What happened to the new Dan Wesson revolvers?

[Action_Can_Do]

I admit, I've been out of the loop the last two years or so. I remember CZ putting out a new Dan Wesson 357 magnum and getting very excited about the possibility of a Dan Wesson revival. Then hard times hit and buying a gun became impossible so I stopped paying attention. Now that I've come back, the Dan Wesson revolvers are dead again. What happened? Did they sell that poorly or was it something else?

 

[hAkron]

I've seen 1 new model 715 in person, and 1 listed in gun broker. That was after CZ Removed the SKU from the website. Not sure how many they made/will make, but for the $1,200 asking price for just the gun and a single barrel, you would be better off buying used.

There was a factory fire at Dan Wesson in mid November. I would assume that if the tooling to make the 715 wasn't destroyed, then you should see them pop up from time to time as a non-catalog item (like the CZ 40B).

The good news is that Dan Wesson revolvers are built in such a way that almost no hand fitting is needed, so not only is it unnessasary for DW to keep skilled revolver smiths on staff, but more importantly if you buy used, you can swap out amost anything on your own, with very little in the way of mechanical skill.

This guy makes tons of aftermarket parts, tools and barrels for the Dan Wesson:
http://www.ewkarms.com/

 

[RugRev]

Grant Cunningham on his blog for Dec. 22, 2010 offered this:

"Another email came from someone who contacted CZ for more details. CZ reportedly said that they're making only 500 of these models, and that they couldn't make any more because they didn't have the blueprints!

What?!?!?

The former Serva crew certainly had the plans, and if CZ-USA didn't get them in their acquisition of DW it would be a stupendous blunder. I suspect the truth is a little more pedestrian: CZ still has the former owner's run of 715 frames, which they realized could generate more revenue being sold than scrapped. If the writer of the email is correct in that they're only making 500 guns, this would tend to support my theory.

It wouldn't be the first time. When CZ-USA acquired DW from Bob Serva’s company they trotted out a few large frame models in the odd .460 Rowland chambering - coincidentally, the same chambering that Serva himself had hyped. CZ promised that other calibers would follow but the entire line quietly disappeared.

At the time I suggested the only guns CZ-USA had were those that were in process at the time of the acquisition, and that no others were likely to be made. The passing years seem to have validated that opinion, and I suspect the same thing is being done with this limited run of the 715."

See: http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_files/tag-i.told.you.so.html

 

[S&Wfan]

Here's what happened at DW . . .

Read it, and I'll think you'll understand. BTW, you won't read about this on their site (or at least I couldn't find reference to this very serious event. I suspect they are pretty dead in the water right now!

http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=31943

 

[SSN Vet]

When you have this kind of industrial accident, the fire marshal can condemn the building and prevent the owner from allowing anyone from even stepping one foot inside. There could be product sitting on the bench 10' from the door in an unaffected area of the building, and no one able to walk in and grab it to ship to a customer.

I have first hand experience with this kind of thing after my employer had a warehouse roof collapse under 10+ feet of snow. All of the connected buildings had to have their roofs cleared and a structural engineer had to survey the truss work before one person could step foot in any of he adjacent buildings, even though they were completely unaffected, and did not have drifted snow on their roofs.

 

[bikemutt]

I had high hopes for the 715 reprise but, after handling two specimens I just couldn't make the jump to spend $1000+ to buy one. One of the two came up on the used market asking $899 and I still couldn't pull the trigger. I don't know but $1k for a multi-barrel gun with unrefined high points, for which there are no other current production barrels available, and a rubber grip for good measure, that's not a compelling value proposition. The used one included a 4" barrel, allegedly coerced from CZ with much ado, good thing I tried to install it first; the shorter barrel would not, and could not be made to index to the frame.

On the other hand, older model 15's and 715's present a remarkable value point. They generally have great triggers, are very accurate and sell for under $500 for the most part.

In any event, I'll always have an open mind and a reasonable wallet open for CZ-Dan Wesson; the walk has been walked, but it still needs to walk today.

 

[hAkron]

CZ sells stainless barrels and shrouds on their website, but the prices are stupid.

Fortunately, there is an excellent aftermarket source - http://www.ewkarms.com/

This guy's stuff is really good when he has it in stock.