back in the days before the premiere grade Freedom Arms revolvers took the revolver division by storm, the Dan Wesson big bores ruled the sport.

Three44s

[dubber123]

They CAN be great guns. They also made some real stinkers, even the Monson guns, I can look at one of the latter any time I choose. Look them over VERY carefully.

[sawinredneck]

They CAN be great guns. They also made some real stinkers, even the Monson guns, I can look at one of the latter any time I choose. Look them over VERY carefully.
Not to stir things up, but this is how I remember them as well. It was early to mid ‘90’s I was told not to even look at them because QC had gone south and they were having serious fitment issues, bad enough barrels could blow up.
Now, let me quantify this, I have no dog in the fight ( I honestly think they’re cool guns!) and I CAN NOT VERIFY any of this, it’s all here say, but I’ve always steered clear of them because of that information. Hopefully someone can either correct me, or at least say for sure what’s good and what isn’t.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
We bought our first DW 15-2 in 1978. We have more DW's in near every caliber available and have not nor desire to sell any of them.
Barrel switch is two minutes once you have done it a couple of times. We set our barrel gap at .0015 with no regrets. By far most DW's are far more accurate (when the barrel gap / tension is correct) than most any other revolver out there. You can pay 2-3x more for a revolver that may be more accurate... but you will never be able to barrel swap with it like DW owners can and do daily if desired.

Barrel blow ups Most are caused because some clown already had a barrel obstruction. Just like most all other blow ups. Some are caused by double / triple charges of fast powders. I have never seen / read of evidence a DW barrel was at fault. Could happen about as much as any other well made USA firearm. If you have evidence please type as I would like to read it. Anything made by man can go bad.
I hang out at the DW site. Not much evidence of a bad barrel exists...

Quality Control I have found DW QC far better than the other Big 3 Revolver sellers. We have never had a new DW that needed sent back. Wish I could write that about the other Wesson and Rugers. But again .. Nothing made by man is always perfect. But I do know that DW stood by their revolvers. Had a used one with a bent crane. DW repaired it post paid no questions. I lost a spring from under the from sight cleaning it. They sent us several post paid.
Mike in Peru

[sawinredneck]

Good morning
We bought our first DW 15-2 in 1978. We have more DW's in near every caliber available and have not nor desire to sell any of them.
Barrel switch is two minutes once you have done it a couple of times. We set our barrel gap at .0015 with no regrets. By far most DW's are far more accurate (when the barrel gap / tension is correct) than most any other revolver out there. You can pay 2-3x more for a revolver that may be more accurate... but you will never be able to barrel swap with it like DW owners can and do daily if desired.

Barrel blow ups Most are caused because some clown already had a barrel obstruction. Just like most all other blow ups. Some are caused by double / triple charges of fast powders. I have never seen / read of evidence a DW barrel was at fault. Could happen about as much as any other well made USA firearm. If you have evidence please type as I would like to read it. Anything made by man can go bad.
I hang out at the DW site. Not much evidence of a bad barrel exists...

Quality Control I have found DW QC far better than the other Big 3 Revolver sellers. We have never had a new DW that needed sent back. Wish I could write that about the other Wesson and Rugers. But again .. Nothing made by man is always perfect. But I do know that DW stood by their revolvers. Had a used one with a bent crane. DW repaired it post paid no questions. I lost a spring from under the from sight cleaning it. They sent us several post paid.
Mike in Peru
Again, I didn’t mean to stir anything up, and as I stated, I cannot verify anything, just here say. I did not mean my post as anything more than “I heard this, but I can’t prove anything and I’d sure love some input.”

[Forrest r]

I enjoy the heck out of my 2 dw 15-2's. They flat out shoot & different bbl's, shrouds, sights, grips, etc are easy enough to find.

https://i.imgur.com/T0ngH1D.jpg

Those heavy shrouds and muzzle breaks are the cat's meow for full house loads. Standard dw bbl's were 1 in 16 twist. Aftermarket bbl's can be found with 1 in 10 and 1 in 12 twists.

