Photo taken from Gunbroker of a blue Dan Wesson 8" 44 in
excellent condition
Dan Wesson 44
| Length Overall |
Barrel Length |
Weight |
Caliber |
Action Type |
Magazine capacity |
| 11.5 inches |
6" |
56oz |
44 Magnum |
D.A. revolver |
6 |
The 44 version of the excellent Dan Wesson revolver,
was introduced many years after their cutting edge series of 357 guns. The
44 is massive, when compared to the N frame S&W, and is of respectable
size, even when placed along side of the Ruger Redhawk. These are big, heavy
guns, and the available full underlug barrel, with vent rib along the top,
make them heavier still. These barrels, along with the vent, underlug barrel
of the Python, may be what inspired S&W to put full underlug barrels on
all of their "Classic:" series of large frame revolvers.
Of course, the barrels of these guns are interchangeable,
meaning that The non underlugged, or non vented barrels can also be used
on them. This is a blue model, rather than one of the stainless versions.
It was bought because the price was right, and because I was getting tired
of waiting for a stainless model to appear at a gun shop, a show, or on line.
Naturally, now that I have purchased the gun, several have appeared on gunbroker.
I will soon refinish it, the gun is pretty beat up. Shown here is a photo
of the gun, as I received it.
The gun was purchased on the internet via gunbroker.com.
There were a number of blemishes, and rust spots in the finish, and the metal
was gouged in spots, but nothing which effected the functioning of the gun.
The man that sold it to me was completely forthright in his description, and
the price I paid reflected the condition of the gun, being about half of
what a prettier gun would have cost. Still, it was kind of a mess. A bottle
of finish/rust remover was purchased, and did a pretty mediocre job of 
getting the gun down to bare metal. Eventually steel wool, and emery cloth
did the job, but now for the hard part. There were numerous scratches and
gouges on the gun, and they needed to be smoothed out. A buffer wheel on
my drill, and a number of small stones, and finishing wheels for my Moto
tool did the job. So now it only remains to decide what finish to put on
the "new" gun. This will be an ongoing project. I am deciding now if I wish
to have a bright or satin finish on the gun, though I am leaning towards
satin. I initially determined that it would be finished off in electroless
nickel, but am reconsidering this decision. This project will eventually
get it's own page, as I have this, and several other guns that I wish to
refinish.
Though the gun has led a hard life, the trigger pull
and accuracy were surprisingly good. Once the barrel was cleaned out, I found
it to be in remarkably good condition. This will be an ongoing project,
which will probably not be finished until the winter months. One piece of
good news is that I can use stainless barrels on this gun, along with stainless
shrouds. The threading on the stainless and blued barrels is the same. If
this were not the case. I am keeping a log of my
progress at this location, for those who are interested.