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November 30, 2011
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About 2 months ago I purchased DW 357 with an 8 inch barrel. I really didn't know what I was buying I just like the looks of the gun. After a cursory cleaning I rushed off to the gun range, loaded it with some store bought and pointed it down range. It went boom, click, click, boom,click click.In single action it fired every time. The primer strikes were very light and off center. I performed a common man cleaning and went back to the range. The result were the same. After another review of the DW forum I ordered spring and tools from EWK Arms, excellent service, some additional spring from Wolff springs, good service and $85. worth of parts from Numrich, not ready for prime time service. All the springs in the gun looked to be new as if the previous owner had been down this road. Back to the range with the same results. By this time I am beginning to question my engineering degree and Rolex watch I bought on a street corner in NYC for $30. My cylinder had about .003 front to rear motion. If I set my barrel to cylinder, .006, with the cylinder held forward I could have up to .009 gap. If I set the gap with the cylinder held to the rear I could have as little as .003 gap. I chose the latter but I increased the ball detent to max. My off center hits increased dramatically. I determined that the bolt was not locking the cylinder every time. Not a good thing. I backed off the ball detent to minimum and replaced the hand. Off to the range and 100 rounds later without one miss fire and all center strikes. As you can tell I am long winded. But I want thank the members of the forum. Everything I did to resolve this problem came from some member of the forum in one post or another. I hope my experiecnce will help some one in the future.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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This is a pretty cool reflection of how DWF works. It's pretty rare that anyone here will say "you have to do ...".
Instead, lots of Members provide info, and pretty near EVERY time, a problem gets fixed.
This time we have a New Member with 2 posts, who matched his knowledge and skill and the DWF resources that he researched for himself, who fixed his problem and added to "what we know".
This does not happen everywhere!
The golfer, Welcome to DWF
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
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Range Officers
May 2, 2009
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Welcome to the DWF-- Another proven case that most DW problems can be addressed with a little TLC and help from the DWF brethren.
SHOOT
May 3, 2011
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Welcome to DWF. I agree this is a wonderful site to find remedies to some of our pistols problems. A hundred or more heads are better than one. I'm glad you were able to repair the problem. 
January 22, 2008
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Great post! This is what the DWF is all about!
February 20, 2008
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Great deal on the watch...usually go for $75.
Stay away fro the Three Card Monty.
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If you're going to drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.
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Range Officers
Dans Club
February 28, 2009
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Glad you were able to fix it. Even gladder that you were able to fix it because of information you learned here. This forum is truly an awesome (I can't believe I used that word) place and the members are a super bunch of guys.
Welcome to the DWF.
-Mike
February 11, 2010
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photohause said:
Great deal on the watch...usually go for $75.
Stay away fro the Three Card Monty.
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-Blacktop
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
September 1, 2010
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Welcome to the forum and to the world of DW. There are a lot of smart folks that hang out here with worlds of information about how and why a Dan Wesson works or why it's not working, best place for information on the net.
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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Please explain ball detent increase and decrease. I'm guessing that increase means to turn the screw in (clockwise) thereby increasing pressure on the spring, and vice versa for decrease.
I'm hoping this may be a fix for my similar problem.
Thanks!
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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You are correct about the increase and decrease but the issue in his case was the bolt- evident by the off center strikes. What's the issue you're having- you state similar, is it exact?
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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I don't know if my problem is exact, but I think it's very close. My 715 in DA was averaging 2 failure to fire out of every 6. I've replaced everything from EWK's small parts kit; checked the grip screw and cylinder clearance. This produced a reduced number of light strikes, but still at least 1 per 6. Nearly always fires in SA. The strikes are high and outside, pretty far off center. I have a 15-2 that strikes in the same spot, but fires every time in DA.
In the pencil test, my 715 will throw a 7 inch pencil clear of the 6 inch barrell in DA and SA! The 15-2 will not lift the same pencil more than about 1 inch.
The 715 was clearly well used, with a wide cylinder ring when purchased. The parts inside are worn very smooth (or polished by prior owner), especially the hand. The firing pin is the same length as the 15-2. The hands on both guns look exactly the same as far as size & shape. The trigger pull is noticeably lighter on the 715 than on the 15-2 even after new springs.
When I disassembled and compared both guns yesterday, I noticed that the ball detent screw on the 15-2 was backed out farther than the 715 screw. I had not thought about this screw as being an important adjustment until I read this thread in the process of systematically reading everything I had not previously read on the DWF about this problem - it's a lot of reading, but worth the time!
The bolt does seem to lock up the cylinder properly in DA and SA, at least as well as I can tell by untrained eye.
The ammo was all factory 357: Winchester, Remington, BVAC, no reloads. Interestingly, I did have a really old box of Remington 38 wadcutters that I tried and the 715 fired about 40 of them in DA before failing to fire.
My thinking now is that I had the pressure on the ball detent so high that it was keeping the cylinder too far from the firing pin. This may not be the whole problem, but could contribute to it. I have backed off on the ball detent screw, but it will be about a week before I can get to the range again, unless I get too anxious.
Any ideas are welcome. I can't think of anything else but to start replacing parts and I don't know where to go first, probably a new hand or send it to DW or a local gunsmith.
Sorry to co-opt this thread. That wasn't my intent. I was going to start a new discussion with this info once I hit a dead end.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Your point on this seems to make sense. You can crank that adjustment in enough to push the cylinder forward, still set a good gap, and get a light strike in an otherwise perfectly adjusted gun.
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
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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Thanks Steve. Now all I have to do is get to the range and find out. 
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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Well, I got tothe range yesterday and the 715 actually seems worse than before on light strikes! 
I'm not sure where togo now, except for massive part replacements. Maybe I should switch all of the internal parts from one of my working 15-2's and see if that makes a difference.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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After looking closely at the extractor I may have an answer to the problem. I should have looked at this before now!
Anyway - the hand seems to have worn significant grooves into the extractor just in front of each of the fingers that the hand pushes against in order to turn the cylinder. I tried to get a picture, but there's no way with my camera. These grooves do not appear on my 15-2's. I'm guessing that this would affect the timing and so produce off-center and light strikes.
I think this goes back to the fact that this gun was very well used before I got it. As I said, the hand and the bolt are also well worn (or polished).
Has anyone else noticed such a wear pattern on the face of the extractor?
As far as I can tell, a new extractor is "factory fit only."
Is it possible that a new hand and bolt could fix the problem?
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Dans Club
Range Officers
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July 2, 2011
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Nice post Golfer. You're just down the road from me. What range do you frequent? BTW, I got a PhD a Rolex and an iPad for 25 bucks in Oak Cliff. It pays to buy local! 
To the paranoid people who check behind shower curtains for murderers:
if you find one...what's your plan?
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DWF Supporters
October 11, 2009
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Golfer Arlington here also ,where do you shoot at. Ar-tex
Dans Club
December 5, 2008
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After trying everything, I spoke with Keith at DW and my 715 is on its way to them for reveiw and repair. Hopefully just a new extractor and shims for the cylinder. 
I was surprised by the shipping cost - $98 one way Fed Ex. 
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