Dan Wesson pistol pack value?- Opinions ?

[Streetstar]

I was at the local gun dealer to see if they were wiped out of AR's and spied a blued Dan Wesson pistol pack - (8", 6", 4", 2.5" barrels ) - all barrels had the partial under-lug and not the heavier full underlug

I'd say the condition of the frame and cylinder was very good but not 100% - with a couple of very small freckles and a light turn line. - But it was not purple, as I have seen some Dan's over the years

-- I couldn't resist- I've always wanted one and the shop's layaway terms are always easy - but price was $1100. Since I was putting it in layaway I didn't have any room to negotiate down either, but it was one of those deals that I don't see very often and finally there it was


Anybody have any practical experience with the Dan's ? --- Are they on par with an N frame for durability, -- or are they more comparable to a K or L frame --- I've heard the accuracy can be outstanding

[AJMD429]

I think of those revolvers kind of like the Thompson Contender pistols. A very high quality someone niched item.

I would expect that is a fairly typical price, but an easy way to find out is to check gunbroker.com or gunsamerica.com and look for the auctions that were actually completed.

Personally, I probably would not change barrels very frequently on a gun if I had the option of simply buying one with each preferred barrel length. I generally either want 7" or so if concealment isn't vital, or 3" or so if it is; any other options seem superfluous.

Still the Dan Wesson 'kits', like a Contender with four barrels, make an irresistible gun-toy....

[Sixgun]

Doug,
Back in the day, those Dan Wesson pistol packs were great guns.....but....they were not big sellers as Smith & Wesson at the time was having their heyday . The people I talked to who had them all said accuracy and longevity was better than 'Smiths...but......sadly, the majority of people bought the S & W name. Gun writers at the time did not bad mouth them but at the same time they did not praise them as Smith was most likely under their control.

The flash gap was controlled to a tight tolerance by a key as I remember.

Ya done good.....a solid investment. -----6

[Streetstar]

Thanks guys --

I kind of see what Doc is sayin' about the pistol pack being like the T/C Contender of revolvers -

maybe closer to say akin to having only 1 AR receiver , but 5 different barreled uppers --- I'm OCD enough to want to keep adding receivers until I had complete guns up and down the line

-- But, I recall a series of PRivate Eye novels I used to read and the main character carried a 4" Dan in a shoulder holster - (Robert Crais 's Elvis Cole character ) - and this piqued my interest long ago, -- then a buddy from work had one with a 4" barrel and a 2.5 for carrying concealed and he liked his

I don't really need much more motivation than that

[J Miller]

I've never had a Dan Wesson pistol pack, but I have had several with multiple barrels. All of them the Model 15 in .357 Magnum.
Those I had were good serviceable revolvers and took a lot of use. I had them back in the mid to late 70s when I was shooting IPSC. This is before the sport was corrupted by the race gun fanatics, so we used actual service weapons.
The Dan Wessons performed quite well.

There was only two things that were common to the guns I and other people I knew had.
First, the cylinder stop on the side plate that prevents the cylinder from backing out of the crane was a press fit in the side plate and they came out. Everyone I knew that used their D-W's had to have the stop soldered in. Problem solved.

Second, the barrels would always tighten back into the frame as you shot them. The hotter the loads, the faster they'd move. There was no cure for this other than resetting the barrel / cyl gap when you felt it start to drag.

In spite of this if I had the funds and opportunity, I'd gladly own another one.

Joe

[Tycer]

Definitely bigger than a K frame.

[hfcable]

that was a good buy,..... hard to find the complete sets in excellent condition.....and generally they will outshoot most other 357s

my son and I have a set of the 357, 22, and 44 magnums....each ! [ I mean a set of each for each of us ]