EWK sells a lot of 15-2 parts, anything from sights to bbl's to shrouds, screws, etc.
http://www.ewkarms.com/zen8/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12

The trigger on box stock dw's are smooth and a little on the heavy side. I had a smith do the trigger work on those dw's pictured above. Wolfe does sell simple spring swaps.

Nothing wrong with owning a dw or 2, a 4bbl set is even better.

[6bg6ga]

My first 357 many years ago was a Dan Wesson. It wasn't extremely accurate and it wasn't pleasant to shoot with hot loads. I wish I had kept it but I didn't. I do still have the barrel wrench someplace in the garage. As far as having the feeler gauge or wrench it isn't a deal breaker.

It might not be fair to say I thought the gun wasn't accurate. I was young at the time and only shot store bought ammo. Based on the other experiences here it would seem that they were accurate with hand loads.

[Murphy]

My first 'good' revolver was a Dan Wesson M15 in .357 back about 1978. A great gun and the single best 6 shot group I have ever fired, was fired from it.

I haven't owned a Dan Wesson in decades now, but sure wouldn't hesitate to pick up another on a good deal. I was young and dumb back then and traded 'up' to S&W's.

Murphy

[lead-1]

I have owned four over the years. My first was a non switch barrel .357 that I sold because I couldn't hit a thing with it but it was me and not the gun.
The second was a 744 that I bought to help a friend out and had to return it a couple years later. The third was another 744 to replace the second and the fourth was a 15-2 that has been a great shooter also.
So in my opinion Dan Wesson revolvers are great shooters and I have never had a problem with any of them. BTW, the guy who bought the first one from me was dead nutz accurate with it thus my saying it was me and not the gun.

[rdwarrior]

I bought my first DW in 73 for I think $72 or it may have been closer to 90. It was a I think a model 14 (non adjustable rear sight). I sold it in 77 for $80 when I got ready to move to Germany (Army) and didnt think I could take it. It was downright accurate and I regretted having to sell it. Forward 45 years and I bought a model 15-2 on an internet auction site - has a 4 in barrel and I have since purchased a 6 in barrel and a second grip. It was and is in perfect shape and didnt look like it had ever been shot. It shoots as good as the first one I had. It was made I think back in the 70-80 time frame (not the new ones). I cant speak to the new DW's but the original ones were very accurate and fun to shoot.

[rintinglen]

I got my first one in 1974 and it was excellent, but the company I worked for required Smith or Colt Revolvers, so I sold that one, I bought another one in the late 80's and it was no where near the gun the first had been. I traded it off and have been without ever since--bu a clean four-barrel Monson pack would find room in my safe for 1100.

[dubber123]

Again, check it over carefully unless you are just buying it on speculation you can resell for a profit. If it is on par with a few I have seen, it might not be a pleasurable shooting experience. Or it might be a winner. $1,100 is a fair bit to spend to find out.

[Potsy]

I have fired exactly one Dan Wesson in my life. A buddy bought it and brought it to a shoot we were having one afternoon. He handed me the pistol and a box of factory ammo (don't remember the brand) and told me to "see what she'd do".
I proceeded to put 6 in one ragged hole at 25 yards. I don't do that very often.

[saleen322]

$1100 is a very good price in the condition described. If the wrench is with the barrels, just keep it for the "set." To make actual barrel changes get a barrel wrench from EWK Arms. The EWK tool is 3 times the quality and will keep your barrel nut undamaged.

[Mtnfolk75]

My late Brother had one from about 1980, it was a heck of a shooter. My Nephew has it now & is still shooting it well. The Pistol Pac came with 2.5, 4, 6 & 8” Barrels plus Two Wood Grips, I added an additional 4” Barrel without Shroud that I got in a trade plus a Pachmayr Gripper to the set, the used Barrel shot as well as the original. Buy it [smilie=s:

[stubshaft]

Dan Wesson made some of the most insanely accurate revolvers available. Dan Wesson also made some of the worst revolvers on the planet. Back in my heyday when I shot sillywett I went through a passel of DW revolvers. Those that were accurate were extremely accurate (2" @ 100yds. .375 Super Mag). Then there were those that had misaligned cylinders which shaved boolits and spat lead. They were sold off in a heartbeat.

