Register
Log In
Home
March 17, 2009
Offline
Greetings from West Texas. I purchased a 15 2VH Pistol Pac last weekend and am happy to have found this forum. It sure looks to be a great forum with lots of info on DW products and I'm glad I found it.
I've always been a wheel gun guy and have several other big bore pistols. I have wanted a Dan Wesson for years but just have never found a 15 2VH in a good enough condition (for the price) and finally ran accross one last week while in a gun shop in Austin. Best I can tell, this thing has never been fired. My only problem now is just how much I want to shoot it. 
I am a hunter and love hunting hogs with pistols and lever guns. I'm hoping to find a suitable load for hog hunting. I've looked at the Corbon 200 gr hardcast and would appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Thanks and see y'all on the forum!
--Paul
December 17, 2008
Offline
Welcome Paul! Sounds like a great purchase - Dang! I thought I had all the gunshops in Austin covered...
You have found the right group to discuss that fine selection of wheelgun you got in that case! And the ammo to hunt some hogs!
Welcome aboard! -I'm sure you'll be posting up some pictures of that find too, eh?
March 17, 2009
Offline
Thanks, Dusty… And I'm only too happy to post a picture.
BTW, I found this at Red's on 290 near Oak Hill. I went there with friends we were staying with. They were shooting and one was shooting a rifle I had sold him. I didn't go there to buy anything but when I saw the 15-2VH, I went to bargaining. 
I think I did OK on the price. No super steal but it really is in incredible shape. I'll take it to my gunsmith Friday and see if he can confirm that it has ever been shot. If it has, it wasn't much.
Oh, and I used to live in Williamson County (Leander) many moons ago. Sure glad to see y'all got some much needed rain!
Anyway here's a picture.
–Paul
December 17, 2008
Offline
Thanks for the pic Paul. Yep, that's a beauty.
Serial # in the 3XX,XXX's?
I'm guessing from that combat grip (which I have one of).
Interesting that Red's seems to be coming up with some nice DW gear lately.
And you are right about the rain, though we didn't get nearly enough!!
March 17, 2009
Offline
Dusty, the serial # is 243995 and is a Monson gun.
We didn't get but 1.2" up here near Abilene but we were mighty thankful for that.
Supporter
Moderators
January 24, 2009
Offline
Welcome aboard, to another one of them thar Texas boys!
Great lookin' Pac you scored, it sure looks like a beauty. I've got that same Pachmayr grip on mine...even though it doesn't look as nice as the wood, it's super comfortable.
Did yours have any paper barrel wrappers on it? Just wondering, because they're usually dated.
DWF Supporters
Dans Club
Moderators
November 17, 2008
Offline
Welcome aboard! great lookin pac you got there.
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
February 4, 2009
Offline
Hi Bit_Surfer, and Welcome to the forums.
Glad to have you. I guess all the cool stuff ends up at the South Red's location because the North Red's up by Dusty Trail and myself is always Dan Wesson free- at least till we take ours to shoot. This is probably a good thing though- I believe Dusty and I have reached our Dan Wesson purchasing quotas for the time being.
Shoot, if new Texas members keep signing up, we will need to have some kind of annual DW meet. Of course Abilene isn't exactly around the corner from Austin.
Nice score!
January 22, 2008
Offline
Welcome to the Forum! Nice looking pac and love the zebra grips!
March 17, 2009
Offline
Charger Fan,
Thanks. The Pachmayr feels better to me too though like you, I think the checkered is nicer looking.
No paper wrappers on the barrels. Is there any record of date by serial number? I looked around on the forum and didn't find anything.
--Paul
April 25, 2008
Offline
Welcome to the forum Paul! That is a super pistol pac you scored. If it were me, I would shoot it and not worry about it. Guns are made to be shot. Unfired guns are only worth something extra if you plan on selling them. I don't sell mine, so even the most rare one gets shot regularly.
The Savantist
March 17, 2009
Offline
cdf294,
Thanks, I'm pretty happy to have found it. I guess there's a good contingent of Texans on here huh? And Abilene may be 200 miles from Austin but I travel to Austin several times a year since I still have family and friends there. So if y'all ever put a shoot together, I'll point the pickup SE if I can.
--Paul
March 17, 2009
Offline
IHMSA80x80,
Thanks for the welcome. I bought it with the intention of aiding my sausage making efforts. I hunt hogs and have a couple of blinds set up specifically for pistol and lever guns so I will definitely shoot it. I have been shooting a Super RedHawk but wanted something a little lighter.
If I can find a nice .41, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat. That sure is a nice looking stainless that you have!
--Paul
Supporter
Moderators
January 24, 2009
Offline
Bit_Surfer said:
No paper wrappers on the barrels. Is there any record of date by serial number? I looked around on the forum and didn't find anything.
