Looking for some help. I Love my Smith’s, but today at my Lgs I found a DW 715. Stainless Lnib with a 3” barrel. The box had a 3 written in and FP beside the 3. They are asking $900. Does anyone know anything about DW? I know very little. They do appear well made. The gun was made in Palmer Ma. Any help would be appreciated. I’m a sucker for a 3” 357. Thank y’all in advance!

Welcome from Western Massachusetts. I don't know enough about DW firearms to offer my opinion, but someone should be along here shortly.

I have three model 15s. I used to use one for the centerfire stage of bullseye matches. I also used one for bowling pins. Great guns and very accurate.

We recently had a Dan Wesson thread, within a week or two, good discussion in that one you can refer to.

The pre-CZ Dan Wesson revolvers were made in Monson and Palmer, MA and it’s almost universally agreed that the Monson guns were the better of the two.

FWIW, always have wanted a Pistol PAC!

I have never owned a DW revolver. But, I have heard a lot over the years, for what it is worth. It seems to be pretty common knowledge that they are considered to be one of the most accurate production revolvers available. They became very popular with the metallic silhouette crowd for their accuracy, and ability to eat heavy loads. It is said that a Smith will shoot itself loose long before one of these.

Again, this is not first hand knowledge. It is the result of talking with gun people about guns, and reading everything that I could find about guns for fifty or more years.

I should add that it seems to be commonly believed that DW had some good years, and some bad years during the production life of this gun. Supposedly there are some "lemons" out there. The early ones seem to be the favored ones. I have noticed that it is not uncommon to see ones where the bluing on the frame has turned a purple plum color.

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The few Palmer DW revolvers I have shot left me feeling they needed some trigger work to come up to my S&W K frames smoothness. Accuracy was good. YMMV

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Science plus Art

About a decade ago, you could pick up Dan Wesson 357 Magnums for a lot less than any S&W or Colt 357 Magnum, but people caught onto the tensioned barrel system of the DW and the incredible accuracy it could provide. There have been several iterations of the DW 15 (carbon steel) and 715 (stainless steel). Those made in Monson, Mass are usually well machined, but I have seen some, possibly late in the production of the Monson revolvers, that had roughly machined chambers. Those made in Palmer, MA were made by using the old Monson tools. The Palmer revolvers are more likely to show the effects of wear on the tooling, so more machining marks and generally less quality.

You mentioned this is a stainless 3 inch barrel. If it really is a 3 inch barrel, then it is likely a Palmer DW and those made with 3 and 5 inch barrels lacked the recessed barrel nut. I'm not sure what holds them onto the frame, but those barrels are not removable.
I lifted this image from the Dan Wesson Forums, this is what the fixed barrel muzzle looks like.

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I have one. Neener, neener!

In the 80's used Dan Wessons were selling for more the a new Smith & Wesson during the Silhouette era. You had to leave your name around if you wanted a new one. This was the case in Ma,NH.and ME.

I never realized some of the Palmer DW's had a fixed barrel. Was this some sort of cost savings? Doesn't seem like it would save much.

Just one?

Had one many years ago. Very accurate.

There is some variation in the action smoothness. Check for that.

stansdds is a great post. I have a 5" like he pictured, and I've seen the 3" come up on Broke-Gunner a couple of times. The cylinder rotates backwards, LOL, aka clockwise like Colts.

It's a trigger unique to itself. It's not the buttery, evenly staged rolling backwards feel of a Smith. The action is 'shorter' than a Smith, and I am referring to the DA pull. You can adapt to it, but you will definitely notice the difference. SA is sweet, as with most any competing brand.

That outta the way, I will tell you this. With similar grip, barrel-length and weight, the Dan will have less felt-recoil and muzzle rise. I don't understand this, but I have A-B'd my Dan's against Ruger and Smith numerous times. I can shoot a tighter group, in a faster time, with a 4" Dan compared to a 6" 686, both with Hogues.

Check the timing in DA as you would with any Smith or Ruger. If it checks out, I would point out the fact that the 3" you're looking at does NOT have the switch-barrel feature. You know, "What makes a Dan a Dan". But ultimately, I would still buy it at that price if the dealer won't come down on it.

My advice is to try the DA. DWs are usually abysmal. Especially on a 3" gun unless it's got a great trigger.

I had a 357 and 44 DW that shot fantastic, but had one in 22LR that shot terrible and shaved lead.

Dan Wesssons used to have terrible resale, but that’s really turned around now.

My two primary DWs have great DA triggers. Hard to do plates or pins with a ****** DA trigger.

I don't know about the third one because I've never fired it.

I have both the M-12 and the M-15. Dan Wessons are greatly underrated IMHO.