There is a Dan Wesson revolver in my LGS. It's a 4" 357 with a bit of surface rust on one side of the barrel. No extra barrels with it. Grips are Pac Presentations. Adjustable rear sights with ramped front with a red insert. Couple of questions:

How do you tell what a model a Dan Wesson is? I can't find any model markings on it on it. I think it's a 15 but am not certain.

Anything that one needs to look for on a DW that is different from a Smith? I have seen one with the barrel put on so that there was cylinder gap of about a 1/4 inch, but this one looks like it was assembled properly.

They are asking $400, which means that I could probably get it more $350. Is that reasonable?

Not sure why I want it except that it sort of feels like it would handle about like a SW Model 19/66, which I like. The cylinder latch would take some getting used to.

The model 15 will have an adjustable rear sight and a replaceable front sight(small Allen screw on the shroud crown). The barrel gap is adjustable and should be set at .006”. $400 is a decent price. Barrel wrench is available at EWK arms.

From your description,it looks like it is a model 15 but don't take my word for it.Have it checked out by a guy(or gal)who knows DWs.
I own one(model 15)with 6 and 8'' bbl.The gap is adjustable(before buying,make sure that it is supplied with the barrel wrench to screw/unscrew the barrel.With that(and the normally supplied feeler gauge)you should be able to adjust the gap at .006''as recommended.
Make sure before buying that it was manufactured in Monson,Mass.The mod 15 manufactured there went under very good qc before leaving the plant.
If it is not one manufactured in Monson,don't necessarily pass it up but ask a knowledgable person to overlook it.
If everything is OK,the price is good.Given the green light for it,I'd grab it.
I got 2 Dan Wesson(the other one a .44mag) and my dogs are jealous for the time I spend taking care of them!

Quality of DW revolvers varied quite a bit, so give it a really good inspection. I've seen some that were fantastic, I've seen some that were filled with machining marks. The Monson, Mass. guns tend to be of higher quality than the Norwich guns, but some of those Norwich produced weapons were pretty darned good.

How do you tell the Mass guns from the Conn guns? Does it say "made in ..." somewhere on them?

Right side of the frame, above the trigger guard you will find it stamped with:
Dan Wesson Arms
Monson, Mass USA

or
Dan Wesson Firearms
Norwich, NY USA

I think you're confusing Norwich (where DW products are currently manufactured) with Palmer, Mass., where the DW revolvers were manufactured after the Monson, Mass. guns.
As a general rule the Monson guns are considered to be of higher quality than the later produced Palmer guns.
I have a Monson produced Model 22 VH4 the is simply an incredible revolver. The pinnacle in DW quality IMHO.

As noted above the guns manufactured in Palmer, Mass. have a wide variations in QC.

The Monson guns are Ok for the most part.

DOH!!!! You are correct. Palmer, Mass guns are suspect, the Norwich guns, if you can find one, are current production. I did see an early Norwich production 715 shortly after they were reintroduced. I turned it down due to some really poor machining, so there is at least one really bad Norwich 715 out there somewhere.

I've had two 15-2's, both Monson guns. The first one I foolishly traded away. The second one I found in a pawn and sporting goods shop for a price I could not resist. This one is not leaving my stable.

Dan Wesson 15, AKA Pork Chop due to the tang at the rear of the barrel:

15-2:


The 715 is a 15-2 in stainless. A 15-2 can have full lug or standard barrels.

15-2 and 715 barrel shrouds may also have a solid top rib or a ventilated top rib.

It went and looked at it again today. It's a Monson gun, but they don't have the tool.

My Model 22 did'nt come with a tool either.
I got one from EWK and it is a very nice piece of kit! Far better than the DW factory tools, IMO.
Dan Wesson Small Frame Wrench Dan Wesson Wrench [] - $25.00 : EWK Arms

I'm hoping that EWK will resume making new barrels and shrouds too. I do not have any of their barrels, but from what I have read, they are superior to the factory DW barrels.

Oh, and barrel tools is often available on eBay, that's where I got mine.

The OP stated the gun he's looking at has Pac Presentation grips on it. All the DW revolvers I've seen and or owned used the proprietary stocks with the screw through the bottom. Did Pachmayr make stocks for the DW?

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Yes;my model 15 wears a Pachmayr stock.You can also have Mr Bruce Lawrence make you a semi-custom wood grip.I had one made for my model 44 and it is top notch quality at a very reasonable price.

I believe you;my Monson model 44 wears a blue that makes my Gold Cup cry.It is simply splendid.And the smoothness of both the sa and da is superb.Guess that it shows that I like that gun a lot!

DW's did come with wood stocks, but Pachmayr did make presentation stocks in small and large sizes for the DW small frame revolvers. For the DW that I traded away, I actually obtained both sizes of Pachmayr stocks. I found that the larger size actually fit my medium sized hands better.

I let it sit in the display case for a couple of months and today was able to take it home for 325 out the door. I think it will make a pretty good utility gun, but I'll have to see how it does at the range this weekend.

Some pics would be nice and I look forward to reading the range report.

By the way, I think you will find that the double action pull on the DW is a bit on the heavy side, but it is about the shortest pull of any revolver ever made. I think it is best to not even attempt to stage the DW double action pull. The single action is likely to be very manageable and mine breaks like a glass rod.