Unfortunately, there isn't an exact match for serial number & date of manufacture. Hopefully in the coming years there will be, but for now we're taking comparitive guesses.
I would think your serial number is in the '79-'80 range somewhere.
Congrats again on your nice score.
December 17, 2008
Offline
Bit_Surfer,
In support of Charger's estimate, here are a couple of the Forum's data points for reference:
Serial # Assoc. Date Source Method
- 2514XX 5/1980 KPM Bought new by KPM
- 26230X 4/1979 Bearhands Barrel wrapper date
- 208653 6/1979 GB Pricelist date in Pac
Not an exact science (yet), as you can see, but we are slowly gathering data and think we can be accurate within a 6 - 12 mos window.
edits: not easy getting those columns lined up…
March 17, 2009
Offline
Dusty,
I can see now why it's hard to get a handle on aging by serial numbers since the serial numbers are obviously not sequential. Thanks for posting that.
The previous owner of the pistol said that he had never fired it and it looked to me like it had never been fired. I dropped by my gunsmith's shop today and he agreed that it hadn't been fired.
It kind of makes me look at it a little differently. In any event, it's cool that it is almost 30 years old and still unfired.
--Paul
December 17, 2008
Offline
Sweet - it does seem like a (comparatively) large percentage of Pistol Pacs were bought and not fired. I think they were so unique and so attractive that many buyers considered them collectors items or just purchased them “to have”, not necessarily to shoot. By the way I expect the consensus here will be to shoot it!!
I also have an unfired 15-2 Pac from '78 & and an unfired .41 mag Pac from '83. One of these days that .41 is going the range though…
The serial numbers were sequential, it's just that the “correlating data” we've been able to turn up is not definitive - it's “ranges” and can vary 6 mos. or perhaps more in corresponding accuracy.
Even when we know the purchase date of a gun, we don't know how long it was on the shop owner's shelf or in the distribution chain - hence, how does that sale date correlate to the manufacture date / serial number?
We know the barrel wrappers were restocked every six months, but did old ones ever get used out of order?
So for now, it's “about”…
March 17, 2009
Offline
Dusty,
I now understand what you are saying about the difficulty of determining manufacturing dates. Sale dates don't account for how long it was in the supply stream before the actual sale and although the wrappers are surely more accurate, even they can be in question if the wrappers weren't changed on schedule. Does any data exist regarding production numbers during the years they were being made?
As for shooting my new pistol, I have to say that upon the original purchase, I had every intention of shooting it. I've ordered two boxes of Corbon 200 gr hardcast rounds that should be lethal to the hogs. Still, if I've stumbled across something special, I might want to regroup. Your comment about the possibility of many of the Pistol Pacs surviving in tact because of the collector look of them really interests me. I confess that I haven't scoured the internet so maybe you can help me out. Do you think that if I shoot this pistol some (while hunting) that the value won't be diminished much? Don't mean to put you on the spot or anything but I would like to hear your opinion,
Thanks,
Paul
December 17, 2008
Offline
Hey Paul,
No problem - I think some of the other guys might want to weigh in on that question as well.
I do think there is a premium for unfired guns - but I don't think it is substantial for the 15-2's. I actually paid less for my unfired Pac than I did for one of my other "fired, but outstanding condition" pacs. Now if it were a 32 mag...
One of the DW conundrums is that you can change barrels and shrouds and keep it in mint condition - except for that cylinder ring!
Someone wiser than me said on the forum: "Dan Wesson's are for shootin' and accumulatin'" and then there is IHMSA80X80's strategy: never sell a gun. And if you're not ging to sell it, you certainly should shoot it!
All the factory data on DW's (from Monson and Palmer) resides with the BATF. Apparently when the companies closed, the records ceded to the Bureau.
Supporter
Moderators
January 24, 2009
Offline
I wonder if there's a statute of limitations of some sort, for how long the BATF needs to keep those records? Somebody needs to write 'em a letter & see what happens. LOL!
Regarding whether to shoot the gun, I think it's up to the individual. Some folks like to collect them & just look at 'em. I can see the fun in that, because I like to look at them too...but it's also fun to go out & run some rounds through 'em. For sure, the best way to get top dollar back out of it is if it's kept in fantastic condition & unfired. I suppose if you hang onto it for 20 years, you might come out in good shape by not firing it. But seldom fired guns that are kept in great shape hold their value also.
Just recently, I got a 357 SuperMag that hasn't been fired yet. It's a beautiful gun & I love how clean it is...but MAN, I want to enjoy the fun of feeling the recoil, hearing the bang & see gallon jugs of water explode! I don't plan on shooting it a lot, mainly because the ammo isn't as easy to come by, but also to keep it in good shape.
I think the only way I'd keep it as it is & not fire it, is if I had another one just like it that I could go blaze away with...or if the thing was gold plated, or something. LOL!
Anyway, I say do what feels good.
2 Guest(s)
