Dan Wesson Questions

[Maxinquaye]

I picked up a DW .44 Mag today. There is no model number anywhere, but it's a Monson gun and the serial # is 23XX. Anyone know how old this guy is? Serial seems really low so I think it's pretty early production. 10" barrel and looks practically unfired

And...I know this is blasphemous, but the SA and DA trigger make my Smith 29-2 feel like a Taurus. Smooooooooooooth!!!!

Can't wait to go to the range

 

[stans]

Sounds like a Dan Wesson model 44, most likely blued (and highly polished at that) carbon steel. These are considered among the strongest 44 magnum double action revolvers ever produced. DW's also have a reputation for incredible accuracy. One drawback is the action, namely the hammer and trigger. DW was a bit of a pioneer handgun manufacturer and used investment castings for frames and sintered steel for hammers and triggers. This made the guns strong, easy to manufacture, reduced the amount of hand fitting and lowered the overall cost of the gun. The problem with the sintered hammer and trigger is that they are case hardened and if you try to file or stone the engagement surfaces you will break through the hard layer and the softer metal will be exposed and will not hold those nice, sharp, polised surfaces like forged or cast parts. The current production DW revolvers now use forged hammers and triggers and the parts are interchangeable.

 

[Maxinquaye]

Thanks for the info Stans. The action is so sweet I'll not be likely to mess with it. Only worry now is that no one else has before I got ahold of it...

 

[Swamp Yankee]

I quite sure you'll find that gun's a shooter.

With a 10 inch barrel I hope its not a full shroud cause those guys were very muzzle heavy. My old silhouette gun had an 8 inch full shroud that I always thought needed a bipod. All my DW's now wear the partial shroud with the exception of my Model 22.
Did the barrel wrench and feeler gauge come with it? If not you can order one from Dan Wesson in NY or check gun shows. Proper cylinder to forcing cone gap is about .003 inches. If you plan on shooting a lot of lead bullets you may want to open it up to .005/.006 to prevent dragging
The Monson guns rarely had a bad trigger. The gun didn't ship if the trigger pulls were not within DW's spec. The DW revolver's DA trigger pull takes a while to get used to. It has a very short, quick hammer throw so it tends to feel heavy when compared to a Colt or Smith with their long pulls. There's not a thing wrong with it, it's just different. It is this short action and hammer throw once mastered that helps the DW's accuracy. Less distance travelled less chance of movement
With the demise of IHMSA, there are not a lot of gunsmiths around that really know Dan Wesson actions anymore. As Stans stated if somebody gets in there that doesn't understand the action they can louse things up in a hurry. Typically the only stoning required is to remove a tiny pressing burr that didn't burn off during heat treat and that just breaks off clean.
Go out shoot and by all means enjoy that DW.

Take Care

 

[Standing Wolf]

These are considered among the strongest 44 magnum double action revolvers ever produced.

Really good Dan Wessons are wonderful guns; unfortunately, they weren't all really good.

 

[stans]

No, they all weren't good. The Monson, Mass guns are usually the good ones, the Palmer, Mass guns are suspect as they represent a time when DW was undergoing ownership changes and the tooling was old and needed to be replaced. The new guns produced in Norwich are supposed to be good, made on new CNC mills, but I saw one that had a very poorly machined frame. It was bad enough that the gunshop couldn't make a deal sweet enough for me to buy it.

 

[unspellable]

Triggers

It's my understanding that you can't case harden a sintered metal part, it's the same all the way through where as a solid forged or cast part can be case hardened ala S&W triggers and hammers. The notion that you can't take a little metal off a DW trigger and hammer was supposed to be just a viscious rumour.

This is what I heard, I'd have to bow to somebody who really knows.

 

[Mal223]

Dw M-12

hey guys, not to hijack the thread but I have a Monson, Mass M-12 in .357 that belonged to my father in law. It has a external barrel nut, were any made with the internal nut and does anyone know where I could find a 4 inch barrel and shroud, it is a snub nose now. thanks mal

 

[stans]

Seems to me the M12 has the "pork chop" shroud and has been out of production for a long time. You might find one on eBay.

 

[Shootcraps]

You see a lot of parts on gunbroker and auction arms.

 

[Mal223]

yeah, it's the "pork chop" shroud. I had called DW last year and they said they didn't have anything for it so I've just been looking around to see what comes up. thanks, mal