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December 13, 2014
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Hello Everyone!
I am new to the forum and to Dan Wesson ownership. I have gotten a "new to me" Dan Wesson large frame in .41 Magnum. The gun appears to have been fired, but not greatly. It has some indication that it has been apart at some time as well, but apparently done by someone who at least was careful.
I took my "new" gun to the range and fired my standard target .41 Magnum round. Starline brass, 7.5 grains Unique, CCI large magnum primer, 210 grain plated bullet. (The same round I shoot in my other .41s). The gun is the most accurate .41 I have.
After shooting about 120 rounds I had about 10 misfires. In DA only, the firing pin appears to strike in different places (timing?). Sometimes on the edge of the primer, causing a misfire, sometimes on the edge of the brass cartridge case itself. Sometimes perfectly centered and deep, as it should. Seems to do this MOSTLY, but not exclusively, on one chamber (I marked it to check).
After reading this forum, I checked the grip screw tightness. Fired again. Tight or loose, no improvement. Still misfires at least one round every 2 or three cylinders.
I am a little reluctant to disassemble the gun, but may do so next. Externally, the gun is not terribly dirty, and about 200 rounds should not have fouled it that much (even with Unique powder).
Is there a thread here that address this problem? I tried to search and found many for the smaller frames, but not as much about the large frames. Can anyone direct me, or suggest my next fix to try?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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Welcome! First thing is check is the barrel gap. If it's too tight it could rub as the gun heats up causing drag that could throw off the timing. You will need a barrel tool for that. If you don't have one, see the link for EWK Arms and get one of his, best you can buy. Gap should be .006" on the tighest chamber. Others will be along with more suggestions.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
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DWF Supporters
October 14, 2010
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Start with Scorpios advise. If you still have the same problem make sure the gun is unloaded and dry fire it in double action. After the dry fire see if you can turn the cylinder by hand.
If lockup is only good in single action then the double action fly on the hammer may have been bubba'd by someone causing the hammer to fall before the chamber to fire is in position.
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December 13, 2014
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Well I'm back.
Finally got to the range today and shot about 50 rounds. The gun is still doing the same thing. Barrel to cylinder gap not the issue. Tried it with small gap and large gap. Still did the same thing. Used a barrel gap tool.
When I tried the dry fire test as recommeneded by Hosspower's suggestion; out of numerous dry fires, one time I was able to move the cylinder.
Seems to be doing the behavior in single action now too.
I am really reluctant to tear into it. I'm handy, but have never torn into a revolver's guts before. But I also hate to go to a gunsmith.
Anyone have any more suggestions?
December 19, 2014
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Another thing to test. UNLOAD GUN. Check again. Put gun in full lockup (pull hammer back to lock, release hammer with full trigger squeeze lowering hammer to frame gently, keep trigger squeezed full back). In this condition, if you hold the gun sideways up to a light, you should see the firing pin fully protruded into the top cylinder. Keeping the gun in this condition, try to move the cylinder, concentrically, back-and-forth, side-to-side (both near the front and rear). Too much movement isn't good, there might be a little (in the thousands of an inch kind of thing) which is typical. Do this for all cylinder positions. Report back and we'll go from there.
Just throwing out some possibilities (independent of what the result of the above test): bad/broken firing pin spring, bad/broken bolt plunger spring, messed-up cylinder lockup bolt.
Someone will most likely have to tear into this.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
December 13, 2014
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Middlecalf,
Thanks for the suggestion. Did what you said. Compared the movement to two other revolvers I have, seemed about like them. The Dan Wesson cylinder movement was more than my LCR, but less than my S&W 66-4. One cylinder position MIGHT have a little more movement than the other 5, but it was slight if at all.
Any other ideas? I'm willing to try almost anything to avoid taking it somewhere or tearing into it myself.
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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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Has the gun had a good cleaning and lube recently? Maybe try some oil down by the bolt and a drop or two put in the hand slot and again with the hammer cocked, drop a few drops of gun oil down by the hammer pivot. If that doesn't free up the action, then I think its time to tear into it to look for worn or damaged parts.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
December 19, 2014
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I'd try Scorpio's suggestions next. It looks like you've eliminated any issues with cylinder movement causing timing issues. If that doesn't work, I think you're going to have to pull the side plate off at a minimum to see what the insides look like. Could just need a could cleaning.
December 13, 2014
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Back again,
Took the gun into the gunsmith yesterday, he said he would disassemble and do a thorough cleaning and check to see if anything was out of spec and advise me on what he thought the problem might be if the cleaning didn't fix it. Said he thought he had seen a problem like this before, and it may be a weak spring that needed replaced.
Wish me luck!
Dans Club
April 18, 2014
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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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December 13, 2014
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Back again,
Looks like it's fixed. Gunsmith said he replaced a spring which made the cylinder stop pawl engage the cylinder. Said the spring was weak and was not locking the cylinder in place, thus not aligning properly. Took it to the range and fired about 100 rounds through it and it functioned properly. It did seem to like full power rounds better than my light hand loads, but that might have just been me.
Thanks to everyone who made suggestions to try to help.
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Glad to hear it's to your liking. I would suppose the cleaning did more for the gun than the bolt plunger spring, but either way- it's time to go shooting again eh?
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
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