Register
Log In
Home
January 22, 2008
Offline
Hey Seth,
I think it would be interesting to know a little more about your Grandfather. As I'm sure you're aware there is very little information available about Dan Wesson Arms let alone Dan Wesson himself. Here are a few questions that I would find the answers interesting and I'm sure others would as well:
- What drove him to leave S&W?
- What was his favorite gun?
January 25, 2009
Offline
Hello everyone,
To answer the first question: The short answer is Dan was fired around 1963 by Bill Gunn from Smith and Wesson for insubordination .
For the second question: Dan was a machinist and liked mechanical things. So he loved the full automatic guns. He has been known to shoot woodchucks with the Thompson in his back yard. Also he would bring it out on New Years for a little noise making. But his favorite hunting gun was his Savage 300.
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
Offline
Fired for insubordination, and took woodchucks in the back yard with a Thompson! And I thought my grandpa was a character. Interesting stuff.
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
December 17, 2008
Offline
Gunnin' for woodchucks with a Thompson!! Priceless!!
Certainly fits for a machinist and gun builder. What's not to love about a chopper?
Kinda reminds me of my pa who used to take his 12 gauge up on the roof of the house on the fourth of July and bang away...but that's a whole 'nuther story...
That's the kind of insight that would go lost in the annals of time if you didn't pass it along! Great stuff for us to know about "the founder".
January 22, 2008
Offline
Hey Seth,
Thanks for the response. Very cool stuff to know. So based on what I just found he was gone before the family sold S&W to Bangor Punta Corp.
For those of you who doesn't know who Bill Gunn (I didn't know) here is a snipet from the S&W history.
In 1965, the Wesson family sold the company to Bangor Punta Corp. and, in that same year, Smith & Wesson developed the Model 60, the first all stainless-steel revolver. During the 1970's, Smith & Wesson's CEO, Bill Gunn, purchased numerous other companies in order to augment Smith & Wesson's handgun and handcuff products for law enforcement agencies. The product line expanded to include police riot equipment, breath testing instruments, night vision instruments and police identification equipment such as Indenti-Kit.
As a side note it's the opinion of a lot of S&W collectors that the quality during the Bangor Punta period wasn't as good.
Thanks again Seth for the info!
Supporter
Moderators
January 24, 2009
Offline
That's neat & interesting info, for sure. Being a guy who loved full auto guns, it's interesting to me that he built his business around these fine revolvers we've all come to love.
Blazing away at woodchucks with a Thompson would indeed be a sight to see. LOL!
December 17, 2008
Offline
Hey Seth,
Hopefully you are still visiting!
Can you or Eddie shed any light on the Serial Numbering system(s) used at Monson and Palmer?
Was it done exclusively by model such that Model 8 / 9 & 14 / 15 would have serial numbers sequential by model? Or was it by group (the way the brochures group them) such that all .22's have a sequential set of numbers, .38/.357mags have a different sequential set, Large Frames have their own set, Supermags, etc.?
Addtionally, it seems like the revolvers were produced and serial numbered, then some were sold individually and others went into pistol pacs, etc. So all revolvers, including pistol pacs, could be dated accurately and sequentially by referencing the serial number of any other revolver of the same model.
Is this assumption correct?
-Dusty
December 17, 2008
Offline
Seth or Eddie:
Were Stainless Barrels / Shrouds ever offered in 12" and 15" lengths?
December 17, 2008
Offline
Howdy Seth,
This question might be more appropriate for your dad or Eddie:
Two of our members have black colored cases with their Stainless Steel Pistol Pacs. The cases are identical and original factory as far as we can tell.
We expect the guns and hardware are circa early / mid '80's but the cases don't have cloth on the foam (like the old ones) and one of the cases has a hand stamp on the underside of the lid that says "1970".
So the question is: Are these are old stock cases that were issued when the Stainless revolvers (& pacs) were introduced?
1 Guest(s)
