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January 22, 2008
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As I made my daily rounds of the other forums I came across these photo's on the Colt Forum. They are calling this a Colt factory experimental prototype of the Trooper MKIII. It's obvious that this is a Colt copy of a DW. Definitely not as massive as a DW!
Just thought it was interesting and worth sharing.
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January 24, 2009
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How about that, seems like that interchangeable barrel idea was almost catching on.
That's a pretty cool find. I bet it didn't come cheap.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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I believe that some of the recent S&W Performance Center offerings are also DW type barrel/shroud designs, but that parts are not readily available to "do it yourself".
Steve
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 17, 2008
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I wonder if DW ever patented that design?
And if so, does CZ hold the patent and therefore have the ability to license it's use out?
January 22, 2008
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I believe the patents have long since expired so I would think anyone could use them. I might be mistaken though.
Here is an old post on DW Patents.
November 14, 2023
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The gun looks great and as stated above this is a cool find. I bet it wasn't cheap. Indeed it is, as gun parts are hard to make and you have to find the right mim factory to produce them from drawings
I often make some gun parts, gun metal parts usually have some special properties, so they are usually made of special alloys, the manufacturing cycle of gun parts is very long, which is mainly limited by the level of craftsmanship, gun parts need to be precision machined and surface treated, some parts are made by MIM process to ensure their accuracy and reliability.
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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😁, I think the Colt Lawman (fixed sight version of the MK III) was made prior to Dan Wesson. I would have to check the factory letter that came with that gun when I won it on Gunbroker. Karl Lewis offered the design to Colt but they declined. Lewis held the patents, and yes, they have expired but I read that Bob Serva traded the rights to S&W to use on their X frame and Scandium guns as part of the deal where S&W was to make frames and DW the BAs. That deal went south wheen Serva sold DW to CZ. The 36 prototypes of 6 different calibers were divided up by Serva among executives and family. I have a 22lr, 357 Magnum and a 44 Magnum. Manurhin and Korth, among others also copied the barrel and shroud setup. Janz too.
October 17, 2017
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Wow; very interesting find. The gun was actually made on a MK V Lawman frame from the looks of the grip, which places its manufacture sometime after 1982. The MK V action was Colt’s first “short action” design, and was an improvement over the MK lll. I’m told the performance is similar in feel to a DW. I can only guess that the shroud was made from a Python blank. Barrel? No idea.
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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I never took the shroud and nut off to see. IIRC, the slots don't fit a DW barrel tool. I believe the shroud is aluminum.
October 17, 2017
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This is only conjecture of course, but I’m thinking this revolver was made sometime during the Colt strike of the mid 1980’s. While SCAB labor was doing their best to keep things running, a few of the “executives” got together (on their own time) and made this one off gun to prove to themselves that Colt’s could have indeed made Karl R. Lewis’ dream come true. Just a prototype; too little too late.
October 26, 2008
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I think since CZ now owns both that it would be cool to get a new Python pistol pac. I did the DW conversion back in August to an old Python that I picked up that had a bulged barrel. Worked out very well. Used a small frame nut and had to turn a rifled blank for it but now it’s interchangeable just like a DW.
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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October 17, 2017
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WAAAY COOL!!!!!! Nice work!!
February 16, 2016
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superdan said
I did the DW conversion back in August to an old Python ... now it’s interchangeable just like a DW.
Sweet job !
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January 24, 2009
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Wow, that's really cool! Thanks for the 
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DWF Supporters
June 11, 2016
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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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I saw a Tarus tonight that had a barrel nut and removable barrel and shroud.
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
Dans Club
December 7, 2020
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superdan said
I think since CZ now owns both that it would be cool to get a new Python pistol pac.....
They would need a new snake name for the gun. Since it would have many B/As, my first thought would be "Medusa"
Not a snake name, but what's left that they have not used?
August 20, 2019
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Steve said
I believe that some of the recent S&W Performance Center offerings are also DW type barrel/shroud designs, but that parts are not readily available to "do it yourself".Steve
I wonder if S&W doesn't want the owners to have the ability to change barrels for liability issues or it's monetarily motivated. I suspect they fear some knucklehead would hurt themselves by not doing it properly and sue.
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