
January 22, 2013

A fellow gun enthusiast on my local shooting forum recommended I join and ask you all your thoughts on the issue with this firearm. My local forum provided me with some great pointers, but they figured with this being manufacturer specific.....you guys might have some better insight.
Gun is a Dan Wesson 15-2 357 mag......somewhere around a 1976-78 model, belongs to a friend. It seemed as though the timing had gotten off, you couldn't pull the trigger more than a couple times and the cylinder wouldn't turn.
Gun was taken completely apart and put back together. There is apparently a spring that assists the cylinder with turning. That spring had somehow gotten out of place. After reassembly, the timing seems to be correct again......cylinder turns fine. But today he had a fail to fire, and it doesn't look like the firing pin made good contact. These two rounds were from the same cylinder load, and as you can see......it is the same ammo. (the left is the FTF, right casing was fired) Also, it was the third round that didn't fire. He loaded the gun and shot it 3-4 times, only had the 1 FTF.
Opinions? Might there be issues beyond the timing issue that seems to be resolved now? In need of a tune-up with new springs/hardware?

Range Officer

Range Officers

Dans Club
March 27, 2009

Imo it looks like the FTF may be in the firing pin area. At times these can be gunked up! We have a thread on here called the average Joe Tune up, plus a parts kit (springs and such) from EWK may be in order!
A big is in order, plus a glad you stopped by! Know that others will chime soon on this!
Link to tune up! https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/reloading/tuning-up-your-15-2-the-average-joe-method/

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Range Officer

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DWF Supporters

Dans Club
December 4, 2011

Was he shooting single action or double action? If the light strikes occured in double action, its possible that the grip screw is too tight. That screw threads up into the main spring seat and if over tightened, can cause light strikes, especially in double action. Anytime I have a light strike with any of my Dan's, I start by removing the grip and only tightening the scew just past finger tight.
I've also had hard primers, particularly CCI that can give problems, made worse by weak springs, or dirt in the firing pin channel.
BTW welocme and like your choice of screen name.
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

January 22, 2013

Thanks for the replies so far, both have some great tips/suggestions.......exactly what I was looking for.
Does anyone have a schematic for the 15-2?
The ammo used is Remington UMC. And the weapon is normally fired single/double.....so being the third round, it was double action.
Keep the suggestions/ideas coming!

November 23, 2008

Greetings and Welcome to the site !
That is a definite light strike. The advice given is right and what I would be looking for.
On a day like it is here today (14 degrees plus wind chill) I would have also said frozen oil in the firing pin channel.
Mike in ILL till 28 Jan

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Dans Club
February 22, 2009

Here's a link to a schematic: http://www.longhunt.com/schematics/popup_danwessonrev.html
x2; The Ave. Joe Tuneup is a great tutorial.
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....

November 12, 2012

I found this disassembly/assembly guide very helpfull, when I picked my DW apart.
https://www.danwessonforum.com/wp-content/uploads/DW%20Disassembly.PDF

September 9, 2012

RichardCranium said
Thanks for the replies so far, both have some great tips/suggestions.......exactly what I was looking for.![]()
Does anyone have a schematic for the 15-2?
The ammo used is Remington UMC. And the weapon is normally fired single/double.....so being the third round, it was double action.
Keep the suggestions/ideas coming!
Will this help you?
http://stevespages.com/pdf/danwesson_142152.pdf
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