I was a late-comer to the Dan Wesson Six-gun. My very modest collection of ex-cop .38/.357 Service Revolvers, that started in the early 80's, never took me in the direction of a Dan Wesson. In the deep south, the Dan Wesson .357 was usually a six-incher used by a few sportsmen for deer hunting, but not any law enforcement that I was aware of. I had read of the accuracy factor of the DW but personally knew of no one I could verify this data with. In the 80's, the availability of PD-trade-ins was abundant and at a cheap price. I really had a field-day back then collecting most of the major six-guns used by lawmen. One day (Nov. 22, 1997) I ran into a Dan Wesson Model 11 sitting in a local pawnshop. As students/owners of the first production DW's know, the Models 11 & 12 were very unique in outside appearance. The Model 11, of this post , still had the original walnut finger-groove combat grips and the corrugated 'exposed' barrel nut on the end of its barrel. This feature was common the the first two DW-Models (11&12) but in 1997 I wasn't familiar with the DW history and was taken back by its appearance. While doing some serious eye-balling of this Model 11, I remembered reading about the accuracy factor of the DW line. This double-action, fixed sight, .357 Revolver was unlike any model I had ever seen. The blue finish was superb then and I loved the grip-fit to my shooting hand. I was taken back by the outside profile with the ultra-high front sight and the dovetail rear sight and the cylinder release button mounted on the cylinder yoke. It was different, to say the least and my friend behind the counter had helped me make my mind up by offering to sell it to me for 185-dollars out-the-door. The rest, from that point on, was Dan Wesson history for myself. All of the previously read data by myself on the DW would prove to be absolutely true. As a senior lawman, I was allowed/grand-fathered in with the service revolver in 1992 when our agency converted over to the S&W 4586 from the S&W Model 66. I found the fixed sight Model 11 to be one of the 'most' accurate 4-inch six-guns I have "ever" shot. This would lead me to start serious study on the Dan Wesson design/history and to acquire several other DW Models. This Model 11 (serial # 1131) has served me as my duty arm on many occasions and has allowed me some 'coveted' bragging rights in the monthly service pistol matches, conducted by our local PD. In doing research on the early Dan Wesson's I would come to realize/find out that there is not a whole lot out there to get. What I did find out concerning the accuracy of the Dan Wesson was this; I got higher scores shooting my Model 11 than I did using other make/model double-action revolvers. The short hammer drop took some getting use to but after that I was able to outgun some of my brother officers, who were born with Glocks in their hands, at the service pistol matches. I hope you enjoy the pictures here and sorry for the length of this post as this old lawman can get carried away talking about his 'Buck Rogers Ray Gun' as one of my older friends referenced it. Thanks for your patience and thanks to to the fine men who keep this forum up and running. They truly deserve our loyalty, friendship, and donated funds to keep this going here!

David

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedInShare on Pinterest