Took the DW out to the range today. I liked it, but it may still take some getting used to. It shot quite high at first-maybe 6 inches at 10 yards. The rear sight was very quite high so I moved it down a bit. Tried it again. Moved it down again. And so forth. Eventually I had it as low as it would go and I was still hitting about an inch high. It was making nice tight groups directly above my POA, but higher than I wanted them. I am going to take the sight apart and see if there is something in there that is preventing me from getting is down a bit lower.

I have also ordered a barrel tool and will make sure the barrel is properly tensioned before I start messing with the front sight.

I also had a few light strikes and one imperfectly seated primer that prevented the cylinder from rotating. The cylinder-to-frame tolerances must quite tight, because I took the offending round out and put it in my M66 and it rotated right into place and fired perfectly.

The 66 and 10 were perfectly happy with my handloads and shot where I expected them to, so I am inclined to blame the DW and not my shooting or ammo. In fact one of the results of today's range trip was to remind of just how good the older K-Frames are. My Model 10 no dash, which is older than I am, has a better trigger than the DW (or maybe a more familiar trigger) and shoots right where I expect to, despite the primitive sights.

It took me a while to get used to the DW trigger, which has a Colt like stacking quality to it. The stacking seems more pronounced when you do a slow press.

You can see the dings on the barrel in the photo. I steel wooled the rust off of those scratches and another spot on the cylinder. I have an appointment at the LGS tomorrow to put a little cold blue on them.

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It can be difficult to determine the actual model number for a real Dan Wesson. They didn't mark it on the gun.

This is mine:


It's a 6" with a Hogue grip. I misplaced the original grip and box in a move years ago. Alas, I didn't realize the value of those two items.

I believe it is a 715T because that's what I remember being on the box. It could be a 15 and it could be a 15T. The reason I believe there should be a T at the end of the part number is due to the nature of this gun. The rear sight is adjustable and very narrow. The single action trigger breaks at exactly 2lbs. It has as close to no creep as physically possible and still able to function. In fact, if you tell me you can feel any movement of the trigger when you press it, I'm not sure I'd believe you. Because of all that, I believe this was built as a special target model. Of course I didn't know that when I got it around 1992.

So, I don't really know the part number. But it's not for sale anyway. If someone knows a way to determine the part number, please let me know.

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Freedom isn't free.

I believe the model number for your DW would be 15HV. It’s a model 15 with a Heavy Vented barrel. The 715 is a stainless (700 series).

The DW revolvers are underrated gems, in my opinion. As for the light strikes, I've never had a light primer strike with my DW. I'm wondering if someone messed with the hammer spring in yours. Either cut some coils or installed a lighter spring, trying to get a lighter double action pull. As for the double action pull being Colt-like, it is when compared to the Colts that used a coil spring to power the hammer.



That is a blued 357 with the heavy underlug and ventilated rib barrel shroud, making it a model 15-2HV. If it was in a box marked 715, then it was in the wrong box as a 715 would have been a stainless steel version of the 15-2.

Thank you both.

I can't state with any authority what it actually said on the box. It is possible that it was in the wrong box. The place I got it from was less than perfect and closed not long after I got this gun.

Regardless of me not knowing the part number, it is by far the nicest single action trigger I've ever felt on any handgun I've ever used. Everything has a price, but you'd have to pay me a lot to get this one away from me.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

And that is how I feel about the one I currently own. I was a fool to trade away the first one I owned so this one is staying in my stable.

Here is a link to the Dan Wesson forum that will tell you exactly what model you have via the serial #.
http://www.danwessonforum.com/wp-con...ialNumbers.pdf
Regarding light primer strikes-if the grip screw is too tight, it will cause light strikes. Back the screw out 1/2 to 1 turn and see if you still get them. This seemed fishy to me at first until I replaced the hammer spring and the trigger return spring on my Dan Wesson 715VH and realized how the springs were set up. If the grip screw is too tight, it raises the mainspring guide too high and causes interference by placing too much pressure (sometimes not enough) on the the hammer assembly.

Garry

I am now the proud owner of my 3rd DW handgun(2X.357 and 1X44Mag)
Yes,they are not perfect.Having being raised on S&Ws,I too don't like the stacking up on DA shooting.But I admit that it is on par with the stacking up on my Colt Python but a little harder...but not that much more.
In fact,my 44Mag is my favorite of all my guns(over 50 of them)They are very good and,in my opinion,underestimated.
But please,don't put the word around;it'll get their price up and I won't be able to buy some more!

Before I took it to the range I cleaned it and pulled the grip off. I was surprised that the grip screw was so easy to remove and when I reinstalled the grip, I made a point of tightening it. I'll loosen it and see if that helps. Still need to figure out why it's shooting high.

Oh, right, I had forgotten that the grip screw can protrude too far into the stud and alter the hammer spring function. Sometimes, when grips on DW's get swapped, the original screw and/or its washer get lost. Hardware store replacements will work, but may end up being too long.

Check tension on barrel/shroud nut, cylinder-barrel gap should be .006 + - .001 never seen one that shot that high, usually quarter size groups at 10 yards.