New Dan Wesson's from CZ: Will there be a .44?

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dr0

dr0

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Anyone know much about what is going on with the Dan Wesson revival over at CZ? I know they started making the model 715 .357 last year, and it seems to have been well received by those who have shot it.

Probably like a lot of people I was hoping that the .357 would be followed by a .44 mag. The DW is a big gun, and it's always made more sense to me in the larger heavier recoiling calibers.

I also noticed that even though one of the attractions of the DW has always been the ability to easily switch barrels, that the .357 came with only a 6" barrel, not the "pistol pack" with three different lengths like DW was famous for.

I realize it's hard to revive a brand like that, and that tastes in 2015 are not the same as they were in Dan Wesson's heyday. DW had a lot of proprietary cartridges, I would not expect those to make a comeback, but the .44 mag seems like a no-brainer if they are actually moving forward, and not just producing a one-off gun for bragging rights.

Your thoughts?
 
Anything is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Dan Wesson revolvers are CZ's Red headed stepchild for the most part.
 
I bought the 715 and as you say it came with the 6" bbl. I got the 2.5" and 4" from CZ. It's a nice shooter and a .44 never occurred to me. It does now, even though I have several .44's and probably wouldn't buy one. I suspect they don't sell a lot of 715's anyway even thought the bbls were backordered for awhile.
 
CZ shows no real commitment to DW revolvers, batch production, then not available. It would surprise me to see them get into .44 Magnum.

Their smartest move would be to resume production of the Super Magnum and Silhouette guns. They could reasonably command the $1200-1500 that CZ seems to want to sell DW revolvers for.
 
The issue could be one of practicality. If they had sufficent tooling/plans/etc to return the 715 to production, they may or may not have had the same for the large farm models. Dan Wesson history is full of gaps, myths, and assumptions. I personally have never encountered a large fram DW that wasn't made in the Monson factory, so who knows if that tooling ever even survived to have been carried over to Palmer, or Norwich...and even if by some chance it did, did it survive the fire?
 
CZ made a few runs of supermags years ago so obviously the tooling is still there. Unfortunately they were expensive and I just don't see a big market for them. Not to say that I wouldn't want one. If they did bring back the 44 I don't see why it wouldn't be the supermag again.
 
What SuperMags did CZ produce? Bob Serva did a great job with a wide variety of calibers and specialty revolvers in the Norwich facility before CZ bought him out.

In fairness, DW in Norwich still supports the original DW revolver designs with parts and gunsmithing services, but it's clear that their primary business is 1911's.

Dan Wesson had very few propriety cartridges, if any. They supported a variety of specialty cartridges, mostly for IHMSA shooters, and some existing wildcats. DW in Norwich also made some very limited production specialty guns in interesting calibers.

CZ is unlikely to ever go beyond an overpriced 6" .357 Magnum that you are allowed to spend big $$$ to buy extra barrels to fill in empty spaces in the "Pistol Pack"
 
Their current pricing model is all off. A big benefit of the design is that there is no hand fitting other than the 'hand'. All other DW parts from the same frame size and caliber should interchange, which should lead to a lower production cost. They should be able to put out a revolver that is cheaper than a Rossi and better than an S&W.
 
Their current pricing model is all off. A big benefit of the design is that there is no hand fitting other than the 'hand'. All other DW parts from the same frame size and caliber should interchange, which should lead to a lower production cost. They should be able to put out a revolver that is cheaper than a Rossi and better than an S&W.
Click to expand...


True. CZ needs to sell the Dan wesson design to ruger or something. Someone who will actually make it work.
 
I "need" a .44 or .445. Or both. I'll probably buy both in the next year or two, preferably blued. New or original, it's up to CZ.

S&W isn't doing any hand fitting their prices haven't come down at all. They went up.
 
Steve CT said:
What SuperMags did CZ produce? Bob Serva did a great job with a wide variety of calibers and specialty revolvers in the Norwich facility before CZ bought him out.

In fairness, DW in Norwich still supports the original DW revolver designs with parts and gunsmithing services, but it's clear that their primary business is 1911's.

Dan Wesson had very few propriety cartridges, if any. They supported a variety of specialty cartridges, mostly for IHMSA shooters, and some existing wildcats. DW in Norwich also made some very limited production specialty guns in interesting calibers.

CZ is unlikely to ever go beyond an overpriced 6" .357 Magnum that you are allowed to spend big $$$ to buy extra barrels to fill in empty spaces in the "Pistol Pack"
Click to expand...
They produced an Alaskan version of the 445

http://cz-usa.com/press-release/dan-wesson-7445-ags-alaskan-guide-special-445-supermag/
 
I am not a Dan Wesson guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know that CZ-USA is committed in bringing the DW name to full fruition again - here are a few DW photos from SHOT 2015. Admittedly the 1911s are getting the lions' share of the attention right now.

DW%20Valor_zpsro9xxk2s.jpg

Dan%20Wesson%201_zpscmvlsam8.jpg

38%20super%20Havok%20with%20C%20More_zpsel9vnk8n.jpg

And of course, :)

Dan%20Wesson%20715_zpslhrqw113.jpg

I really hope they flesh the revolver line out some more, too. BTW, if you are looking for older DW parts, call - they are still sitting on older parts that people might not know about or thought about asking.
 
No secret that DW is fully bought in on 1911's, and they have a well earned reputation in the 1911 community.

The OP was about revolvers and, again there is no indication that CZ will venture into the revolver market with anything other than a generic 6" stainless .357 in limited quantities that you can spend substantial $$$ on to build a Pistol Pack.

If you just want a good stainless .357, S&W and Ruger make great guns, readily available and market priced.

And if you read my sigline, you'll know how much it hurts to say this :(
 
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