Dan Wesson

Dan Wesson firearms had periods where they were distinctly cash poor and as a result the quality suffered at times. When the times were good, quality was excellent. These wheelguns were very accurate in general. It takes quite a knowledge however to pick up the revolver made "during the right period". Parts are not easy to find. If the gun hasn't seen much use I would stongly recomend a very close look at the timing and cylinder alignment. As far as I can remember the major faults with the lemons were poor timing, cylinder faces that were off square and cylinder notches off location. First two are fairly easy fix, however stop notches out of position means a new cylinder, so you'll want to check the alignment before purchasing anything and pass if you find a problem there.
 
They made their reputation on their impressive accuracy and ability to exchange barrels depending on the required purpose.

Tensioned barrels are cool...Investment cast frames and lock work = glad I found a parts kit from a gun that the grip/mainspring tunnel broke on.

Really not an impressive gun if you take it apart to work on it.

It's been about 12 years since I took one apart, but I remember being unimpressed with the design of the double action fly and the design of the hammer.

I compared it negatively to my MkIII Colt Lawman...which also wasn't impressive by any means.

It seems they didn't like it either as the 44 and 445 magnum action has a totally different design to the hammer.

Both the Colt MkIII and Dan Wesson lock work were cast by Ruger's Pine Tree Castings company...which helps explain why they why they were such clumsy designs...early modern lost plastic casting and powder metal parts had certain design requirments for longevity purposes.
 
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