Dan Wesson Question

Hi Folks,

My Dan Wesson was purchased from a widow for no other reason than she needed the money. I fired six shots and stuffed it into the back of the safe. Today I stayed home because my truck doors are frozen shut. So I got it out and was looking it over and noticed a couple of oddities. It is marked on the right side of the frame "DAN WESSON ARMS MONSON, MASS. USA" in two lines with a third line being the serial number 303,xxx. The barrel is marked in two lines "Dan Wesson Arms 357 MAGNUM CTG" also on the right side. There is no model number, but I think it is a model 14, because with one exception it looks exactly like this model 14 I found on the Internet:

Attachment 322287

Here is a photo of my gun:

Attachment 322288

This is the puzzling part. It addition to having no model number, it also lacks the cylinder stop on the side plate. Yet, the cylinder is solidly captured by the frame. There is no need for the stop. This closeup shows that the stop is not only not present, but there is a hole that I don't understand. The closeup below shows the anomaly:

Attachment 322289

Thanks for any information you can give me.

Tom

Is yours a non-removable barrel? That plus the fixed sights would suggest it was purchased maybe as an LE gun. It seems like the service revolver grade DW's are more rare than the others.

No, the shroud and barrel are secured with a recessed nut.

I read that some of the "non-removable" barrels still used the nut and it was a different size than the others, and/or was loctited in place. I'm not a DW expert by any means, just thinking out loud here.

That's cool. But I don't have a wrench, so I can't try to remove the barrel. However, I strongly suspect it is removable, because it is installed too tightly. The BC gap will accept a 0.0025" feeler gauge, but not a 0.003" gauge. There is no appreciable lead build up on the cylinder face or the breech, so I'm guessing the previous owner installed the barrel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tatume

Hi Folks,

My Dan Wesson was purchased from a widow for no other reason than she needed the money. I fired six shots and stuffed it into the back of the safe. Today I stayed home because my truck doors are frozen shut. So I got it out and was looking it over and noticed a couple of oddities. It is marked on the right side of the frame "DAN WESSON ARMS MONSON, MASS. USA" in two lines with a third line being the serial number 303,xxx. The barrel is marked in two lines "Dan Wesson Arms 357 MAGNUM CTG" also on the right side. There is no model number, but I think it is a model 14, because with one exception it looks exactly like this model 14 I found on the Internet:

Attachment 322287

Here is a photo of my gun:

Attachment 322288

This is the puzzling part. It addition to having no model number, it also lacks the cylinder stop on the side plate. Yet, the cylinder is solidly captured by the frame. There is no need for the stop. This closeup shows that the stop is not only not present, but there is a hole that I don't understand. The closeup below shows the anomaly:

Attachment 322289

Thanks for any information you can give me.

Tom

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I believe the cylinder stop is a separate piece and fits into the opening in the side plate on your gun. I seem to remember seeing instances where that stop would somehow go missing.

That's what I thought too, but all the exploded view drawings I've been able to locate show the lump as an integral part of the side plate. For example:

Attachment 322294

There is a part at Numrich Gun Parts that could be the missing cylinder stop (this image won't upload):

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/2124920

This might be another case of having to buy the part to see if it fits. :-(

During my IHMSA days, I owned (and handled) a number of DWs and don't recall any without the cylinder stop. Regardless of that, those 'Monson guns' are considered the best of the DWs so I'd say you've probably got yourself a 'keeper'.

Bill

Thanks Bill, It's a pretty nice revolver. Nice and purple like the DW 44 I used to have. Some people don't like that, but I do. Tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by high standard 40

I believe the cylinder stop is a separate piece and fits into the opening in the side plate on your gun. I seem to remember seeing instances where that stop would somehow go missing.

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That is what I was thinking, I had a officer who carried an early DW, IIRC at that time they were less expensive than a S&W. It would be a lot less work to machine a stop separately than to do it the way S&W does. When he showed me his revolver it looked exactly like yours but had the stop in place. Last year I looked at a Hi Standard DW in a pawn shop it had the stop.

My son has a 6" Model 15 357 magnum.

A couple of years after getting the gun, the cylinder stop went missing.

He contacted Dan Wesson and obtained a replacement.

I seem to recall he reinstalled it using locktite.

For the cylinder gap, a lot of DW owners are of the opinion that smaller is better as long as it does not cause binding when fired. My 357 Supermag revolver came with a 0.002" feeler gauge if I remember correctly (I could go check, but it would not mean much).

