Dan Wesson 715 discontinued?

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NIGHTLORD40K said:
I seriously doubt DW gave a thought to making the guns internals easily serviced by the end-user. Much like Colt did with the MK3 series, the design would have lent itself to quick assembly by semi-skilled labor.

Fortunately, as with Colt, the labor time saved on assembly was put to good use in the final finish and polishing.
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Agreed! DW metal polishing and finish work was on par with anything Colt ever put out. I’d like to have my 357 re-blued, the problem is finding anyone with the skills to do the work. Nowadays “gunsmiths” just grind in stuff with some 300 grit and throw it in a hot tank and act like you should be happy. I gave a spare 357 shroud I have to a highly recommended local guy and it came back looking like a Ruger...Fail.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
I seriously doubt DW gave a thought to making the guns internals easily serviced by the end-user. Much like Colt did with the MK3 series, the design would have lent itself to quick assembly by semi-skilled labor.

Fortunately, as with Colt, the labor time saved on assembly was put to good use in the final finish and polishing.
Click to expand...
When I bought my first back in 1980, I recall reading that Dan Wesson II stated that ease of maintenance and repair by the owner as being a goal of the design. He also commented upon a mild regret for the frame side-cover on the smaller pistol which was of course corrected on the large frame models.

Todd.
 
Unless we're talking about worst case examples of Colt's from the `80's, Dan Wesson's blued guns have a high polish on them but it's nowhere near a Colt-type polish. They're shiny but no care was taken not to round off corners and dish out screw holes. If I paid good money for a sixgun to be refinished and it came back polished like a Dan Wesson, I'd be upset.
 
CraigC said:
Unless we're talking about worst case examples of Colt's from the `80's, Dan Wesson's blued guns have a high polish on them but it's nowhere near a Colt-type polish. They're shiny but no care was taken not to round off corners and dish out screw holes. If I paid good money for a sixgun to be refinished and it came back polished like a Dan Wesson, I'd be upset.
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Here's a Colt that's not from the 1980's....next to a DW (x2). The Colt has a darker blue to it, and it's awesome. There are sharp edges present on the Colt as well, rear of the loading gate, rear of the cylinder, so forth. I would rate the DW polish work as even with the Colt, the bluing is not quite as dark.. Another thing, this 445 SM goes out and gets shot frequently. The Colt is never even touched by an ungloved hand and has never been fired. The cylinder has only been turned maybe twice. So some of what there is to see here is wear and tear on the Super Mag. Further, DW never went in on the "melted look" that was popular for a short time in the late 80's, where every corner was rounded off. The edges on DW revolvers (at at least all the ones I own (Monson guns) are nice and sharp, without having been rounded off. There are no "rounded out screw holes either. One of the marks of a high quality polish job. I have 5 of them, I figure I would have seen it by now if there was a bunch of rounded corners going on.

Upon looking at them side by side, the Colt might be a little better, but it's not a LOT better. I guess I stand corrected LOL. I'll keep buying all the DW Monson guns I can get...sounds like I won't have to out-bid you to do it either! ;)

Edit...last gun is a (CZ) DW 1911 A2 with a duty finish on it. I love this gun! Never jams and accurate as all get out!

IL3wl6D.jpg
 
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No pics.

I already have two with more surely to come and I've handled dozens. They are finished like your typical over-polished 3rd generation SAA. I would rate the polish work on a DW a little below that of a Bangor-Punta era S&W. A Colt SAA of the last 10-15yrs is an order of magnitude better polished than any Dan Wesson. They're great guns and highly accurate. Shinier than a Ruger but not the finest example of polish work.

005b.jpg
 
In posting #17 what I see is a simplified
Colt mechanism which Dan Wesson worked
on for first Colt and then Dan Wesson. What
you don't see is the hammer strut/spring. The
stocks are locked onto the gun much like
Hogues with a screw on the bottom into the
Ruger-like strut.
 
CraigC said:
Unless we're talking about worst case examples of Colt's from the `80's, Dan Wesson's blued guns have a high polish on them but it's nowhere near a Colt-type polish. They're shiny but no care was taken not to round off corners and dish out screw holes. If I paid good money for a sixgun to be refinished and it came back polished like a Dan Wesson, I'd be upset.
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The surface finish on both of my Monson DWs is as good or better than that of either my mid-60s Colt I-frames. It is not as deep as my '67 Commemorative 1911, which is supposed to be Royal Blue.
 
