Dan Wesson 745.

[Demitrios]

I've been looking for .45 LC for quite some time now. I already own a Dan Wesson in .357 and love it and even kicked around the idea of buying a Dan Wesson in .44 and have it worked into a .45 LC. . . until today. I just found out Dan Wesson made the .45 LC in their revolvers.

Does anyone know if these were made pre-CZ buyout? Does anyone own one and if so could they tell me whether how it performs and whather they'd reccomend it or not? If anyone knows where I could purchase one that would be even better.

As always thanks for the info guys.

 

[DWFan]

Yes, these were made pre-CZ, but never in very high numbers, so good luck in finding one. They are easily the equivalent of the Ruger Redhawk and capable of handling the "Ruger-only" loads. If you convert an M44 to .45 Colt, you'll have to have a custom barrel as M45/745 barrels (if you can find them) won't fit a .44 Mag frame.
I know of one M744-8VH that was converted to a rimmed version of Dick Casull's .450 Magnum Express (the predecessor of the .454 Casull) using .444 Marlin brass trimmed to 1.34".

 

[Demitrios]

I've certainly fallen in love with the idea of this gun, especially if I could get my hands on another piece of unobtanium like it, the P.P.C. side slab shrouds. One thing keeps ringing over and over in my head, "I NEEEEEEEEEED!".

I'm actually thinking a conversion might be the cheaper way to go, if I could get my hands on a .44 for around $400 to $450 that is. To buy a new cylinder and barrel I can get both from Numrich gun parts for a little over $200. Finding a skilled smith who knows what needs to be done and is actually capable of it **WINCES** that could be tricky and costly.

 

[DWFan]

The .45 Colt revolver cylinder reamer from Clymers is $75. A 15" stainless 1:16 twist barrel blank from Green Mountain is $80; the 11" chromoly blank is only $55. Anyone with a lathe and talent can duplicate a Dan Wesson barrel. The forcing cone cutter is available from Brownells or any gunsmith can do it; go ahead and cut an 11 degree cone. If the PPC style shrouds are desired for more muzzle weight, simply have the portion of the barrel between the threads turned to match the inside diameter of the shroud and use the HV shroud.

 

[Demitrios]

Damn. . . that was really, really informative. Thank you DW, I really appreciate that.