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Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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John-
Thanks for helping us keep up with our DW/HS history
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
October 11, 2009
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Charger Fan said:
Dantanna58 said:
Yes I saw one in a "Pawn Shop" in 1989, and another at a gun show in in 1996.
In the mid 90's Dan Wesson cataloged "fixed barrel" guns. plus a fixed barrel 5 shot snubby. They also made in the early days a very rare to come by nickle plated revolver.
Thanks then, I'll have to keep my eyes open for some fixed barrel Sentinels.
I agree with you on the 90's FB guns, I've got a pair. I've also got a 5-shot snubby "Lil' Dan" & it's barrel is removeable. I've seen two of the early nickle guns so far, but they've been in rough shape.
Stop by the Intro section at the top of the forum & tell about yourself & your guns.
I like the screen name.
Charger Fan, Sorry it took so long for me to reply. I have had a love affair with DW's since 1978. DW's were one of the most advanced revolver designs of its day. Like the Colt Python. It has things that just over the past few years have been adopted by the other gun companies. Items that most shooters are not aware of. DW's were guns that you either loved or hated. It is a tinkerers gun. Everyone always talks about the interchangeable barrel system. Besides the barrel being under tension at both ends eliminating "barrel whip".
The short hammer fall is another. If you have ever shot at extreme ranges. Such as IHMSA you can really appreciate this short travel hammer fall. DW's also have one of the best trigger faces I've have ever felt. The only thing I had reservations about was the use of cintered steel in its lockwork. They also had a lot of Q.C. problems back in the 70's.
Other than that, its about as perfect a revolver system as can be found.
Now to High Standard. This was a strange company. They had some of the finest .22 target pistols ever made. And are still highly sought after. They made one of the best derringers every built. But as far as the rest of their products. I'll reserve comment.
Back to DW's, Everyone these days loves to talk about the 454 casull, 480 Ruger, and the 500 S&W. Folks seem to forget about the 445 Supermag.
Talk about an anti bear cartridge. And its so veratile also. I know of a fellow that took out a charging 1200 lb Kodiak with his 445 after his camping partner's 416 Rigby failed to fire.
Two shots at 40 and then 12 FEET. Thats too close for comfort. The Rigby failed because
a round was not chambered. This all took place in around 6 seconds. Kodiaks can really cover some ground in a short time span when charging.
Sorry about being so long winded. But I just can't praise enough about DW's
February 20, 2008
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I do know for certain, ( Mr Wesson told me himself) that after he left S&W and started his 'new company' Dan Wesson Arms, that High Standard made their first gun, the ones with the ugly dog leg on the lower rear of the shroud, and he even related to me, as how he had " lost" over a million dollars in that first ,early production, with High Standard, and thats why they started to do it all over at the Main St school house, on their own…….I spent two weeks there in May of 1976 and sat with the old man in the evening discussing manufacturing, and materials, their use of 4140 chrome moly and "why" HE ( MR Wesson) would NOT built his gun using stainless steel, alll the problems in those years with tooling, and the characteristics of the two materials, when used in making firearms……………He was very adament about that,and they didn't make them in stainless till after his death I recall. I KNOW "marketing" really wanted the guns in stainless,DicK Rosenfeld and there was another gentleman,wanted to………………Mr Wesson said alll the issues they had with the early S&Ws mainly the Model 66 and their use in 'law enforcement ( PDS having the guns "bind up" when they got 'hot' (expansion & contraction)
I would guess that High Standard had to do 'something' with the parts and stuff from these early guns, so marketed their own MK II and Sentinal, and let the lawyers fight it out…as they stopped soon after ????? Wish I could remember the 'other' guys we talked with at the Monson plant when we were there,but Mr Rosenfeld and Mr Wesson, were awesome guys to talk with ………………….
and yes, our shop, Cleveland Bluing Co, was the 'warranty repair' station for DWA at this time, thats why we spent time up there "training"…………..and I wonder if 'Dottie' one of the gunsmiths (assemblers?) at the factory ( yes, a woman…) is still alive, she was GOOD……..
dant
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Dan- One of those other guys was probably Bob McWilliams. As I understand it, Dick was a tremendous salesman, and really the front man at gunshows and with distributors. Bob was the financial guy in the Company leadership.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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Range Officers
Dans Club
March 27, 2009
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Amazing info, Thank you to all and to the folks that take the time to find out this info and verify it!