Jonny V said:
Agreed! DW metal polishing and finish work was on par with anything Colt ever put out. I’d like to have my 357 re-blued, the problem is finding anyone with the skills to do the work. Nowadays “gunsmiths” just grind in stuff with some 300 grit and throw it in a hot tank and act like you should be happy. I gave a spare 357 shroud I have to a highly recommended local guy and it came back looking like a Ruger...Fail.
Click to expand...
Turnbull maybe?
 
ApacheCoTodd said:
They truly are simplicity itself.

If CZ lets this go commercially - it'd be a hell of a thing if production returned to our shores taking advantage of changes in machining techniques, marketing and the market that have evolved over the past several years.

Imagine:
An 8-shot intermediate.
A full range hunting line.
An alternative to the Kimber revolver.
Suppressor-ready. I know, it's a revolver but they still benefit in a hunting environment. Suppressor.... NOT *silencer*.

So many more.

Todd.
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This. I would jump to Dan Wesson in a heartbeat if they had continued any of the kind of innovation that they were pursuing in the 1970's and 80's. CZ never showed the slightest interest in doing anything with it. Karl Lewis' design was the most innovative revolver in many decades and the only real innovation that has happened since it has been where Ruger and S&W have copied portions of it. The GP-100 borrowed heavily from it (the Super even more so) and S&W has now jumped on the sleeved barrel with shroud. I am also one who would use a suppressor for hunting with a revolver. It would help. I'm only relucant to modify my revolver to fit one now because of the artificially high expense due to onerous regulation that has its own expenses while also crushing the demand that would allow for economy of scale. My S&W and red dot are already over $1700. Threading and a suppressor would probably push it to $3K. I'm just a working man.
 
That's too bad. I was thinking one of these days to maybe buy a new one to go along with my ~40 year old 715 and 2 15-2's. The prices were crazy, but did get the old ones up to where they should have been.
I don't think a Python is prettier than my one 15-2:
IjwJN2.jpg
I wish I had taken pics of it when I got it, pretty dirty outside, insane inside, full of unburned powder to the point it was difficult to cock SA. Once it was cleaned up, it's about 99% with only a couple of tiny scratches. My 715 has one scratch on it, and is my all time greatest Gunbroker bargain, at $269 in the box, with 3 grips and some extra parts. First gun I ever bought online:
f4aRm0.jpg
The other 15-2 is pretty miserable looking, but shoots great. Too far back in the safe to shoot a pic of it.
 
Is it possible the demise of the DW Revolver might have something to do with the rumored and reported acquisition of Colt by DW? That will give DW a line of DA revolvers with high name recognition, model familiarity (the new Colts have been out there for a while now), and that cover a wider range of customer needs, from concealed carry to hunting and target shooting.

Just sayin',
Dave
 
mlankton said:
I think it's a shame. The world will never again see a first quality third option for those looking for a da revolver. I've always kept one eye open for a nicely preserved Monson and hope to own one someday.
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Hey, if I ever decide to sell mine I'll keep you in mind! :)
 
I own 4 Dan Wesson revolvers now. The first, a 6" model 15 I brought new back in about 1975. I have since added 2" and 12" barrels to it. The second is a model 44. It came with an 8" barrel shroud and 3 barrels, 2 porter and 1 unported. I have since wdded a 6" barrel. The third is a 7" 357 Supermag with 3 barrels. I always wanted a 4" barrel for the first DW 357 mag, so when I found a DW 357 pistol pack with 5 barrels for $850 about 3 years ago I grabbed it. It came with two 8" barrels, so I scoped one.
 
I sold my Mint Mini Pak with 2.5" , 4" and 6" and two grips last year for $1500 , quick, on GB. It was a VH on the two longer barrel asn pork chop on the shorter . Beautiful Zebrawood grips too. It just sat in my safe since 90s when I sighted it in and said WOW on the 6" barrel accuracy which I kept mounted in the pac. The bluing was early Monson almost Python polishing.
 
ApacheCoTodd said:
When I bought my first back in 1980, I recall reading that Dan Wesson II stated that ease of maintenance and repair by the owner as being a goal of the design. He also commented upon a mild regret for the frame side-cover on the smaller pistol which was of course corrected on the large frame models.

Todd.
Click to expand...
I also saw an ad/letter in which Dan ll stated what you posted along with most parts being interchangeable but I couldn't find it again to respond to Nightlordhawk's post. Either way it makes it easy for someone like me to work on them.
 
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