I hope that if you decide to buy it then you get a good one.

[jdt81]

I currently have two, and after my Freedom Arms 83, are the most accurate handguns I have ever fired. The trigger pull is smoother (on my guns) and less prone to staging than my Smiths.
They are also very easy to work on. Disassembly is surprisingly simple.

I will never part with my Dan Wessons. And there is a special place in my safe for a DW in 45 Colt. For me, the holy grail of handguns.
“Oh yes, she WILL be mine”

[Three44s]

$1100 is a very good price in the condition described. If the wrench is with the barrels, just keep it for the "set." To make actual barrel changes get a barrel wrench from EWK Arms. The EWK tool is 3 times the quality and will keep your barrel nut undamaged.

Thank you much for that tip!

My DW In .41 Mag came to me without anything. The guy that consigned it passed away before he found the wrench.

The thing I don’t like about my revolver is that it has a full shroud. I wish it was a short one as I am not a fan of heavy muzzles. The revolver is a tank to begin with and that full shroud just adds that much more.

I will be getting their wrench and watching for other developments there as well.

Best regards

Three44s

[sniper]

My first 'good' revolver was a Dan Wesson M15 in .357 back about 1978. A great gun and the single best 6 shot group I have ever fired, was fired from it.

I haven't owned a Dan Wesson in decades now, but sure wouldn't hesitate to pick up another on a good deal. I was young and dumb back then and traded 'up' to S&W's. Murphy

Yes, my experience, also!:cool:

[KVO]

I picked up a 6" 15-2 a few months ago just to see what all the DW fuss was about. The barrel change feature is going to burn a hole in my pocket- $1100 pistol pack would keep your logistics simpler and save you some cash if you like to tinker. Mine in current form is ok, not great, cylinders are a bit rough (fixable with some polishing) and the barrel has a visibly loose diameter section about an inch long in the middle of the barrel. Presuming it were button rifled it looks like the reamer cut a a bit oversize in one spot before the button was pulled though. Nevertheless, it shoots at least as well as my pinned & recessed 6" S&W Mod 19-2 and 5.5" flat top Blackhawk with the right loads. My DW is very picky about ammo and likes warm loads, possibly due to the barrel defect (bump up?).

I've been waiting for EWK to get some inventory back in stock for several months, is it possible that they are no longer in full time business?

[georgerkahn]

Imho, Dan Wesson's are indeed one of the "Cadillac's" of revolvers, and it is sad that the Manson, Ma. ones are becoming quite rare! I will offer one -- hopefully positive -- suggestion. To wit, the clockwork on DW's is so tight and precise, removing the side panels on mine revealed a fair amount of rust. Talking to the 'smith I took it to, he indicated it was NOT the first Dan Wesson revolver with "rusty innards" he'd been given. Like ANYTHING used -- might have the one you're viewing be from the arid south-west, or was it carried daily during the rainy season in Seattle ;) ? This, I would think, might be an easy "look-see" before purchase. The hardening on DW innard parts is ever so thin, making any polishing -- including rust removal -- a real challenge! Re grips, they are purveyed on eBay, and also available from many grip makers. I have walnut after-market grips on mine -- not an issue. If you go to the CZ USA site [ http://shop.cz-usa.com ], and click their Dan Wesson link, you can see their present offerings. They, too, have some barrels, shrouds, and other parts available. You may even ring them -- select Extension 21 -- at (607) 336-1174.
geo

[Three44s]

George,

That is a good idea to call CZ. I had given up on them quite frankly.

Right after I bought my DW revolver in 22lr I spoke with them and CZ USA had cylinders in 22 for $90 ... they did not last long. I was thinking about getting one and having a Smith ream it out to 22 Mag. but I dwaddled and they got away.

I looked at EWK’s offerings and they have some full shrouds but no lighter ones.

I will give the full shroud credit for one attribute however ..... one could sure hang one heck of a picatanniny rail on the underside of them but the last notch better be saved for axle and a set of wheels to keep the muzzle out of the rocks!

Best regards

Three44s