Dan Wesson VH8 .445 vs. S&W 629 PC Light Hunter - value/accuracy/shooting-pleasure...

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The DW VH8 in .445 Supermag (8" vented full-lug barrel) can fire .44 mag and unfired models can be had for about $900 but are really hard to find and it weighs 66 oz., much of which is probably near the muzzle!

The S&W Model Performance Center 629 Light Hunter (7.5" ported barrel) can be found new for $950 and weights only 52 oz.

Which will be a better value? DWs seem to hold their value despite being owned by CZ now and the .445 cartridge barely having any following; a new S&W PC model is about the same price and it is a Perf Center! :confused:

Both should be really accurate, but the 2.25" cylinder on the DW may be an issue with .44mag. I get mixed responses from owners saying it is super-accurate and some say it was noticably innaccurate with the shorter cartridges. I really like being able to adjust the gap on the DW, that is definitely a perk.

Shooting-pleasure is another mystery- DW has a solid underlug on a vent-heavy barrel (good for recoil, bad for balance) and is much heavier overall. The Smith is lighter and the barrel has no significant underlug, but it is ported, so felt-recoil should be reduced, but actual recoil should be greater than the DW. Weight or porting, which is more important?

Aesthetically, the Smith looks like something out of a sci-fi flick from the 50's (I really dig that) but the DW looks much more intimidating (I also dig that.)



 
The DW looks much nicer and you can swap barrels I believe. If your worried about freebore you can download the .445's.
 
Hmm...well then, you wouldn't be able to use the Supermag caliber of course...as there are no factory rounds for the .445 caliber, I believe. It all has to be handloaded. I'm not sure if you are interested at all in the .445 caliber itself.
Which would mean the Supermag would just become a .44 Magnum.

So unless you are really set on the Supermag revolver...I would suggest looking at a "44 mag proper".
So if your other big liking is the S&W Light Hunter...I suppose I would say go with that. I would think the porting and all that would cut down on recoil, but I would also assume there'd be a bigger muzzle flash.

Dan Wesson did make their own .44 Magnums...but I think you'd have to track those down.
 
If you are kind of set on a 445, I'd buy a used DW 445 and buy a reloading setup with the money you saved. Then you can save a bunch more money while you practice.

I have never warmed up to the look of the S&W performance center guns so, I'd take the DW if limited to those two (even if .44 mag). They will both feel heavy by the end of a full day, neither will seem too bad for a couple of hours if you have a good holster. My .02, dvnv
 
I have a DW744, a 20 yr. old 8” heavy barreled .44 mag that I used for silhouette shooting. It was very accurate, and I stoned it to get a very good trigger pull, but since the components were cast, it was a little crude. I have recently put a 6” light barrel on it and reamed the .429 chamber throats to .431”. It shoots lead bullets very well now.

I have several S&W revolvers, but no .44s. When I was shooting silhouette, the Model 29s weren’t noted for durability. Their factory mod improved things, but I still don’t think the 29/629 can match the durability of a DW744 or a Ruger Redhawk or Super Redhawk.

If you are interested in a DW, consider the .44, if you can find one, as opposed to the 445. Shooting shorter .44 mag cases in the long .445 chambers tends to decrease accuracy.
 
I would go with the Smith, if you have aproblem with the DW will anyone be able to help? There is no warranty on an old DW right?
You are not a hand loader so you may want to check the price of that DW factory ammo I would guess the 445 supermag ammo is probably $3 a round.
.44 mag can be found at any sporting goods store and there are lots of different loads, you can also shoot .44 special out of the Smith for practice.
As far as the timing thing goes, silouhette shooting may involve 50-100 rounds of extremely hot (300 grin bullet at 1200+ fps) ammo fired per week, and its the old smiths we are talking about, the new ones after the 629-3 had a beefed up frame, bigger locking recesses in the cylinder, and a couple other durability enhancements to deal with the desire of the silouhette folks to fire a high volume of loads that are stretching the very top end of .44 mag ammo.
But should you want to fire 5,000+ rounds of top end .44 mag a year S&W will stand behind the new revolver under warranty.

No one will warrant the bones in your wrist though.

For half of what you are proposing to spend you can get an older power ported 629 light hunter used maybe only fired a couple of times, which will still have the lifetime warranty, and will do the job just as well as the new one.

Or you could get a ruger redhawk if possibly having a 10 lb Sa trigger is no problem for you.
 
Actually CZ-USA warrants all the Dan Wesson line, from talking to their sales rep. They also offer new barrels for the older guns at less than what I've seen them on Ebay for.
 
if you have aproblem with the DW will anyone be able to help? There is no warranty on an old DW right?

Dan Wessons are currently manufactured by CZ_USA with a full factory warranty.

You are not a hand loader so you may want to check the price of that DW factory ammo I would guess the 445 supermag ammo is probably $3 a round.

My calculator shows $1.25 and $1.25 depending on the load. Not cheap, but not that much more than factory 44 mag & alot less than "$3 a round"

.44 mag can be found at any sporting goods store and there are lots of different loads, you can also shoot .44 special out of the Smith for practice.

This is true, and it can all be fired out of the Dan Wesson if you like. I have fired alot of 44 special & 44 mag out of my 445. I can't tell any accuracy loss.
The Dan Wesson is built like a tank and will hold up to many heavy rounds. It is a large bulky revolver. The Smith is a fine gun, but not quite as durable. I would recommend trying to see if you could possible handle & shoot examples of both, perhaps at a range that rents guns, or maybe contacting a local silhouette club and attending a match, I'm sure there are members that would be happy to let you examine and perhaps shoot their guns.
 
