Found one for sale, wonder if we talk about em' here? Had one many, many years ago, 4" and 6", dang OCD kept me changing barrels back and forth until I just couldn't take it anymore and sold the dang thing,LOL.
This one appears to be a M715, 4", no wrench, but ugly plain grips and from the SN# looks like it was made in '86 or '87.
Don't have a clue as to what they're worth today, I do know a barrel wrench will set me back $43 bucks plus shipping from CZ and I can get a set of Hogue Nylon grips for about $20 bucks to dress it up a bit.
Any ideas as to what kind of price would make it worth getting into. Thanks.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

Never mind. Guy called me back, he's wanting $500 bucks for a beat to death 715 with NO barrel wrench or accessories. Guess he can wish in one hand and, well, you get my drift.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

Dan Wesson revolvers are liked by many of us, and threads about them pop up from time to time. I've had several, mostly large frames, and always found them to be accurate and reliable. Prices seem to have been increasing over the past few years, but I haven't kept track of them closely enough to give you an estimate. There is somebody who machines new barrel and sight tools for both the large and small frame DWs and sells them through Gunbroker, as I recall, at much lower prices than the factory. His tools offer several improvements over the originals, as well. Pachmayr and Hogue still make rubber grips for them, and Hogue also makes very nice wood grips for them. I have a set of Hogue wood grips on my 744VH6 that are just beautiful, much nicer than the Pachmayr rubbers that were on it when I bought it a few years ago. I'm on my android phone, can't post pics, will try to do so later or tomorrow if I can get to my computer (on crutches due to a broken ankle, haven't been able to access my gun and computer room).

Frank: I see them at the range from time to time -- nice guns. Nice triggers. Generally though the guys who buy them get only one barrel and no wrench and no box, but then the price they pay is fairly low ($325 - $375). It's only the guys who get the whole set that the price jumps.

Back in the early 70s, the first revolver I shot was my big brother's Dan Wesson in .357.

Like I said, I had one and it was a well built revolver but I just couldn't make up my mind between the 4" and 6" barrels so I kept changing em' out to the point where it kind of drove me crazy.LOL. I did see a Dan Wesson on Gunbroker(IIRC) with an 2" and 4" and wrench in a case for $475, that'd be a decent enough deal but for gosh sakes, $500 for one that's beat up with no wrench or accessories, now ya'll see what I've got to deal with around my neck of the woods. Everyone thinks their guns are made of gold or something.LOL

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

I own 4 DW revolvers, and IMO, they're great guns.

My first was a .44 Mag I bought back in 1988. It came with an 8 in. hvy bbl, and a 6 in ported std bbl. What an outstanding shooter, capable of great accuracy.

Then many years later, maybe around 2004, I bought another .44, this one with a 4 in. hvy bbl. and a 6 in. hvy bbl. Another excellent gun, the 4 in. really balances nicely.

Finally a couple years ago I found a .357, and then another one quickly after that. With these .357s I have a 4 in hvy bbl. a 6 in. std, and 2 8 in. hvy bbls. I've not had a real chance to wring them out yet, though it seems the one with the 4 in. bbl shoots about 6 in. high at 15 yards, and the rear sight is already bottomed out. So, I may have to look into a taller front sight.

All in all, I'm very fond of the DW revolvers. The interchangeable barrels not only provide great utility, but it makes cleaning them much easier. Do I prefer them over my Smiths? Ummmm...I don't think I can answer that.

Tim

I'm not going to worry too much about this guy wanting more then his gun is worth. I've found another guy with a decent S&W M64, 2" that's in my price range. Maybe things will work out with it, if not I'll just keep looking or drop back and punt and get that Sig Pro 2040 for $375. I have options, no reason to get stuck on one gun when there's so many out there and at more reasonable prices.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

I've got a DW Super Mag in .357max and a K22.

They are very accurate, well made guns.

Here's the Super Mag with a .38spl, 357mag and a .357max for comparison. The gun frame is the same as the Current X frame Smiths -big.

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ASA/NSA 67-71
NRA Benefactor

I had a T/C Contender with a 357Max. barrel, that's one heck of a nice ctg. IMHO. Didn't they have flame cutting issues with the top straps with that ctg. in the DW's? Seems I remember reading something about it once upon a time. Maybe it was the bigger 445Mag or something, anyway, nice looking six shooter there pard.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

I never owned one and have no idea what they are worth but I have shot one and it was super accurate and nice action.