14 would be a fixed sight gun, 15 an adjustable sight gun. My memory isn't the best but I think 12 was the fixed bbl version. Your slide stop should be in the blank hole. No idea where to look for a replacement part. I thought the factory kit came with a 0.006" gap tool, though most were set a lot closer by their owners. Like P. Flados above, I preferred a 0.002" gap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tatume

Hi Folks,

My Dan Wesson was purchased from a widow for no other reason than she needed the money. I fired six shots and stuffed it into the back of the safe. Today I stayed home because my truck doors are frozen shut. So I got it out and was looking it over and noticed a couple of oddities. It is marked on the right side of the frame "DAN WESSON ARMS MONSON, MASS. USA" in two lines with a third line being the serial number 303,xxx. The barrel is marked in two lines "Dan Wesson Arms 357 MAGNUM CTG" also on the right side. There is no model number, but I think it is a model 14, because with one exception it looks exactly like this model 14 I found on the Internet:

Attachment 322287

Here is a photo of my gun:

Attachment 322288

This is the puzzling part. It addition to having no model number, it also lacks the cylinder stop on the side plate. Yet, the cylinder is solidly captured by the frame. There is no need for the stop. This closeup shows that the stop is not only not present, but there is a hole that I don't understand. The closeup below shows the anomaly:

Attachment 322289

Thanks for any information you can give me.

Tom

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Yes, this is a bug with earlier DW revolvers, with full power loads extraction is sticky and pounding out the empties puts a lot of load on the cylinder stop. Repeated pounding will loosen the cylinder stop to the point that it will fall out. I know, it happened to me. I lost the original and just made a replacement and glued it in place. I also bought a replacement side plate that had an integral cylinder stop. Some point in production the design was changed to make the stop integral to the side plate and not a separate piece. Regarding cylinder to barrel gap. 0.006" will work every time and every gun but is quite large. 0.002" or less might not work well. Fouling and tolerances may lead to heavy drag and make cocking or double action not work. I have never had a problem with 0.005" in six different guns. I often set to 0.003 and rarely have a issue. Get or made a barrel wrench, a DW revolver without one is just not right.
Tim

There is a long thread on DW (Dan Wesson 357 Opinions) on page 2 of this subforum with information on contacting CZ-Dan Wesson (post 54).

ewkarms.com has some of the nicer barrel tools around and often has small parts for DW. I checked and he has Dan Wesson Small Frame Cylinder Stops for $22 listed on his site. I wish I'd had more $ for some of the parts, etc., he has made but no longer does; quality work!

Charter Arms also used a separate cylinder stop on their revolvers from this era. My 1970's Undercover has this whereas my 2000's example does not.

My 7445 came with a .002" feeler gauge

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MT Gianni

14 would be a fixed sight gun, 15 an adjustable sight gun. My memory isn't the best but I think 12 was the fixed bbl version. Your slide stop should be in the blank hole. No idea where to look for a replacement part. I thought the factory kit came with a 0.006" gap tool, though most were set a lot closer by their owners. Like P. Flados above, I preferred a 0.002" gap.

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Model w12 has an exterior barrel nut, and adjustable sights.

Some people have published the opinion that a tight cylinder gap contributes nothing to accuracy, may slightly increase velocity, and may also increase the possibility of etching the top strap. While I cannot say whether these observations are valid, they appear to be reasonable.

IIRC, the odd numbered Dan Wessons had adjustable sights and the even number had fixed sights. The 8 and 9 were 38 special only with the outer star nut barrel retention, the 11 and 12 were similar but in 357. Later they went to the recessed barrel nut, and the 14 and 15 were the 357's, fixed and adjustable. I don't recall there being a model 10 or 13. I know that the fixed barrel model 8's were approved for NYPD use for a while in the late 70's and perhaps into the early 80's.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rintinglen

IIRC, the odd numbered Dan Wessons had adjustable sights and the even number had fixed sights. The 8 and 9 were 38 special only with the outer star nut barrel retention, the 11 and 12 were similar but in 357. Later they went to the recessed barrel nut, and the 14 and 15 were the 357's, fixed and adjustable. I don't recall there being a model 10 or 13. I know that the fixed barrel model 8's were approved for NYPD use for a while in the late 70's and perhaps into the early 80's.

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And, there were the "Pork Chops"... Like Mine!