February 20, 2008
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Yessir, I believe his name was Bob...sounds like him as he was the "numbers' guy....I wonder if Dick Rosenfeld is stilll a round or any of the assembly workers, like 'Dottie" no I have NO clue what her last name was.....we just heard that they changed hands (owners) repeatedly, and that those early records were turned over to BATF??? and as I said, we only worked on their early -2 guns when they made the change at Monson,Ma.......wow, we should have taken "notes" as well as pictures, but had no reason too, as it was alll just "part of the job..." as our shop ,Cleveland Bluing Co., was taking on so many of these "warranty repair" jobs,trying to build up our business ( which was part time for each of us as we all worked fulltime for GE during this same period..........)
Funny story, I recall helping one of their polishers "correctly" polish their shroud in preparation for bluing, and I taugh him hoe w to correctly polish the underside of the shroud as they were coming out quite "wavy" in the beginning, ear;y guns...anyway he did a fine job, asked for a raise, from what we were told, didn't get and went to work for S&W for MORE money....got a "thank you " & Christmas card in 1974 from him........
now we see the old school house property is a "brown spot'.....damn
dant
January 22, 2008
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Very cool information thanks for sharing!
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January 24, 2009
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dant said:
...and as I said, we only worked on their early -2 guns when they made the change at Monson,Ma... <snip> ....got a "thank you " & Christmas card in 1974 from him...
So are you saying that the -2 guns were out on the market as early as 1974? Man, if so, then the -2 manufacture dates just got bumped one more year earlier. Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but so far we've been thinking they hit the market in mid ~ late 1975...but closer to late?
Wow.
Thanks for the great info Dant, this is cool! And yes, I wish you had taken a camera to work for a few of those days.
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Range Officers
Dans Club
March 27, 2009
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Now a year later from the last post and we Know That Dan Wesson (Wesson Arms) made Mitchell Titans MK11 and 111's! in 1995 (or 1994, offered by Mitchell in 1995). John was the one that tweaked my interest to search and find!
Where are we today with dates and knowing what all of us have collected/ shared!
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January 24, 2009
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I recently found a magazine article dated October 1973, with photos of what I would guess it's either a prototype gun, or a very, very early one. I thought this thread would probably be the best place to put them.
The two main things that lead me to assume it's either early or a prototype, are the old style crane release & the "Fixed Barrel" nut. As of yet, I have never seen either one of these features on any MK II/III.
Here's a fairly good shot of the FB nut from the article…
There are actually two guns in this magazine. The one on the cover with the old style crane release is different from the one in the article inside, with a newer style crane release. And of course, the cover gun has painted letters on the shroud, the article gun does not.
There's a couple features on this gun that did make it to production, but were changed early on;
1) The smaller, knurled extractor rod, which was later changed to the more common mushroom style.
2) The grip medallions are convex & are either made of aluminum or tin (I haven't held one yet), these were later changed to a chrome plated plastic medallion.
Here's links to the article…
As always, any new info is always welcome. If anyone has a gun like the one in the article, show that baby off & tell us the story! 
May 12, 2009
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For many posts on the inter net and many magazine articles, one should not believe all that one finds. A recent example of this is an article by Garry James in the American Rifleman about the High Standard Model B-US. HE stated the guns were originally parkerized and the gun in the article but the Model B-Gov and Model B-US were only sold with a blued finish. With a parkerized refinish, the collector value would be no where near what James said it was. The real problem with the error is not the bad valuation but the creation or propagation of the fallacy about what the proper finish is.
High Standard sold Dan Wesson made Sentinel MK II's and MK III's that had removable barrels. They included a special face spanner wrench for the barrel nut and a feeler gauge with the gun. The High Standard records show three catalog numbers ( three barrel lengths) for the fixed sight version and three for the adjustable sight version. It was usual and customary for High Standard to have a separate catalog number for each model variation. The noted exception to this are some of the .22 rifles.
Apparently they had planned for a three barrel set based on a High Standard factory 4 page flyer but there is nothing in the records to show that they ever sold any in this configuration nor is there a catalog number assigned in the master catalog number list for a multi-barrel set.
March 2, 2014
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So I have come across this couple year old thread and have read it all. I have come across a rare High Standard 357 mag double action revolver made by Dan Wesson with in early 70"s with removable 4 inch barrel. How much are these worth?
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Range Officers
Dans Club
March 27, 2009
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Dragging up the old info is a good thing, the HS are not all that rare, as many if us have a couple! A picture would be your best bet as in value. I have seen them go for as little as 250 and for sale in the 350 range or above. Depends on area and who might be looking for one!
