How much does a Dan Wesson 744 (44 mag) weigh?

MikeInOr · May 19, 2023

Of course it depends on the barrel length and barrel shroud. I asked myself how much my 744 weighs so many times I thought I would post my results here.

Dan Wesson 744 - 2.5" barrel VH shroud = 44oz = 2.75lbs

Dan Wesson 744 - 4" barrel VH shroud = 49.6oz = 3.1lbs

Dan Wesson 744 - 8" barrel VH shroud = 63oz = 3.9lbs

Dan Wesson 744 EWK brake = 7.25oz

Dan Wesson 744 frame only = 37.75oz = 2.36lbs

A friend was trying to get me to buy his Ruger 44 Alaskan under the pretense that it is lighter than my Dan Wesson 744. Ruger Alaskan (44mag) = 45oz, Dan Wesson 744 (44mag) with 2.5" HV barrel = 44oz. No Sale! (I have always liked the Ruger Alaskan and I was actually pretty surprised to find out that it is a miniscule bit heavier than my Dan Wesson with the same length barrel)

Please feel free to fill in the 6" barrel weight and the total weights with the lighter barrel shrouds... I think this would be very interesting.

I would love to see the same for the Dan Wesson 715 in .357 and other DW revolvers (722 .22lr any one?) - just for reference.

P.S. All weights are with a Hogue rubber grip.

Charlie98 · May 19, 2023

DW 741 w/6" vented barrel...

For what it's worth, it's not that much heavier than a 4" S&W 57...

...when you factor in 2" more barrel. The DW is a bigger pistol, for sure... so it's not surprising.

CraigC · May 20, 2023

They're heavy! Here's what I have:
Frame - 40oz
10" full lug barrel - 32oz
6" full lug barrel - 19oz
4" full lug barrel - 11oz
8" short lug barrel - 21oz

Without optics, the 8" DW is nearly half a pound heavier than the SRH. IMHO, the Ruger is stronger.

Charlie98 said:
DW 741 w/6" vented barrel...

View attachment 1152256

For what it's worth, it's not that much heavier than a 4" S&W 57...

View attachment 1152257

...when you factor in 2" more barrel. The DW is a bigger pistol, for sure... so it's not surprising.

That's a huge difference!

MikeInOr · May 20, 2023

Really nice looking Dan Wesson pistols guys! I appreciate you adding the weights. I love the look of the V (vented) barrel shrouds and how the underlug doesn't run the length of the shroud like the VH (vented heavy) shrouds.

Is the extra cylinder just a spare?

P.S. I just ordered a 6" and 10" barrel for my 744: https://shop.cz-usa.com/dw-products/revolver.html?product_list_limit=all It took me for ever to find the shop CZ website and the listing of barrels again. It doesn't come up readily in search engines so I thought I would add the url. My 2.5" and 6" barrels are CZ and they are excellent quality IMHO.

MikeInOr · May 20, 2023

CraigC said:
They're heavy! Here's what I have:
Frame - 40oz

Is a steel frame Dan Wesson model 44 heavier than a Dan Wesson stainless steel model 744 frame? The scale I used to measure my stainless frame at 37.75oz has been pretty accurate for me. Interesting!

When I get my new 6" and 10" barrels with stainless shrouds I will measure all my barrels + shrouds individually and post for comparison.

CraigC · May 21, 2023

MikeInOr said:
Is a steel frame Dan Wesson model 44 heavier than a Dan Wesson stainless steel model 744 frame? The scale I used to measure my stainless frame at 37.75oz has been pretty accurate for me. Interesting!

When I get my new 6" and 10" barrels with stainless shrouds I will measure all my barrels + shrouds individually and post for comparison.

Mine might have had wood grips when I weighed it. That may account for the difference. The factory walnut is a bit chunky.

The extra cylinder is for .45Colt. Mine had a bad chamber but my gunsmith (Jack Huntington) said he could salvage it by rechambering it to .45Colt. So we procured a replacement .44 cylinder and crane assembly and a custom .45Colt tube was made.

CajunBass · May 21, 2023

Now, you guys got me thinking. I don't have anything like what you're showing, and the only scale I've got is a Wheeler trigger pull scale, but I get a weight of 2 1/2 pounds for my 4" Dan Wesson 15-2, 357 magnum with it's half length shroud barrel.

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Which is four ounces lighter than my 2020 Colt Python, with a 4" barrel.

biJVbkLQIqHJdzDYiKsisWU9eos8swfCMeXiIyp0UsRQZ5B-6K0UNpROAyN?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1589026955.jpg

I suppose the real difference is the full length underlug on the Python. Is stainless heavier than blue steel?

Riomouse911 · May 21, 2023

I, too only had a Lyman trigger pull gauge to weigh the guns, so it may or may not be very accurate:

Dan Wesson .22, 6” Vent shroud: 2 lb 15 oz (47 oz.).

Dan Wesson 15-2 3” VH EWK shroud: 2 lb 6 oz (38 oz).

Dan Wesson 15-2 8” VH shroud: 3 lb 3 oz (51 oz).

And for comparison’s sake, a few other larger revolvers:

Ruger SRH .454 7.5”: 3lb 6 oz (54 oz).

S&W 629 Classic .44 Mag PowerPort 6.5”: 3 lb 4 oz (52 oz).

Ruger Redhawk .41 Mag 7.5”: 3 lb 14 oz (62 oz).

Stay safe.

CraigC · May 22, 2023

CajunBass said:
Now, you guys got me thinking. I don't have anything like what you're showing, and the only scale I've got is a Wheeler trigger pull scale, but I get a weight of 2 1/2 pounds for my 4" Dan Wesson 15-2, 357 magnum with it's half length shroud barrel.

View attachment 1152574

Which is four ounces lighter than my 2020 Colt Python, with a 4" barrel.

View attachment 1152575

I suppose the real difference is the full length underlug on the Python. Is stainless heavier than blue steel?

I always got the impression that the DW .357's were very comparable to the other mid-frame .357's like the GP100 and L-frame.

How much does a Dan Wesson 744 (44 mag) weigh?

MikeInOr

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Charlie98

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MikeInOr

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MikeInOr

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Riomouse911

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