Dan Wesson Performance

[sep]

I'm interested in buying a Dan Wesson revolver because of its ability to swap out barrels of different lengths. This way I can carry one with a 4" barrel for backup while fishing and hunting and swap out the barrel for an 8" one for strictly handgun hunting. My question is have any of you bought one and fired .44 Magnum rounds through it? If so, how acccurately did it shoot em? I'm not really interested in the .445 Supermag caliber, I just want one that will accurately shoot .44 Magnum rounds. I emailed CZ/Dan Wesson yesterday asking them if they were going to manufacture revolvers chambered specifically for .44 Magnum and they responded back this morning with "not at this time". Any info you can provide will be greatly appreciated, Thanks,

Sep

 

[barrowdave]

DW

DW

I had a Dan Wesson .44 mag with a full shroud barrel. It was an extremely accurate, nice shooting revolver. Have kicked myself many times for ever letting it go. You can find one on gunbroker.com quite frequently. You won't be sorry having one.

 

[sarge]

Me too

Me too

Ditto to barrowdave, I had one with a 10 inch barrel. Extremely accurate handgun!!!

 

[AKRoadkill]

Sep,

I have one in .44 mag with a 4" and an 8" barrel. Shoots pretty dang good, and very reliable. But if you're the "Sep" I think you are, ya already know that!

No, it ain't fer sale!

 

[Paparock]

Ammo suggestion

Ammo suggestion

Dan Wesson and Rugers handle Randy Garrett ammo. While you can find cheaper ammo to practice with, when I lived in grizzly country I carried his 330gr. Hammerheads in my Ruger Super Readhawk.

Cartridges Left to Right: WINCHESTER 250gr, FEDERAL CAST-CORE 300gr, GARRETT 310gr, GARRETT 330gr

http://www.garrettcartridges.com/44mag.asp

 

[sep]

Appreciate the input. I'll wait til summer and if CZ/Dan Wesson isn't producing any pistol packs chambered in .44 magnum I'll probably just buy a S&W 629 with 6 1/2" ported barrel. Thanks again,

Sep

 

[Paparock]

Dan Wesson

Dan Wesson

Sep, I don't know the laws where you are but here is a link to a Dan Wesson .44 Mag pistol pack and a picture.

http://http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976793112.htm

 

[7STW]

Dan Wesson

Dan Wesson

I've owned a 744 since the mid 80s when IHMSA offered a special serial number corresponding to your membership number.

Currently, I have the 4", 6" and 8" barrels and shrouds.I've long since put on Pachmyer Presentations and always wished they had made Grippers for the Dan, which, to my knowledge, never happened.

This 44 has digested countless heavy loads over 20+ years and never had a hiccup.Over the bags, I once fired 5 rounds of 23.5 296 and a hard cast 300 grain 2 crimp LBT style bullet from SSK into .6" at 25 yards.I doubt any revolver can do better, even a Freedom Arms.BTW, don't plan on trying that load with a Smith unless you want assorted parts and pieces left in your hand.

My only beef with the DW is that they are heavy.If memory serves me correctly, the 4" goes 48 ounces unloaded...this with a medium shroud.

But this shroud is part of the design which helps accuracy as the barrel is supported at both ends.It also allows setting the gap as snugly as possible, ensuring minimal gas cutting and bullet jump.I generally set mine at .02 with no problems.That load mentioned above did 1304 instrumental from a 4" barrel.It's what I would pack and have carried extensively.Just make sure to use new brass and the heaviest roll crimp possible or you will get bullet movement forward in recoil with 5 rounds in the cylinder.

Hope you enjoy your Dan as much as I have mine.

 

[Mike Echo]

DW is/was the darling of the sillouette crowd

DW is/was the darling of the sillouette crowd

So I would asume great accuracy until proven wrong for an individual gun. I haven't owned one myself, the steel animal guys outbid me when I was looking at them and you don't see as many anymore it seems.
In the pic of the boxed set - what is the yellow thingie in the center?
Mike

 

[sep]

The yellow "thingie" is a barrel changing tool...I think.

 

[AKRoadkill]

The "yellow thingie" is actually a plastic protector for the tool. The tool has 3 allen wrenches and a barrel nut wrench,. Like Sep said, it's for changing the barrel...and grips and sight. Pretty much the one maintenance tool for the revolver.

Back to the original question; I have no idea whether .44 Mags shot through a .445 Supermag will be as accurate as the same loads shot through a .44 mag barrel. My .44 mag seems to shoot Specials pretty well, too, but I haven't tried for groups with it.

 

[sep]

AKRoadkill,
I saw one other post on this forum from a gentleman who has the 445 Supermag and he said it didn't shoot 44 magnum rounds very accurately. I don't know if that's gonna be the norm for the 445 Supermag but it kinda makes sense. The 445 Supermag cartridge is longer than a 44 magnum and requires a longer chamber. So I would speculate accuracy wouldn't necessarily be top notch with the shorter 44 magnum because the distance between the projectile and the forcing cone is longer than would be typical for a pistol chambered specifically for the 44 Magnum. Ironically, one of the advantages of the Dan Wesson design is supposed to be the ability to adjust the distance between the cylinder and the forcing cone making it shorter and theoretically more accurate as a result. I would have thought there would be a larger market for the 44 Magnum than the 445 Supermag but apparently not.