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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I have a Sentinel mk ii( fixed sight ) beater I paid $200 for. My wife declared it her favorite gun EVER and confiscated it ( new favorite is a Glock 42 in silver and Tiffany blue ). They are rare in top condition as are models 11+12. IMHO, not an investment gun but great shooters.
October 17, 2017
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While this may be a five year old topic I've certainly learned a lot from it. Thanks to dant for setting the record straight on High Standard's involvement in the early years of Dan Wesson Arms. I would think that many of our newer members might find reading through this entire topic very interesting.
I've just recently won an auction on a model 15 DW, and judging from the serial number and the appearance I'm guessing it is one of the last pork chops made before the introduction of the 15-2. Very cool gun, and I can't wait to get my hands on it! Not much to look at, but I'm sure it will be an awesome shooter!
Interestingly, there was also a High Standard Sentinel MK II fixed sight pork chop on the same auction; probably nearly identical to the one Ole Dog mentioned above. The price they were asking was more than for the DW. HS stamping on the gun; nothing at all on the shroud, but it did have the original HS grips.
Does anyone know approximately how many DWs High Standard made before DW started making them at the Monson, MA factory? Also, how did the stamping read on those guns?
December 3, 2015
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3ric said
While this may be a five year old topic I've certainly learned a lot from it. Thanks to dant for setting the record straight on High Standard's involvement in the early years of Dan Wesson Arms. I would think that many of our newer members might find reading through this entire topic very interesting.I've just recently won an auction on a model 15 DW, and judging from the serial number and the appearance I'm guessing it is one of the last pork chops made before the introduction of the 15-2. Very cool gun, and I can't wait to get my hands on it! Not much to look at, but I'm sure it will be an awesome shooter!
Interestingly, there was also a High Standard Sentinel MK II fixed sight pork chop on the same auction; probably nearly identical to the one Ole Dog mentioned above. The price they were asking was more than for the DW. HS stamping on the gun; nothing at all on the shroud, but it did have the original HS grips.
Does anyone know approximately how many DWs High Standard made before DW started making them at the Monson, MA factory? Also, how did the stamping read on those guns?
Fun reading this thread again. I have a HS Sentinel Mark11 and a HS Sentinel Mark111. Both are clearly marked on the left side of the shroud as "High Standard .357 Magnum followed by the model. Is it a pork chop shroud? I doubt there are any HS barrel assemblies where the shroud is completely void of any markings. Have a close look at it or post a link. Might be a DW porker shroud that was heavily buffed and reblued or a HS shroud that had the same treatment. People have done some odd things with these modular revolvers. If the shroud is unmarked it could even be an EWk or CZ shroud used with an EWK adapter. Both of these do have the caliber stamped on the shroud however.
Does your DW have a rear sight that looks similar to the HS? Or does it sit much higher and appear a bit more mmmmmm clunky? ( maybe not a great choice of words.) If it has the larger rear site it is probably a model 15 with a correspondingly very tall front sight. If it has a less obtrusive rear sight similar to the HS it probably is what most agree is a 15-1. ( though there seems to be no marketing records of a 15-1 ). A 15-1 would be equivalent to a HS Sentinel Mark111.
For DW the timeline would be model 15, 15-1, 15-2. Excluding of course the earlier models 11 & 12.
Give us a look at that HS with unmarked shroud.
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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HS actually did not make any Dan Wessons. There is a bit of misinformation floating around on the web. They purchased them from DW to fill out their product line. DW had already been making guns for several years before HS introduced their rebranded models. They are the equivalent to DW 14 -1 and 15-1. DW made them in 1973 and 74. I suspect they were sold to High Standard to get rid of the last porkchops before the 1974 debut of the redesigned modern form. The 14 and 15-1s were from serial number 25,000 to 50,000. H S had 25,000 guns between fixed sight and adjustable sight.
Prices seem to be higher than Dan Wessons because of HS collectors I think.
October 17, 2017
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Here is the HS Sentinel MK II mentioned above. This seems to be equivalent to the DW model 14. My recent purchase of the DW model 15 (probably 15-1 serial no. 39xxx) has a rather small adjustable rear sight compared to the early DW pork chops. I'll post a photo of it whenever it arrives!
I'm confused about dant's post (43) in which he recalls talking to Mr. Dan Wesson himself where he clearly stated the first DW revolvers were made by HS. In an earlier post someone says that never happened, and Ole Dog is also affirming that.
October 17, 2017
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Close-up of the stampless shroud.
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