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June 13, 2014
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Well, I'm new to the wonderful world of Dan Wessons. I have a 14-2 serial # 319xxx (not sure of age but would love to know). So the gun started life as a 2.5" barrel that saw some heavy use before me, I even found what I believed to be dried salt from sweat under the old grip. I decided it needed a freshening. So I went through EWK and got a spring kit, all powers of hammer springs, both powers of trigger springs, a 4" extra heavy barrel from EWK (still wanting an EWK muzzle-brake), and a cocobolo hogue grip. I disassembled as per an old manual I found in pdf form, and replaced all of the springs. I set the barrel gap at .006", and took it to the range. First round shot great, second round 'click'... Ok wtf... I looked to find that it had struck to the left of center on the primer. Hmmmm. So I took it home, checked my work, checked the headspace, replaced the firing pin spring, and put in the factory weight spring (I had the 7.5lb at first). Took it back to the range, same problem. I noticed I have a fair amount of endplay, enough to change the spacing to where a .007" feeler would fit. I'm also noticing that I have a fair amount of rotational play side to side in the cylinder, more than the stickied post about checking out revolver tolerances would allow. So I'm thinking there is something going on in the cylinder, and I'd like to tighten it up somehow. The ball bearing is light enough that I can push it in with my thumbnail, it has a new spring and the backplate screw for it is screwed in 2-3 threads exposed, not flush as people have been saying. I'm out of my own ideas and hoping someone can give me a fresh perspective on what to do next so I can tighter the cylinder up and get it firing all rounds with no 'clicks' and hitting primers dead center each time so I can use my 7.5lb or 8lb. Any thoughts? I can provide pictures and any more details needed. I'm highly mechanically inclined, and though I'm not a gunsmith by profession, I have build other guns in the past for myself and dad. This however is my first rodeo in the revolver world, which is part of why I'm stumped. Any thoughts?
June 13, 2014
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When we say "flush to the frame" for the set screw, do we mean screwed all the way in till it stops? Also, a new hand spring was used, it has needed some trimming, but literally every single spring is brand new. If I can get it operating correctly I'll use SHOOT's polishing guide to smooth it up more still. Tonight I have also reset the headspace to .004 (tight) with the .003" fitting snuggly but able to slide in with not much force. Haven't tested yet, is this good or should I aim for .002"-.003"?
December 5, 2010
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I'm sort of new to the DW world and have light hit/double action misfires. Someone on another thread posted these links you might find helpful:
https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/revolvers/fixed-an-intermittent-double-action-misfire/
https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/reloading/light-strikes-in-double-action/
https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/reloading/hardsoft-primers-a-15-2/
https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/revolvers/interesting-problem-today/
Others on this site have advised me to check the tightness of the grip screw because they say if the grip screw is too tight or too long you may get double action misfires. I have this problem with my DW .357 small frame but I have not yet had a chance to go to the range and experiment with the grip screw.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Welcome to DWF, your 319xxx 14-2 is likely a 1981 gun. You are referring to "head space" in a context where we think "gap". The gap is the space between the front face of the cylinder and the rear face of the barrel (actually, the forcing cone). In any revolver the gap may vary from chamber to chamber, very few revolver cylinders are true and uniformly square on the front surface. Revolver manufacturers commonly set the gap to .006" to allow for minor variances chamber to chamber. When you set your B/C gap on a DW, check each chamber and gap no tighter than .002 on the tightest chamber.
My suggestion is to mark each chamber, and check to see if your off center strikes are consistent to one chamber, or if they occur randomly. Some amount of off center may not be a problem, is it off center enough that you are hitting well close to the edge of the primer? Factory ammo or reloads?
Stick with us, we can probably help with this problem.
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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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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Welcome to the forum. You have done a lot of research and on the right path. Steve has given you good advice. I have found the face of the cylinders usually very even. If you set the gape at .003 it will allow for expansion of the cylinder after heating up and binding on the proudest chamber. The 71/2lb. mainspring is notorious for FTF's. If your dan is truly well worn the timing could be off but best to rule out the easy stuff first. Ine good thing about a well used dan is that there will not be much polishing to do. Wolff springs (8 lb.) will do wonders. Many 14-2's were service revolvers and saw a lot of use at the range for practice and qualifying.
October 26, 2008
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Tyler Krich said
When we say "flush to the frame" for the set screw, do we mean screwed all the way in till it stops?
No the back of the screw should be flush or just below the part of the frame that it is screwed into.
As for your main problem, I'd like to see a picture of the primer and brass that is off center. Since it is apart, clean the spring and plunger for the bolt, the bolt itself and the frame area where the bolt goes along with the hole in the crane where the spring and plunger go. After cleaning and reassembling I'd like to know when the bolt snaps back up in terms of hammer or trigger travel (you can do it with the cylinder open) it should be approximately half way back. With the cylinder closed it should snap up just before or right at the beginning of the lead in for the bolt lock on the cylinder. Does it have a fair amount of tension and does it move within the frame freely up & down? Is it timed properly per description above?
Since you read the revolver checkout does the hand carry up and lock the cylinder before the SA sear engages or the DA strut releases?
June 13, 2014
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Well thank you for the information guys, I appreciate it! So let me tell you what I did and where I'm at. After posting this and reading, I found the problem was likely correlated with the detent ball and spring. Just for good measure while it was apart, I decided to take out that spring and double check I used the right one... Lo and behold, I did not... I used a firing pin spring. Idiot move! So I put in the proper spring and set it properly, double checked my gap (what I was calling head-space) and made sure it was set at .003"-.004", and did a little trimming on my brand new hand-spring cause it was putting weird pressure on the transfer bar in it's mostly untrimmed state. After reassembly, immediately I noticed my end-shake problem was cured, which was quite reassuring. So I took it to the range and fired a brief 12 rounds. All of them fired first try and mostly centered! So I considered this a success. All because of a little mistake I made! Should've figured it out a long time ago, but at least I got it running!
So as of the first test it fired fine. When I get paid I'm gonna go buy another 100-200 rounds of .38 winchester rounds and really throw this thing through the ringer and see if that much shooting can provoke a failure. Once I have that I'll let you guys know how it goes! Thanks for the help!
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Glad you figured it out- have fun!
Make sure you clean the cylinder well after shooting 38s. Firing 38s could produce carbon build up in the cylinder which would cause issues with the 357 chambering or extraction.
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
June 13, 2014
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Good to know, I'll give it a good scrubbing! I'm new to revolvers and the 38/357, so all the advice and wisdom is most certainly 
lol
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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Tyler, I too was new to revolvers when the DW bug bit me. Although I now have Rugers and others, none are as user friendly and as fun as Dans. I have more satisfaction cleaning and trouble shooting my Dans than firing them. Strange though, some people just cannot figure barrel/cylinder gapes, grip screws, etc. Before the DWF people just put them away in a drawer or safe when they screwed them up. That is one reason there are so many in fantastic shape available now.
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