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October 11, 2009
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Alright guy's. I just finished reading a great book that I received for Christmas. " Ruger, The Man and His Gun's. Its a great read. I have asked this question before so here it is again.
Not to be insulting, but facts are facts. A lot of this Forum's Charter member's and moderators and some members in general are not "Spring Chicken's" anymore. And a lot of you have a wealth of knowledge and history on the "Dan Wesson " revolver. And the clock is ticking. Why don't a bunch of you pool your resources and do the younger shooting public a favor and write a book on the Dan Wesson revolver? Nothing in detail about the great man himself or the rise and fall of his companies. Which would be great. But the guns themselves. Including photo's. From the early " Porkchop bottle cap' models to the "Supermags". I have run into so many younger shooters that inquire." What is a Dan Wesson?" And I have to say " Come here my young one and I'll tell you a tale" There are enough photo's and info on this very site to make a great "Coffee table' book.
And there is nothing out there in the real world in print except an honorable mention if even that in a lot of firearms books. Except for old gun magazine articles, there is really nothing. You could show how it was a champion in the sport of I.H.M.S.A . The High Standard day's. The Mitchell arms day's. The Palmer, Monson , Numerich. days. The quality issues. Even photo's of it in movies and t.v. Come on guy's. Think about it. In 20 years from now. How many of you are going to be around to pass on the knowledge. Besides myself and Headsmaster. 
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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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I hope to still be here , not that old yet.
I like your idea though. Some other members here and myself had a recent discussion about a photo shoot to show case the various models. It would be great to have good quality pictures of every model know to exist and at least a description as a caption, sort of a photo essay. I'm sure that between the membership on this forum we collectively have 99+/-% of anything they made, at least in revolvers.
Interesting idea, needs further exploration.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
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If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
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January 24, 2009
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I vote for Steve & Dean (IHMSA80x80) to join forces for an endeavor like this.
The easiest book to do would be mainly a photo book, with models & options listed. The hard book would be one on the history of the DW handgun. A book like that would need to have the facts double & triple checked, so they are rock solid. A book with guesses & estimations on the facts simply would not do. Steve has been able to correspond with a few people who were involved with the company, but there would need to be a lot more interviewed & the facts would need to be cross checked.
Seth Wesson joined the DWF a few years ago, but I think we scared him away with a barrage of questions.
If someone could convince him to agree to an interview, that would be a huge step toward nailing down historical facts.
March 25, 2008
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This needs to be started soon and if need be passed around to get as many involved as possible. The possibility of haveing all the facts and nothing but has long been gone so we as a group need to combine what we have to have it scrutinized by those that could prove it wrong and in turn we could update it to make it better! WE CAN DO IT!
January 22, 2008
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Sounds like a great idea to me... My original goal with the pictures of each model was to do a photo book but it's been put on the back burner for the time being... in a month or two maybe I can get back on that one!
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January 24, 2009
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In the meantime, if anyone would like to fill in the holes for a photo book, go here...
https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/revolvers/revolver-models-in-pictures/page-3/
February 20, 2008
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yes, that would be a great idea, I know I wish we (me) had taken any and all kinds of pictures "back then" but back then we had a job to do "learn" the Dan Wessons, from building them from scratch to then going home, back to Cleveland,Oh and running the shop and doing "repairs" (warrenty repairs) for Dan Wesson.....so now, is seems more like "lore" ( or tales from the past) and again, only memories....I did do one article for Police Marksman magazine back in the mid 80's on the repair and service of the DWA from a LE back ground...but again, was too busy with "working" raising a family and all, who thought of the "history", let alone the background ,or remembering sitting down in the basement of the old school house with Mr Wesson, and going over HIS background, the S&W years, and then into his starting the DWA Co.....and yes he told me LOTS of stuff, how he ,lost over a million dollars in the beginning with High Standard, building his guns, and now I hear of others stories saying something else?? so me NOT "being in the business" can only relate to what he told me then, and also relating to "stainless steel" and how he did NOT like it, how many problems it was and he would NOT bulid his guns using that material, but soon after he died, guess what? they came out with 'stainless steel' gun....oh well.
