Dan Wesson .357 Magnum

CLASSIC12 · Feb 1, 2021

Just saw this Dan Wesson .357 Magnum at the LGS, very sexy gun in my opinion

The frame is somewhat plum coloured, but still pretty.

It’s a bit pricey, no suitcase, second grip, belt buckle and even the barrel wrench is missing.

And another customer reserved it. Maybe he’ll pass, we’ll see, fingers crossed.

Does anyone know the model number and year of production?

GaryHK · Feb 1, 2021

That's either a model 15 or a 15-2. The differences are small so someone with a bit more knowledge can comment.

Not sure of the date.

edit: Def, a model 15-2. The model 15 barrel looked like this...

https://www.danwessonforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/porkchop.jpg

oysterer · Feb 1, 2021

I have never quite warmed up to them. I love the modern DW 1911s the best but these revolvers, the actions are little rough around the edges, maybe due to use of castings, they tend to stack a bit and have that short heavy hammer drop that feels digital and is not possible to control like I can a Smith. I never tricked one out and I don't know how to work on them but they strike me a little 'rugeresque' if I may say that. I always passed but that doesn't mean you have to.

GaryHK · Feb 1, 2021

1450 swiss francs is a bit high considering it's missing the case, wrench, etc that you noted.

Complete packs appear to go for between 1500 and 2000 here in the states.

UncleEd · Feb 1, 2021

Dan Wesson home page has the
recent 715 model under its
"Discontinued" listing as of
2020.

The revolver market is a tough
one and the 715 just never
took off, especially I think at
its price point.

Breakaway500 · Feb 1, 2021

Every one I have owned was a disaster. Hard to extract empties,misfires and jams. Could not get a gunsmith to work on them either.

Bad luck..whatever.. I will never own another one.

Gene L · Feb 1, 2021

They're popular among Silhouette steel shooters (longer barrels, of course) because I think you can adjust the barrel/cylinder gap. As a former LEO, my opinion goes back 40 years so you can take it at whatever it's worth now, but for DA shooting, which was required back in the revolver days, it simply wasn't there. Heavy DA pull, and reloading wasn't as easy as S&w because of the location of the latch.

GaryHK · Feb 1, 2021

Breakaway500 said:
Every one I have owned was a disaster. Hard to extract empties,misfires and jams. Could not get a gunsmith to work on them either.

Bad luck..whatever.. I will never own another one.

Makes sense given that you really shouldn't be able to change barrels like that on a revolver. Although convenient and a neat feature, there is bound to be tradeoffs in reliability and accuracy.

My dad had a set with the barrels a while back. After he passed, I think I sold the set for like $500 or so. I don't even remember and I never fired the weapon myself.

@OP it looks like that gun was made in 1984/85 according to this (page 8):

https://www.danwessonforum.com/wp-content/files/DanWessonSerialNumbers.pdf

Old_Cop · Feb 1, 2021

I have owned a few and liked them. I got a ten point leg at the CT State Police Regional in 1978 with a DW. I even drove to the schoolhouse to pick up a high Patridge front sight for a neck hold at 50 yards.

colt_saa · Feb 1, 2021

The Vent Heavy barrels with the Zebrawood grip has always been a looker

The frame or side-plate Plumming is not unusual on the older Dan Wessons. At least half of my blue steel ones have it to varying degrees

Even missing the suitcase, $1,450 US Dollars is a very good price for a Pistol Pak. I am not positive what currency that asking price is in. Presuming Swiss Francs, that is about $1,615 US Dollars.

I would still be a buyer at that price

Laketime · Feb 1, 2021

Great gun with a great finish

rockquarry · Feb 1, 2021

I know nothing about Dan Wesson, but did buy a .22 (have no idea what the model was) with a 6" barrel about fifteen years ago on an auction site. I don't recall the price but it seemed ridiculously low. Seller was the Dan Wesson company. They had several other revolvers also listed.

I bought it and shot it a lot for a while. This is the only DW I've ever examined or fired. It was well-finished and seemed to be of good quality. It was also quite accurate, but was pretty heavy for a .22 and I finally sold it.

At the time I bought this revolver, I checked prices on other Dan Wessons, not just .22s. I've never seen such a wide variance in prices on other guns as there were on DWs. I don't know if that holds true today or not.

mtgianni · Feb 1, 2021

I have a pork chop model 15 and enjoy it. The biggest problem with it is training with other Smiths and switching back to the DW cylinder release.

OLDSTER · Feb 1, 2021

The Dan Wesson Model 15-2 cased set, has been at the top of my bucket list for years. A bit too pricey, but I can still dream.

CLASSIC12 · Feb 1, 2021

GaryHK said:
That's either a model 15 or a 15-2. The differences are small so someone with a bit more knowledge can comment.

Not sure of the date.

edit: Def, a model 15-2. The model 15 barrel looked like this...

https://www.danwessonforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/porkchop.jpg

Thanks, I understand now that it’s a model 15-2 VH (vented heavy)

CLASSIC12 · Feb 1, 2021

GaryHK said:
Makes sense given that you really shouldn't be able to change barrels like that on a revolver. Although convenient and a neat feature, there is bound to be tradeoffs in reliability and accuracy.

My dad had a set with the barrels a while back. After he passed, I think I sold the set for like $500 or so. I don't even remember and I never fired the weapon myself.

@OP it looks like that gun was made in 1984/85 according to this (page 8):

https://www.danwessonforum.com/wp-content/files/DanWessonSerialNumbers.pdf

Thanks a lot for the link with the list of serial numbers, very useful

CLASSIC12 · Feb 1, 2021

colt_saa said:
The Vent Heavy barrels with the Zebrawood grip has always been a looker

The frame or side-plate Plumming is not unusual on the older Dan Wessons. At least half of my blue steel ones have it to varying degrees

Even missing the suitcase, $1,450 US Dollars is a very good price for a Pistol Pak. I am not positive what currency that asking price is in. Presuming Swiss Francs, that is about $1,615 US Dollars.

I would still be a buyer at that price

Beautiful hand held canon, thanks for posting it

PeterJ · Feb 1, 2021

Don't know about DW anything, but really don't care for the big slab of steel under the barrel. Wouldn't be my first pick for another revolver.

Dieseltech56 · Feb 1, 2021

The barrels and shrouds alone sell for a lot of money here in the US. I'm not sure what the market is for them overseas. Same with those grips, they are worth more than you would think.

That is a 15-2 with vented heavy barrels. I would say the most desirable barrel style. A pistol pack may very well be worth more as pieces honestly, once you add up every barrel/shroud, frame and zebra wood grips you would easily reach $1400 here.

Think of the Dan Wesson revolver as a swing open single action, usually very accurate due to the tensioned barrel but the DA trigger is lacking. That's okay with me though I usually shoot SA at longer than normal distances.

jframejoey · Feb 1, 2021

That price in Francs is about 1,600 in dollars. Hopefully the shop will let you haggle a little bit like in the States.

Dan Wesson .357 Magnum

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