I just bought a Dan Wesson

A

AID_Admin

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I was reading about DW and how they made these great revolvers with interchangeable barrels. And how they are so accurate that they were dominant is silhouette shooting matches in 80s and 90s. I really admired DW packs with four barrels, but the prices I saw were around $1500, which is way too much for an amateur like me.

Today I do my "internet related business" and view some "for sale" ads and come across a guy who sells a DW 15-2 in excellent condition, used very little according to him. It comes with two barrels 6" and 2", barrel tool, measuring gouge and two sets of original grips. We exchange a few emails with pictures and such and then have a long phone conversation and on the end he agrees to sell the whole package to me for $600 + shipping/fees. How could I say no?!

So, now I have to wait for the package to arrive and see what I actually got! But this is what it should look like :-)))

DW.jpg
 
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Congratulations on the DW! I shot silhouette in the 80s and the Dan Wessons owned the revolver class back then because they were so accurate. I still have my 40V. Good luck with your new find.
 
My condolences.....
I shot a lot of silhouette in the 80's also, but must have been on a different planet than you did. Most of the Dan Wesson's I saw were accurate enough, if you could keep them shooting. I saw lots of broken cast parts and problems. They kept trying to get into the game and just never made it. I was very active in the revolver competition then and won the AAA class at the western regionals the last year I shot it. I'll never forget the time I had a person shooting next to me walk off the line with his Dan Wesson, as his hammer broke in half in the middle of the match.
Hopefully you didn't get something from that era as the casting porosity was terrible on some of their internal parts. They had great ideas back then, just a poor product.
 
HEY Old Stoney I saw a freedom arms go down shooting with some issue on the fireing line so I guess that makes them junk too!!! Stuff happens.





AID_Admin Congrates on the dw. Hope it shows up as you expect it to be.

Got a check out EWKarms for all accessories and upgrades for DW revolver.

Don't let one whiner worry you ether. Allways has to be one sad soul.

Do you know if the revolver is a monsoon mass made or early palmer made revolver yet.

I have 4 dw revolvers for the mid to late '70's and a couple of those have been shot so much with hot heavy loads I am surprised something has not happen. My most used one was my 15-2 hog hunter for 20 years with a red dot on it. Never had to replace a single part in any except some springs.
 
My 15-2 hasnt had a single problem or broken part since the day I bought it, brand new back in 19*coff,coff*. Thousands of rounds of .357 ammo with no problems & good accuracy. Enjoy it, its probably a fine revolver.:cool:
 
Do you know if the revolver is a monsoon mass made or early palmer made revolver yet.
Click to expand...

kahrguy - Again, according to the seller, the gun is made circa 1979 in Monson and has been in his family ever since. There is no way to verify it till I see a serial number, but if he knows this gun since new, he can not be too much off on the purchase date and Palmer production did not start till 90s I believe...

Old Stoney - I guess the good news is that even though these DW guns fall apart they are easy to fix, because everything can be taken apart. When my barrel blows, no problem: I will just screw another one in! :-)))
 
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Sorry if I stepped on some Dan Wesson toes. I never meant to insinuate they were all junk, I just meant they had a lot of problems in their early years. I saw some major problems with AMT pistols too, but some of them worked and are still working.
I remember talking to an AMT rep once at the shot show and telling him that I no longer sold their products in my store as too many of them came back in the door with problems. He proceded to admit to me that they had some quality control problems but had hired new people to oversee that part of the business and had turned things around. I handed him the .45 that I had picked up off their table to inspect and told him the safety wouldn't work on it. He put it under their table and never missed a beat.
I'm sure a lot of those AMT's are still out there working from that era too, but I think there are better choices.
 
At one time I had the position of running the firearms program for a police department, one of my responsibilities was destroying firearms (I will not get into my feelings on that issue as many fine firearms quickly rusted from the tears running down my cheeks). At first we used a torch, later just threw everything into a furnace as there were too many for individual destruction. During one torching incident we cut two Dan Wesson revolvers resulting in some of the parts having the oddest odors and colors as they burned? Ravens and RG's had the same results. I have never owned one but shot several and had several brought to me in a bag to reassemble...boy do they lack the simplicity of a Smith and Wesson.
 
Even with the serial # you'll have a hard time tracing the year of manufacture. The DW collectors site has some info, but its mainly from dated items tied back to a number. DW changed hands & plants several times, sometimes it took a while to get the QC up & back to its original state. The easiest way to tell where your gun was made is to look at the markings on the frame. It'll say where it was made!

Mine is a Monson-made one & its just fine.
 
Trying to figure out if this will be an "all love fest" thread where nobody wants two-sided discussion or what? I happen to have two different 15-2's and I've got opinions on both... and both good and not as much.
 
Yep a monsoon mass years tend to be the favorite years for many. The palmer years did go into the mid 90's and started in "83 or '84 I think . Also was known as Wesson Firearms company.
 
Dan Wesson

I have only had mine about 30 years so maybe I did not give it a chance to show any problems yet. I will keep an eye peeled on it as it finishes the break in period and will post any changes! :D

DanWesson40-V.jpg
 
I've had a bunch of 15-2's over the last 33 years and had one actual failure, the hand spring broke on one of them. The other problem was my fault, I ruined a barrel when I had a dud reload and I bulged the barrel when I fired another round without checking the barrel first. I was shooting again in about 20 minutes after getting the shroud off and installing the new barrel. I've never even seen a really broken DW, just ones with very minor problems that were easily fixed. I got a couple of my guns really cheap because the owners seemed to be totally clueless about what was wrong with their guns. The claims of barrels/shrouds loosening made by some people is total nonsense.
 
Yeah, I like the 2-tone finish. All I need now is a rag top for that extra sporty look! I might get a s/s EWK barrel nut for chrome trim too!:eek:
 
Oh NOES! I do have a two tone DW! BUSTED.

I have blued DW22 with a stainless barrel and nut I thought it looked sharp. :o
 
My small frames are still all blue but my one large frame has the plume frame. It does kind grow on you over the years. Seen a few s&w plume colored frames too.
 
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