The other thing was at our shop back then, Cleveland Bluing Co, we had a few issues with partners, a "falling out" , we had built a few Dan Wesson 15-2 in a 256 Winchester caliber, got written up in American Handgunner and I had wanted to do further 'testing' on the steel being used, ( the pressures were very high) and being concerned with lawsuits, this was at the time Ruger, Smith and others had gotten sued and there were some large stettlements, they starting putting "warning" issues on the barrels of guns and rewriting their manuals, I had a talk with the corporate lawyer at Ruger back then a Mr Steve Sannetti, and my partners "pooh poohed' the 'testing, and we all split up, the shop went under soon after......que sera, sera
Anyway, we really do wish and hope someone could, would do a more "complete" back ground, history , pictorial?? of Dan Wesson, but it seems its the "S&W" background, that always takes the precedance...................gotta keep in mind that RL Wilson, the ugy who "loved" to write the books and was quite good at it, got himself in trouble and went to prison for "fraud" (hhmm, interesting and he beat another follow-up rap too)and as for ME, I went on to become the "rugerguy",,,,,,,, 22's and single actions we prefer, but I still have the 15-2 VH6 we built at Monson,Ma back in the day and it shoots as GOOD as ANY other gun made today or before..............sure do miss those other days, Dottie, ( the gun builder who trained us), Dick Rosenfeld and so many others I have forgotten their names
dant
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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I'm going to tell you what the real problem is:
With the death of Daniel B., the brand went through so many changes that it's very hard to pin down facts. If he had lived longer, and there was a clear succession of management and history, things would be different. The succeeding owners/managers/etc. tried hard, against huge odds, to make DW a success, with some good results. I sense that there was a lot of "shooting from the hip" and attempt to evolve with the marketplace on a shoestring.
I'd be hard pressed to be involved in an in depth DW history project, there is just too much unknown and too many gaps of knowledge. I already know from experience that you can take a position on what you think you know in all good faith, and then proof positive comes along that you were pretty wrong.
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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January 24, 2009
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dant said
but back then we had a job to do "learn" the Dan Wessons, from building them from scratch to then going home, back to Cleveland,Oh and running the shop and doing "repairs" (warrenty repairs) for Dan Wesson.....
Good grief man, Cleveland to Monson is a 600+ mile 11 hour one way trip!
When you first joined & told us that story, I didn't put 2&2 together...I was thinkin' you were more "around the corner" than that.
remembering sitting down in the basement of the old school house with Mr Wesson, and going over HIS background, the S&W years, and then into his starting the DWA Co…..and yes he told me LOTS of stuff, how he ,lost over a million dollars in the beginning with High Standard, building his guns, and now I hear of others stories saying something else??
See, that's part of the double-triple checked fact that we need to nail down, because I've also heard conflicting sides to this part...HS built the early DW's, vs. DW building all their own at the get-go & HS came into the picture around late '72 when they wanted in on the game (resulting in the Sentinel MKII & III). So for sure HS built DW's early guns??
also relating to "stainless steel" and how he did NOT like it, how many problems it was and he would NOT bulid his guns using that material, but soon after he died, guess what? they came out with 'stainless steel' gun….oh well.
I've seen the same dislike to SS that Dan had in one or two magazine articles. It's too bad that he didn't have more of an open mind regarding this material, because the SS guns in his namesake sure are a thing of beauty.
I suspect that some of the earlier mixes of the stainless material may have been not suited for firearm material, but once they got the ingredients right, they sure nailed it!
we had built a few Dan Wesson 15-2 in a 256 Winchester caliber, got written up in American Handgunner and...
Do you still have this one? THAT would be an interesting gun to see some
of & hear more about.
gotta keep in mind that RL Wilson, the ugy who "loved" to write the books and was quite good at it, got himself in trouble and went to prison for "fraud" (hhmm, interesting and he beat another follow-up rap too)
Now that doesn't sound fun...the fraud thing wasn't for embellishing on the truth in one of his books, was it? Yikes!
...sure do miss those other days, Dottie, ( the gun builder who trained us)
Dang, she sounds like a keeper! A woman gun builder? That's as cool as a chick who rides motorcycles! (non-dyke, of course)
Thanks for sharing your stories dant, because honestly, every ounce of stories & facts like these may eventually culminate into a book at some point. I don't know who or when may write it, but it would sure be great if a book on (the history of) "Dan Wesson and his gun" eventually came to fruition for the world to read.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Another possible connection here, my original 15-2 had to go back for warranty service (horribly rounded barrel nut). I lived in Detroit, and Cleveland was much closer than Massachusetts, so maybe dant worked on mine.
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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