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August 9, 2014
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Hey everybody, i was in my local gun shop looking for a good used J-frame and i found this blocky looking thing sitting all by its lonesome at the end of the shelf where they keep the Webleys and Iver Johnsons and other oddballs. Dan Wesson, .38 Special, Monson Mass., $175. Someone spilled something on the barrel at some point and it marred the finish, but i figured a working gun wasnt meant to be pretty, so i took it home with me. After i put a box of standard pressure American Eagle .38's through it, i was very glad i bought this revolver. Of course, finding out what MODEL i own is proving to be interesting... is there a reason DW stopped marking their weapons with a model number? Seems very strange to me.
Dans Club
April 18, 2014
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If it is .38 Spec. it will be a Mod. 8 fixed rear site, service revolver or Mod. 9 adjustable rear site, target revolver.
would really be nice here. We all like to see'em as much as we like to shoot'em,,,,,,,,ok, you got me but we really like to see'm too..
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"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
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Dans Club
DWF Supporters
April 20, 2010
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Welcome to the forum, you will not buy a more solid revolver for that kind of money anywhere! As for the model there is a section somewhere around here showing different models that would help. Show us pics and we can definitely help, we like pics here! I do not know why Dan Wesson stopped marking the model on the gun but hang around here and check out the different threads and you will soon be able to id all the different ones.
"The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the Wolf does not perform in the circus"
August 9, 2014
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Thanks guys, i am very favorably impressed by this revolver, thats for sure. I am working iff of a tablet, as my computer has gone to the great open range in the sky, so i cant get you guys any pictures yet. I have tried to ID the gun based on the information here and i am stuck between a Model 8 and a Model 14. It is a fixed sight blued pork chop shroud with a recessed nut and a 2.75" barrel, marked .38 Special Ctg. It has a rear notch milled into a little hump in the frame. I think the key to ID'ing the gun might lay in that rear sight, the hump is short, and it does not have a notched blade set into it. If you look at the custom grip banner on this site and go to the gallery, it looks exactly like the first three pictures, but marked .38 and with a porkchop shroud.
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Model 8 is not a porkchop, so there you have it! See how easy that was? Now it's time to go buy another and try to figure the model number on it...
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
August 9, 2014
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So then i must have a Model 14? Thanks, you learn something new every day.
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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You made a very good purchase. It was probably a service revolver. The .38 spec. model 14's are probably rather scarce. You need to get a barrel tool to properly set the cylinder gap. You say the barrel is 23/4". That is VERY unusual. The length is measured from muzzle to forcing cone. Model 14 lengths were 21/4, 33/4, and 53/4". If yours is truly 23/4", it is perhaps specially made for a particular police department. Many collectors here would probably love to have it in their collections. Especially a porkchop lover in Kansas.
February 20, 2008
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Welcome and enjoy the forum and the fine folks!
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August 9, 2014
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Ole Dog said
You made a very good purchase. It was probably a service revolver. The .38 spec. model 14's are probably rather scarce. You need to get a barrel tool to properly set the cylinder gap. You say the barrel is 23/4". That is VERY unusual. The length is measured from muzzle to forcing cone. Model 14 lengths were 21/4, 33/4, and 53/4". If yours is truly 23/4", it is perhaps specially made for a particular police department. Many collectors here would probably love to have it in their collections. Especially a porkchop lover in Kansas.
Thanks Ole Dog, you got me wondering how accurate the scale on the side of my Leatherman was, so i remeasured with a tape and got 2.25", haha. With the blemish on the barrel shroud i dont know how much it would be worth, but i was very happy for $175. More gun than a J-frame, thats for sure. What is the consensus on +p and +p+ with the Model 14? It is just marked .38 Special Ctg., but if it is the same frame and cylinder used in .357's, i cant see the hotter .38's being an issue. Thoughts?
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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+p's and +p+'s should be no problemo. Same gun and cylinder strength as a 357. Even with the stain , $175 is a great deal for a great shooter.
July 3, 2014
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Welcome to the forum. Good buy.
August 9, 2014
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Ole Dog said
+p's and +p+'s should be no problemo. Same gun and cylinder strength as a 357. Even with the stain , $175 is a great deal for a great shooter.
Thanks again, Ole Dog. The 14/15 are differentiated only by rear sights, correct? Same frame size and all that? Im looking at holsters and often see they are available for Model 15's. I want to be sure my gun will fit before i plunk down $70 on leather.
Dans Club
DWF Supporters
April 20, 2010
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Yep the frame size is the same, just that the model 14 has a fixed rear sight, and the front sight therefore is a bit shorter as well.
"The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the Wolf does not perform in the circus"
August 9, 2014
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January 24, 2009
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Ole Dog said
You say the barrel is 23/4". That is VERY unusual. .
There was a very specific reason for that 1/4" oddity...money.
The DW plant had "X" number of the "ugly nut" shrouds still on the shelves that nobody was interested in. The buyers had spoken. What do they do with all these shrouds?
Answer; "hide that nut!" 
So the fine folks at DW decided to lop off 1/4" (thickness of the nut) from the end of the barrel, and countersink the nut into the aforementioned shroud...
as seen here; https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/reference-files/barrel-differences-porkchop-vs-model-15-2/
And wah-lah! The pretty Porkchop is born! (I can hear angels singing) 
Now of course, Hibernia, your actual model may be a 14 as pictured in mine above, or it may be a 14-1. The rear "drift" sight is the most obvious difference between the 14 & fixed sight on the 14-1. The model 14 was available as either .38 or .357 back then, the photo above shows one of each. They are exactly 20 digits apart from each other.
August 9, 2014
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Mine does not have a blade rear sight, but a notch cut into a hump on the rear of the frame, the hump being only about half as long as the ones on your revolvers, Charger Fan. So that means i must have a 14-1? Thank you very much for the info. Great pair of revolvers, btw. Whats the story on the 14's in .38, were they for PD's that only issued .38's or something?
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January 24, 2009
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Hibernia said
Whats the story on the 14's in .38, were they for PD's that only issued .38's or something?
They were in the catalog as being available in .38 or .357, to the public. I assume that quite a few .38's did go to PD's, but no idea how many.
So your rear sight should look like this...
This is the sight used on the 14-1 & 14-2 (later style straight shroud). Yours should also have a 5-digit serial number stamped on the right side of the frame.
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