For those that didn't check out Reeds Ammo, they sell hardcast 445 ammo for 17.26/20. $0.86 a round. The Hornaday XTP and Nosler JHP loads are about $1 a round. And as has been said, CZ/DW seems to be supporting the older guns as well as the new. By all accounts the used DWs are undervalued and as such are a better buy than the S&W (JMO, I admit). If you buy a DW and think you'll ever want extra barrels, try and buy it all as a set. You'll spend less that way. You should be able to get a used DW 445 for $4-500 with the 357 SuperMags going for just a little more. For some reason the used guns tend to be in great shape (just based on the 30 or so I've seen recently).
 
The .445 is more gun for the $, and it's literally a good bit bigger and heavier. The S&W will likely hold its value better for resale. The DW owned IHMSA matches for a long while, and for good reason. I have a .445 for considerably less than that price if you're interested, but it will come with brass, ammo, etc. that will get you back in that ballpark, ready to go.
 
45 Crittergitter:
"I have a .445 for considerably less than that price if you're interested, but it will come with brass, ammo, etc. that will get you back in that ballpark, ready to go."

I am interested. I sent you an email.

Bary
 
Unless you just have to have a new revolver why not look at the DW 44 and 744. They are the .44 magnum revolvers DW made and seem to be found a lot easier than the 445 models.
 
I took the plunge!

357,

we both were considering the DW VH-8, but after trying through two stores here on the Island (including T&T) there were no DW's to be found, then I changed my mind.

I decided that the .445 was just to oddball a round to shoot on a regular basis and not something I could waltz into the local shop and pickup a boxfull of. Another reason I changed my mind was that I probably would be doing much more .44mag shooting, and despite some opinions to the contrary, the majority of my research on the net led me to conclude that shooting a wheelgun meant for a specific caliber (.357 or .445) would lead to less than spectacular results with another "similar" cartridge (.38spl. , .44mag) ie. "barrel / cylinder gap" , "chamber length vs cartridge length" yada, yada, yada! Another thing that concerned me was the support issue. I like the CZ pistols, ( I have 4) but their customer service while ok, cannot hold a candle to Smth& Wesson's.

I went to talk to Stan to discuss buying a Ruger SuperRedhawk or a S&W 629in the 8.5" bbl instead of the DW. I wound up ordering something different. I bought the S&W PC629-7.5, Stan had one in the back and as soon as I saw it and handled it I knew this would be the .44mag I would buy. Since I already own three PC guns, I knew this is the top of the line in quality. The trigger on this 629 "Light Hunter" broke like the proverbial "glass rod". The way the gun "sat" in my hand was pure S&W which I'm a fan of too.

I will be mounting a Wiegand Combat scope base and a quality scope like a Leupold on it, bringing the weight close enough to the DW to further reduce recoil. A recent showing of American Rifleman on the Outdoor Channel had one of their reporters shooting the Light Hunter at Smith's facility in Mass., recoil did not look at all uncomfortable, and the reporter said his colleague who took it on a hunt, raved about the pistol as well.

Go see Stan and ask to see the 629-7.5, I'm sure you'll love it.

good luck
 
Hey Vercingetorix, congrats on the purchase. Did you buy the 7.5" 629 Light Hunter with wood round-butt-grip like in the photo at the beginning of this post (SKU: 170181) or the 7.5" 629 Magnum Hunter (SKU: 170277) with rubber square-butt-grip? How much did you pay?

If you got the LH model, how are those wood grips? I tried a S&W .357 PC with similar round-butt and the grip in the hand did not feel as positive as the square butt'ers, it seemed a bit too thick/wide. Also, how is the kick feel with the wood?

I was at T&T a month ago and the only 44s they had were a used Ruger with the wrong rubber grip on it and some lightweight 3" version of the 29.
 
DW has seemed to stop making revolvers... This may be the end for the .445 SuperMag caliber, considering the T/C is the only thing firing it now.
 
If DW has made any revolvers since CZ acquired them, it's been in very small numbers. 445 SuperMag is one of those that'll be tough to kill. The guns will keep selling in the used market because they can fire 44 mag, and brass makers have to change very little tooling to make 445 SuperMag once they're set up for 44 mag. I don't see the cartridge picking up popularity though.
 
I picked up a 445 from 45crittergitter and love it. I had heard that DW had discontinued their revolver line. One can only hope that they will resume production once the 1911 craze comes to an end. I would like to see them offer some more caliber choices as well.

Maybe I'm being optimistic at this point though. :confused:
 
Thread necromancy can be educational. The idea that this was even a viable question in '07 is interesting.

Ford vs. The Easter Bunny?
Toyota vs. The Tooth Fairy?

Some things are real, others aren't. I've made several bona fide attempts to buy a DW in the last year and have come up dry. They're out of the business or, if still nominally in the business, have adopted Ruger's Gold Label marketing model.

CZ should remove DW revolvers from the web site or offer one for sale. If it was anything other than a firearm or a computer operating system it might even constitute fraud. As it is, it's just sad.
 
factory ammo for the 445.

Dan Wesson sells 2 loads
Buffalo Bore Sells 2
OWS has one
CPCartridge.com has 6 loads
 
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