Some of my friends here know that I'm a fan of the oldest of the old school Dan Wessons (11 & 12). Mr. Dans original brainchilds! One of the reasons the core group here created this "great" website was to try and carry on the DW tradition and also coordinate the DW data and weed out fact from "I think" or "I believe" to "I KNOW!" These fellas deserve our support in any way they need it.  There is some dated printed material out there on DW Firearms that is not accurate or in error. Seen many threads on this subject here at DW Forum and have, in my modest resources, some of this error filled books/magazines on Dan Wesson six-guns.

There is one subject though that an old cop would love to get his hands on and that subject is the story of and about the .38 Special Dan Wesson Model 11 of the early 70's era. The who, what, where, and how of the entire background to the four-inch fixed barrel (or so is reported) .38 Dan Wesson of the NYPD. Listed below here, just to narrow it down to a couple of very basic questions I would love answers to;

1-Who contacted Mr. Dan from the NYPD about the "special-order" Model 11's chambered in .38 Special and when.

2-The specifications of this Model 11 sasquatch/lochness!

3-How many new rooks purchased the Model 11 and "any" feedback about the same.

4-The serial numbers of these NYPD contract 11's.

I understand that Massad Ayoob may know something of this subject and I can only hope he reads a brother-officers respectful request here for some data on the NYPD Model 11 of 1971. Maybe he would sound off here so I can sleep peacefully and start that book on the Model 11 that I've been wanting to pull-the-trigger on, sort-of-speak. I know him to be a very busy man but maybe if any member here knows him could ask, in my behalf, about this matter. In the American Handgunner Jan./Feb. 1978 in an article titled; Shooting the Dan Wesson Massad wrote of the Model 11 in this way; "In a fixed sight revolver, if you've got a Model 11 with the dovetail rear sight, you've got something special." He (Ayoob) follows with a comment about the dovetail sight being adjustable (somewhat) and real good for PPC Matches that required fixed sight service revolvers. Massad says; "this is why early Dan Wessons (Model 11) were prized by combat shooters in matches that required fixed sight service or off-duty guns."

Massad is familiar with the Model 11 from personal involvement with it. Another magazine article by Massad, dated around 1990, referenced the NYPD Model 11 with a 1-way lock-nut barrel "specifically for NYPD approval." Massad knows the 11, or a lot more than I know, and it would be great to pick his brain on this and his experience with the same.

To me, this is an important portion of early DW history that there seems to be precious little data avaliable. No use in calling NYPD Equipment Bureau where the duty pistols are sold. The person on the NYPD end didn't know "what" a Dan Wesson Model 11 was or its significance with the NYPD. They did know though the S&W Model 64 and Ruger GP-100 both in .38 Special. It would seem that a few revolver toters at NYPD still live, thank goodness!

Its like this subject and other important DW data has went down a bottomless hole and the few people who do know don't surf the DW Forum and the valuable information they possess will disappear forever if not shared! I'm sure some of them are aware of this website and yet don't/won't/can't step forward and help!

Thanks my friends...................David

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