Category — Revolvers

1968 was an historic year in modern American firearms development, with the founding of Dan Wesson Arms. This fledgling firearms manufacturer was a collaboration of Daniel B. Wesson, the great-grandson of D.B. Wesson, co-founder of Smith and Wesson, and Karl Lewis, formerly of Browning and Colt firearms. The founders of Dan Wesson Arms were committed to the development and production of a modern revolver, modular in design with interchangeable barrels, grips, and sights. The Dan Wesson revolver design is extremely strong and durable, and noted for consistent pinpoint accuracy. The history of Dan Wesson Firearms reflects the epitome of American entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and firearms development.

Although Dan Wesson Arms is known for revolvers (and later 1911 semi-auto pistols) the first firearms to bear the Dan Wesson name were a series of shotguns and air rifles imported by Dan Wesson in 1969, manufactured by firearms giant Brno Works of Czechoslovakia. The first Dan Wesson revolver premiered in 1969 at the NSGA show in Houston.  The first production revolvers shipped in August 1970, and were known as the Model (or W) 11 (fixed sight) and Model/W 12 (adjustable sight), retailing for $110. The Model 11/12 series featured an external barrel nut, “porkchop” style shrouds, and large, crudely manufactured sights, but included the revolutionary interchangeable barrel/shroud design. Production quickly moved to the Dan Wesson owned facility in a converted schoolhouse in Monson, MA. Dan Wesson Firearms capitalized on the unique interchangeable barrel design by offering Pistol Packs, packaged in a fitted case with a variety of barrel/shrouds and grips.

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Dan Wesson revolvers are considered to be the most adaptable and accurate production revolvers ever made for several reasons:

BARREL INTERCHANGEABILITY: Dan Wesson revolvers were designed and manufactured to allow for easy interchange of barrel length and shroud type. Barrels and shrouds were manufactured in lengths from 2” to 15”, in various shroud configurations including Vent Rib and Heavy underlug. Barrels and shrouds are easily changed via a special “barrel nut” that is unscrewed, allowing the shroud to slide off, after which the barrel is unscrewed from the frame. A new barrel is then screwed into the frame, a new shroud slides over the barrel, and the barrel nut is tightened into place. The entire barrel/shroud interchange process takes 1-2 minutes, and is accomplished with the use of a special Barrel Wrench, supplied with each revolver.

ACCURACY: The Dan Wesson barrel/shroud design is inherently very accurate. In effect, the barrel is tensioned equally at the muzzle and frame, and free floats in the shroud. The barrel is less affected by heat expansion, and is essentially secured between two points (similar to a fine stringed musical instrument) rather than just one point, at the frame. This tensioned design keeps the muzzle more rigidly aligned with the frame/cylinder, resulting in more consistent accuracy. The cylinder latch on a Dan Wesson revolver is located on the cylinder crane, at the front of the cylinder. This allows the cylinder to be more precisely aligned with the barrel than is possible with the more common practice of locking the cylinder into the frame at the rear of the cylinder. Dan Wesson revolvers consistently have a very smooth action, with a light, crisp trigger break in both single and double action.

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