Register
Log In
Home
December 6, 2010
Offline
Hello all,
I just joined your site. I have 2 Dan Wesson pistols. Both are stainless steel, engraved, zebra grips, 8" barrel, in foam boxes with warranty cards, and barrel tools and gages.
One is a 44 mag. engraved with a bear and moose. The other is a 22lr engraved with a rabbit and a fox. Both were made in Monson,MA. The model numbers on the boxes are 44vh and 22vh. They are in excellent condition and rarely fired.
Both have serial numbers with a pre fix of WGS.
Can someone provide information on them such as year made and value?
Thanks
August 28, 2009
Offline
Mark –
Welcome to the Forum. I also inquired on the engraved set that you just purchased over in Titusville but you had gotten to them a little quicker than I did. Please check the finish again - I may be wrong but I'm not so sure that they are stainless. They appear to be plated with some type of finish similar to other special run Dan Wessons we have come across.
I dont believe that anyone has come across another set like this and would tend to guess that they were a one-off special order for someone. Special editions and commemoratives tend to be a mixed bag regarding valuations. Some commemoratives/special editions such as selected colts hold their value or increase in value very well over time, while others do not and often actually decrease in value. Furthermore, once a commemorative/ special edition gun has been fired, its value is drastically reduced and is often valued less than a standard production firearm of the same type and condition.
The set that you have is very unique – they are certainly worth what you paid for them. As far as a value, commemoratives and special editions are very difficult because they appeal to a select group of collectors and the value is basically what the market will bear. The best way to determine that is to put them up on the auction block and the market will determine their value (you can determine a price, the market will determine their value).
Please also post some pics of them on the forum so everyone can see the nice looking set of guns you have.
Sorry i wasn't much help, but on this set of guns you have I don't think anyone can accurately evaluate them – the market will determine that.
Range Officer
Range Officers
Dans Club
March 27, 2009
Offline
Yip we want to see them!
My question is did you buy to shoot or to collect or maybe flip? I am with Harley on this one I have watched them roll over and over on auction sites....
February 20, 2008
Offline
Welcome and enjoy the forum from a fellow Fl member!
Regards -Photo
If you're going to drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.
Supporter
Moderators
January 24, 2009
Offline
Sounds like they are commemorative DW's & could be from either Norwich, Palmer or Monson eras....
The "Large game" series seem to most popular amongst today's online sellers, although I have often wondered what sort of small game examples are out there that are still relatively unknown...
Here's a shot of two "Big Game" examples (open in new window for full zize);
The Big Bear...
And Big Sheep...
Range Officer
Range Officers
Dans Club
February 9, 2009
Offline
I would be very interested to see the real thing too since it involves some game animals I have yet to see on a Dan Wesson. I agree with harly, maybe a special one off request?
A man cannot have too many SuperMags
December 6, 2010
Offline
Thanks to all for the information. I'll try to post some pics tonight.
I took them to a reputable gun dealer in the area that had some knowledge on DW's. He said they are stainless steel and were made between 1971-1975. I did aquire them a few months back, but I am not so sure they are the same pistols that Harly beleives they are as they were not purchased in Titusville. Harly is right that they were mostly likely special order for someone.
They are great pistols and were shot before I bought them. I have fired the the 44 mag. and it is a great shooter. Glad to be a first time owner of DW's.
Hopefully when I post pics it will help bring out more information.
Thanks and great forum you have here that has a lot of useful information.
January 22, 2008
Offline
I would be very surprised if the guns you purchased were made in the seventies. Dan Wesson's were produced with the external barrel nut during this time and the 44 Magnum wasn't even introduced until 1980 or so.
I have seen articles on commemorative DW's from around 1990 and again around 2000. What we need to know is where the guns were manufactured. This will give us a time frame to start with.
Jody
DWF Supporters
Dans Club
Moderators
November 17, 2008
Offline
to the 
. Sounds like an interesting pair of DW's you have. can't wait to see some pics.
LB
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
August 28, 2009
Offline
These are Monson guns.
Mark -
The set I inquired on were over near the space center in the Cocoa area. I figured it HAD to be the same set and the chances of 2 of these sets on the market in FL at the same time would be nill! Anyway, throw some pics up so we can all get a look at them!!
That Big Sheep set looks familiar 
. They sure were a finely crafted set of arms there!!
December 6, 2010
Offline
December 6, 2010
Offline
I just uploaded some pics and got a message moderator notified.
Anyway I still am trying to determine the year of manfacture. On the CZ-USA site it states that the 44 mag began production in 1977 and I've seen other sites where people have original papers for theirs from 1979. The ones I have were made in Monson.
Maybe its a (DW) long shot in the dark, but hopefully someone can determine the year. The boxes are labeled with the matching serial numbers and have the words"bright blue finish" lined out.
Harly, the Big Sheep and the Big Bear should look famiilair to you.
December 6, 2010
Offline
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
Offline
Large Frame (.44 Magnum) was introduced in late 1980. Stainless debuted in August 1982 with the Model 715 in .357 Magnum.
WGS is very likely a custom serial number requested by the purchaser, does it have several digits in the S/N, or is it a "-x" type S/N?
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
Range Officer
Range Officers
Dans Club
February 9, 2009
Offline
Very intersting revolvers to be sure. Great find there! I doubt you'll have much chance of finding another like it. Thanks for sharing those pics.
SMF
A man cannot have too many SuperMags
Supporter
Moderators
January 24, 2009
Offline
Thanks for posting your pics! These are very interesting, not a version I've seen before. The guns had to have been engraved somewhere other than at Heritage. The finish & engraving style looks a lot like the "1st & 2nd run" .44's that were presumably a DW factory deal...
Since your boxes have "bright blue finish" crossed out, I have to assume that your guns are steel & are coated with the same type of "Dove Grey" finish as the gun I've pictured here.
Also, your .44 has the short hammer spur that was used on the .44's for the first year or so. So going from the hammer spur & finish style, I would say that your .44 is probably an '80 ~ 81 manufacture. I forget when the .22's were introduced, but considering the engraving & finish similarities, those two couldn't have been made very far apart from each other.
December 6, 2010
Offline
Thanks Steve and Jody.
It's the "X" type s/n.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
Offline
Those are almost certainly special order guns with custom serial numbers. I know of about fifty DW revolvers that have similar S/N's. People would order identical guns in different calibers, with identical S/N's. Identical S/N's were allowable because they were in different calibers/models.
From the photos, maybe yours are Armolloy or Dove Grey that have been engraved, and very beautifully engraved!
As a side note on custom S/N's, the man who supplied me with the DW Custom S/N list also gave me some info on some other custom Serial Numbered firearms:
FDR-1 a Garand rifle presented to Franklin Delano Roosevelt
DDE-1 an M-14 presented to Dwight David Eisenhower
JFK-1 an M-16 being built for John F. Kennedy, destroyed shortly after his assasination
This same gentleman knows of a custom S/N 15-2 owned by a man in Maine, who refused an offer of $4000 for his unfired revolver about 10 years ago.
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
December 6, 2010
Offline
1 Guest(s)