I owned one years ago, but it's been so many "years ago" that I don't remember that much about it. It must have been a good gun, because I let my brother-n-law have it on a trade. He would not have took it from me if he had thought it was not any good....you know how brother-n-law deals go. It was likely a very good weapon.

I purchased a very nice condition 8 inch .357 DW with the fancy wood target grips, barrel wrench and a 2-7 power scope for under $400 last fall. Great trigger, very accurate and a nice firearm overall. The reason it was under $400 is the owner drilled out the original rear sight hole to sue a larger screw for scope mounting and also drilled the barrel shroud. Oh well, I like a scoped long barrel so I didn't care.

I think this guy thought that because the gun isn't currently being made it's somekind of collectors item or something. If you could have seen the pics he posted you could tell it'd be shot a lot, scratched up, grips look bad. I'd think $300 would be a big price for it especially since I'd have to get a barrel wrench and another set of decent looking grips to get things in order. Hopefully I'll hear from that guy with the M64, 2", that'd be a sweet little gun with a set of hip grips on it like I have on my 642 and it'd probably be more comfortable for my wife to use too without being too big for her.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

I picked up one a few months back on here. Changed to the plain grip that I refinished from a "freebee" on the Dan Wesson site. This is a M41 - Manson 41 Magnum. Haven't shot it yet and probably won't for awhile as I have to have shoulder surgery the 16th. Came out looking like this:

I really enjoy the super mags.
Here is my 445 hunter pack

And my 357 super mag

Check out the forum:

The Dan Wesson Forum - The Legend Lives On... – The Dan Wesson Forum

My DW:



It needs a chamber throat hone as they won't pass a .430
bullet. Stay tuned.

...Nemo...

I've owned a couple of their 22's over the years, but eventually traded them off. Good guns, but they were heavy for a 22.

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John 3:16 .

I have a stable full of Wessons - Dan's and Smith's. Like 'em all!

My first handgun I ever bought was a Dan Wesson Model 15-2VH in .357. It looked kind of like the Colt Python I couldn't afford. Picked it up for $251 brand new. To this day it is the most accurate revolver I've ever shot. Eventually I managed to acquire my dream revolver, the Colt Python with a 6" barrel. I like the Python, I really do. But that Dan Wesson I had was more accurate. Sold the Dan Wesson a long time ago. Still miss it.

GunBroker has some. Sheesh now I want one with interchangeable barrel kit.

I once handloaded for and shot (but fortunately did not own) one of their stainless .445 Supermag revolvers. It had the most poorly cut chambers of any revolver I have ever seen. You could literally read the circular reamer marks up and down the entire length of the fired brass even with moderate loads. The grip angle was all wrong. The trigger pull was terrible. And I don't know what the hammer and trigger were made of, but MIM would've been a huge improvement.

Accuracy means nothing to me when everything else about them is all wrong.

Dave Sinko

I like that they have multiple barrels that can easily be swapped. If I could find a kit for a reasonable price I would get it. But I have to ask what is up with the grip angle? The grips look about as appealing as a wet sock

That's funny and exactly why I sold mine. I never was satisfied with the gap either, and would constantly re-check it. At one point, I even rubbed bluing off from wiping it down excessively. I finally traded it for a nickel Model 27 with and 8 3/8" barrel and never looked back. I think they are good revolvers, but were never my cup of tea. And ckprax is right, the whole grip thing just never came together for me, and some of the factory ones looked like Sauder DIY furniture.

The grips were completely customizable with a file and sand paper. No grip frame means you could have the angle or shape anything you wanted.

The Dan Wesson Super Mag fixed the problem that Remington and Ruger created-flame cutting of the top strap. The problem with the Ruger revolvers is they tried to make them without lengthening the frame so the cylinder was too short for the cartridge which caused the bullet to be jumping the cylinder gap at the highest pressure. Remington exacerbated this folly by loading light bullets to fit the too short cylinders.
Dan Wesson fixed this by making the cylinders long enough so that heavier bullets could be loaded and the bullet was jumping the adjustable cylinder gap at lower pressure and also their frames were made of 17-4 PH stainless. The PH stands for Percipitation Hardening ie flame hardening.
I have one that I used to compete in IHMSA that has many thousands of rounds through it with no flame cutting.