Dan Wesson firearms
 

Is anyone familiar with this brand of revolver?

I have a good collection of Colt and S-W revolvers and I recently acquired this piece.

I don't know much about it other than it appears to be a model 15, 6" barrel, .357 caliber, made in Monson, Mass and it appears to be in great mechanical shape. A few usual wear marks (blueing worn down at the end of the barrel from somebody playing "quickdraw", small scratches from a trigger lock, etc.) but the gun is TIGHT!

I was drawn to the piece because of it's changeable barrel. Guys and gadgetry, you know how we are!

I guess these were/are the hot set-up for long distance target shoots.

So anyway, does anyone own one or has experience with them?

I'm the second owner of a Monson model 15-2V originally purchased June 8, 1979. Its a great gun and will hold its value since the DW company was bought out by CV.

I take mine to the range only once or twice a year.

I've never owned one, but was told 3rd hand that quality control varied widely over the years, depending on who owned the company at the time.

Quality control and guns...be better good!

It's CZ.

Across the board they are pretty desirable. Haven't heard anything that would indicate low quality. Many of them are 'safe queens', so if you happen to find one in good or even better conditions, get it.

Pricing should be considerable below similar S&W models.

Right, thanks for the correction. I was suffering from lack of sleep when I posted, just got back from a tuna trip out of Cape May , NJ.

good buddy owned a gun shop when these first came out, picked one up with the multi barrel option with the hopes of selling me this ( i'm thinking in the mid $400 range ) ~~~ bought a smith model 14 instead ~~~ the refinement and the quality of the smith was no comparison to the clunky looking wesson (mid seventies was probably the last run of the good S&W pistols, in my opinion)

btw ~~~ used to collect in the seventies, after the novelty of the wesson wore off, one could buy way under retail..... where the smiths were retail or more depending on the model

and back then, the taurus brand was a real cheap POS

Here's a quick comparison photo of the original Daniel Wesson's revolutionary new revolver, the "Baby Russian" ( the original was a .44 caliber version created for the Tzar's private army ) and grandson Daniel's innovation.

The "baby" was assembled July 13th, 1876, shipped to a Chicago gun dealer and sold to the St. Louis police department. I have the provenance for it. The finish is in too poor of a condition to be a collector's piece but it's a fun conversation item. Yes, it still shoots. It amazes me with the craftsmanship. Especially considering it was made without the use of electrical power.

I haven't researched the date of manufacture on the .357 but it is from the "good" years before DW re-organized. The counter guys at the local gun range were impressed even though they were all "automatic" guys. Of course they might also have been pumping my ego just to sell as many of those .38 special reloads as possible!:rolleyes:

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That looks like one hell of a bloody tuna steak ... ;)

S&W still makes about the finest DA revolvers today. There is hardly any other manufacturer anyways.

There is a lot of myth in the perception, that everything was of better quality in the 70's or even before.

Give and take a few exceptions, they have always been great, and still are.