Hey Guys,

I am a new to the Forum and new to the world of Dan Wesson revolvers. Im from Brisbane Australia and became a Dan Wesson owner almost by accident. It all began when I was on my way to an outdoors store in Brisbane to pick up some hiking boots. In the area where the store was, I saw a gun store that I had not noticed before. Being an avid shooter I had to go in for a look. I had been planning on adding a revolver to my collection for a while and was thinking about either a GP100 or a SW686.

In the display I saw a Palmer Dan Wesson 715 fb with a 4inch barrel. I knew nothing about these revolvers and picked it up for a look and feel. I was immediately impressed by its feel, balance, and nice trigger. This revolver was very beat up with scratches all over the stainless finish a few dings in the metal and a broken front sight. The ticket price was $550 which is not bad in our market here in Australia.

There were brand new Taurus revolvers next to the Dan which I inspected also. Even though they were brand new, they did not have the same feel of quality and the tolerances were not as nice as this Dan. I picked up the Dan again and felt drawn to it. I asked the store owner to put it aside for me while I went about my research. Online I came across this fantastic forum and learnt that Dan’s have quite a cult following.

I could not find very many negative things said about the Dan’s online at all and those who owed one raved about them. Needless to say, I went back a few days later and checked the mechanics on the Dan and all was well. Timing, hammer, trigger, all good. Just a broken front sight and a lot of cosmetic flaws. But I saw it not as it was, but what it could be. A perfect candidate for my first restoration project. With that said, I put a deposit on the Dan.

This forum taught me everything I needed to know about Dan revolvers and a few you tube videos about stainless revolver finish restoration I felt confident I could take on the task of restoring this nice gun. My biggest challenge was finding parts and sights. I came across Eric Wesson website as a result of this forum. Eric was awesome and accommodated me in shipping some front sights in a few colors to me here in Australia. Thanks Eric! I will order some more sights soon.

I also ordered a new rubber and nylon hoage grip from hoage and they arrived in a few weeks. I plan to get some nice rosewood checkered grips from them soon also. The day finally arrived when my permit paperwork was approved and I was able to pick up my new Dan. I took her straight to the range and tried her out. I was blown away (no pun intended) by how well she shot even with hot 357 loads. Instead of a snappy flip as had been my experience with gp100 it was more of a push with a big boom and fire ball. Shoots beautifully.

I have not done any serious accuracy testing yet as upon installing the front site when I tightened the front set screw, the front sight leans to the right. Anyone else had this issue? I was puzzled on why this was happening. I spoke to the store who referred me to Ken at KG customs in Brisbane, a local gunsmith. I spoke to Ken on the phone and found out that he had actually performed a tune up and trigger work on my Dan when the store had first acquired it.

Ken did some filling and fitting on the front sight and it is now sitting a little straighter. Ken didn’t even charge me for this. He is an awesome guy. I will take it back to him however, as on closer inspection the front site is still leaning a little and may need some more fitting.

On the stainless finish restoration I used 900 grit wet and dry, a little oil and rubbed away bringing up the clean bushed look again. A scotch bright pad got rid of the burn rings on the front of the cylinder and some frog lube solvent and treatment cleaned her up nicely.

She still needs some finishing touches such as a new rear sight and a bead blast on the top strap, but is starting to look the part now.

I am after a new rear sight also, unfortunately CZ wont ship me one to Australia, would any one like to help me out? if anyone in the states could order one for me and FedEx it to me, I would pay you for your trouble. There is a few other parts I would like to get also as spares. Grip screws, front and rear sight pins. Unfortunately ewkarms won’t ship to Australia either, Parts are very hard to come by here in Australia. Any help would be appreciated for my new project. Anyway this is getting long now and would like to thank you all for your knowledge and convincing me to join the world of Dan Wesson. I feel part of an elite club. looking forward to getting to know you guys,

Here are some pictures,

How it was when I bought it before the restoration

After restoration (sorry its upside down I don't know how to fix it)

Troy,

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