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December 9, 2014
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Finally got the opportunity, well made the time, to get my 15-2 to the range today. Call it a late Christmas present to myself.
First impression: glad it fired! Seriously, I am such a newbie as this is my first revolver and I have taken it apart and put it back together several times, so I'm just glad it operated as it should have. I have installed Wolff springs (7.5 hammer) and gone through the AJT while trying to locate a sticky trigger problem. Thanks to all who guided me through these issues.
Being fairly new to firearms, I was a little shaky even putting the .38 special through. It was a box of Magtech 158g FMC-Flat that I got at the same gun show I picked up the Dan. I want to blame all the hiccups at the range on the ammo, but don't know if it's user error or my gun.
The first thing I noticed after the initial cylinder was fired (SA) was the release seemed difficult. I literally pulled all the casings out by hand because the release lever didn't seem to budge them. I thought it should be much smoother and easier to release the spent casings, but I eventually had to push the release lever quite hard, smack it almost, with my right hand to get the casings out. I want to blame this on the ammo, and the fact that maybe it was cheap brass or some alloy that expanded too much and caused the stickiness.
Next observation: some rounds did not fire. This never seemed to be an issue in SA. Maybe 4 or 5 rounds did not fire the first time in DA. I retired them in SA and they fired. This leads me to believe that maybe the 7.5 hammer spring is too light for my gun, and I should try the 8 Wolff or factory.
Third observation: the trigger stuck once in DA. I was unsure what to do with a live round in there, so I manually pulled the trigger forward. I think the adjustment screw on the back of the trigger needs to be a hair further out to prevent this from happening again.
Upon cleaning it at home I removed the side plate and noticed (sadly) that the trigger return spring had slipped back onto the cylinder hand pin - an issue I have had since the beginning and even bent the new Wolff spring slightly to alleviate.
At the range I sighted it between 15' and 25' and it was very accurate by the end, however I ran out of ammo!
All in all it was a blast to shoot and I'm very happy. I can't wait to get some more ammo and get back to the range! That brings me to my final thoughts for you fine folks:
1) Why, oh why, do you think the trigger return spring keeps slipping off it's proper groove? I know it was from the percussive force of firing live rounds, but before I bent it, it would slip off all the time. Is there a chance I installed it improperly? Maybe the pin it sits on is bent and forcing it at an unwanted angle?
2) What type of ammo do you shoot at the range and where do you source it? I'm looking for some cheap .38sp and .357 so I can get back and try and diagnose some of these issues, and have a little fun while I'm doing it!
December 9, 2014
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Thanks for all the feedback!
Dans Club
DWF Supporters
April 20, 2010
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For the fail to fires I would step back up to a heavier hammer spring.
Regarding the trigger return spring, did you have any trouble with the original spring? I have one old DAn that refused to work with a Wolff spring it kept slipping off like yours. I went back to the original one which really worked fine.
I reload my own ammo now, but if I bought target ammo I shot whatever they had. I like American Eagle as much as any for decent cheap target ammo. Be sure your chambers are clean, maybe there is some old black crud stuck to the walls that is sticking your brass?
"The lion and the tiger may be more powerful, but the Wolf does not perform in the circus"
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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Ditto on the crud in the chamber. It also could be oil in the chambers. Do you wipe them dry. Try different brands of ammo too. A brass bore brush in your electric drill is the easy way to scour the chambers. It is very discouraging to keep getting cases stuck. Use a pencil if they are balky. Pushing hard on the ejector can bend it. I have some 22 mag revolvers that do it. Fine emery on a dowel on the drill is the ultimate remedy if you have rough chambers. I am wondering if someone polished the hand , side plate or trigger to much and there is a little play that is letting the spring slip.
February 29, 2012
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I would take a copper/brass cleaning brush and using some Hoppes really clean the revolver cylinders well. Carbon and gunk tends to build up in the cylinder when shooting inexpensive low pressure target 38 special. Especially so if you change between 38 special and 357, giving you a good ring of crud at the end of the cartridge. This can make extraction very sticky after firing even the lightest loads.
After the cylinder is good and clean, examine the charge holes carefully for any rough machining marks. If required you can polish them up some by spinning a brush with a spot of JB bore paste. You could also use Mothers mag polish, Simichrome, or even Flitz metal polish on the brush. Use moderation of course and don't go crazy here.
I have had to go so far as to chuck a Hoppes #9 soaked copper cleaning brush into a drill, and spin it to get really bad cylinder fouling out of a few very used revolvers I purchased, that looked to have never been cleaned. After doing this one time cleanup job, I don't have to resort to spinning the brush in a drill again as long as I regularly cleaned the revolver after range use.
As to the light strikes in double action... I had a similar experience with my Dan Wesson revolver. When I took mine apart, I found that someone had cut quite a few coils off of the main/hammer spring in my gun, leaving me with an extremely light main spring. The revolver always worked in single action mode if you manually cocked the hammer, but it was a crap shoot if it would fire or not in double action mode, often requiring multiple hits. It worked some of the time with store bought ammo, but if I wanted 100% reliability, I could only shoot my own reloads using Federal primers.
In an attempt to fix this situation, I tried swapping out the cut spring with a Wolf 7½ lb spring, and the gun worked better, but it still was not 100%. Next I went up to the 8 lb Wolf spring, and the revolver worked even better still, (most of the time) but I would still got a few rare failures to fire in double action mode using store bought ammo.
So I ordered a factory weight 9 lb spring from Dan Wesson/CZ-USA and installed that in the revolver. The gun always fires now in double action mode with the 9 lb spring installed - even with hard primers. Many others have found success using the lighter 7½ and 8 lb springs, so perhaps I was just unlucky. It works quite well now though, and is 100% reliable with factory ammunition.
- Bullwolf
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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Thank you Bullwolf for very detailed directions on fixing sticky chambers. I am one of those folk who has good luck with the 8 lb. Spring. I think the biggest help is the Wolff trigger spring and not the main spring .
December 9, 2014
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lonwolf93 said
For the fail to fires I would step back up to a heavier hammer spring.Regarding the trigger return spring, did you have any trouble with the original spring?
I will step up to the 8lb spring for my next range sessions.
The original spring was slipping as well, and the Wolff seems to have a crisper return so I'll stick with that (probably return to the range in a few weeks).
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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Bullwolf,
I have a new to me 722 with the sticky trigger issue. Fortunately I had read your posts and other members' advice before getting the gun, so I knew right away what it was. I'm still tweaking the screw to get exactly the right setting. However, I have found that if the trigger sticks, a slight pull back on the hammer with your thumb, not much and certainly not enough to fire a round, will release the stuck trigger. Works every time for me.
Is it possible that pulling the trigger forward by hand when it stuck could have caused the spring to slip out of position? Maybe someone here knows??
Is your trigger loose fitting such that it has any significant left to right play? It is possible that a prior owner did some "custom" work on the trigger and thereby caused the problem. I guess it would be hard to tell without another one to compare.
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