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October 13, 2009
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Guy orders a barrel wrench. Contacts me and says it won't fit his .38 Dan Wesson, but fits his .22. I am at a lose as I have never had a problem with one of the small frame wrenches not working on a small frame gun until now. We have been going back and forth e-mailing and it is indeed smaller than the "standard" Dan Wesson small frame setup. The RECESS in the end of the shroud on this one is smaller than the BARREL NUT on the standard DW small frame. He sent me these pictures. What gives here, this is the first time I have heard of a "super small frame". Have I just been working too much and not reading up on DW history enough????? 
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January 24, 2009
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Eric, that's a Lil' Dan. It's a 5-shot .38 & is a bit smaller than a 15-2.
I don't have a caliper handy to measure the tool diameter, but I would guess it to be about 1/16th of an inch smaller on the outside diameter.
Range Officer
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March 27, 2009
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That is a strange one another glitch in it all!
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November 17, 2008
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I used my standard DW wrench on my Lil-Dan without problems. Guess I need to try out my EWK wrench now. I do know the barrel nuts are smaller.
LB
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
September 12, 2010
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The gun in question is mine. I bought it recently and did not get any tools, box, manual etc. I was able to modify the EWK wrench by taking a little off the outside. BTW, my 22 wrench does Not fit - it is a little too large in the outside dimension. After I got the barrel nut off, I found it is buggered up. Looks like a prior owner tried to remove it with a screwdriver and hammer. I cleaned up the nut somewhat but still have more work to do. Fortunately, the shroud is fine. The difference in dimensions is .030"
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January 24, 2009
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Any of the other small frame barrel nuts (and corresponding wrenches) would be larger, regardless of caliber. So the .22 being too large to fit sounds right. That's good that you were able to shave it down & get it to work.
Maybe contact DW & see if they have any spare Lil' Dan nuts available. Yours may be the first I've seen with one that's been buggered.
I haven't tried to remove mine yet, mostly because I didn't want to risk cracking the plastic handle on my wrench. Plus, there's no other barrel sizes available (as far as we've seen), so other than to readjust the factory gap, I have no real reason to remove it. Although I would like to get a pic of that BA next to my 15-2 snubby BA one day, hmmm...
September 12, 2010
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When I got it, the gap was set at .003 so the gun would bind when it got warm (a box of ammo or so). And the ejector rod was so dirty that I had to push it back in - the spring would not retract the extractor even after heavily oiling it. But all is good now. My problem now, which is not a gun fault, is old eyes. I don't pick up the SS sights very well so I am shooting high. I used a boresighter and the sights are correct - the problem is with the shooter. On other guns, I have tried red paint and blacking out the sights with some success. In general, I do best with black sights; I have black Patridge sights on my 722. I would like to use a DW interchangeable red ramp sight but as Eric pointed out, there is not enough metal on the the shroud to cut the recess for that sight.
October 1, 2009
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If you can't find a barrel nut, how about milling new slots 90 degrees off fom the
old slots? Know anyone that has a mill ? (EWK) Even if you can get a nut, spares are good!
I am sure EWK wouldn't mind getting his hands on that nut for dimensions for
future reference.
just my thoughts...........
Dale
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March 27, 2009
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maybe made as an export and metric!!!
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January 24, 2009
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788 said:
If you can't find a barrel nut, how about milling new slots 90 degrees off fom the
old slots? Know anyone that has a mill ? (EWK) Even if you can get a nut, spares are good!
I am sure EWK wouldn't mind getting his hands on that nut for dimensions for
future reference.
just my thoughts...........
Dale
That's not a half bad idea.
Mike, you may want to fiddle with your ammo a bit, to get it shooting lower. Mine shoots high & to the left with 130gr bullets, but some members here suggested I try some lighter (faster) bullets. So far I've tried some 125gr P+ ammo & it does hit lower. I haven't tried anything lighter yet, because I don't shoot it often.
October 13, 2009
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I have heard of the Lil' Dan before, but I didn't know that the barrel nut was different on it! Very interesting!
We can easily make/modify wrenches if need be and also do the barrel nuts. But I don't know how much of a need there would be out there for it-like I said this is the first time I have ran into the Lil' Dan issue, so there has to be not very many of these little babies out there in the wild.
Also what could be done to the front sight to help it to be more visable? I can't think of much right now with the limiting factor of a fixed sight and stainless to boot. I wonder if cutting serrations on it would help any?
Eric
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March 27, 2009
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And or some Hi vis paint! (I still think this one was built as an export and made Metric)
September 12, 2010
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The frame is thinner than the standard small frame. So a standard size shroud may have been to wide. The 738 is the same size as a S&W J-frame and was probably built as a direct competitor. The 738 has a melt treatment at the muzzle also indicating it's purpose as a carry gun. So the barrel nut is also smaller.
I was also thinking of cutting serrations on the front sight Eric. I know blueing reacts differently on stainless. Sometimes it darkens the steel, sometimes it's blotchy.
What other ways are there to blacken stainless?
Range Officer
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February 28, 2009
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OK guys. You really got me going on this. I thought that both of my Li'l Dan's came with sandard .357 barrel wrenches.
So, I went to my range bag and grabbed the stock (the plastic model) .357 tool I keep in there and my EWK small frame tool with the .357 plug.
Next I got one of the Li'l Dan's from my wife's nightstand and made some tests. (Very scientific and at great expense). Both of the tools fit the 738 just fine. I will admit that I had to give each one a light whack with the heal of my hand, but that's all it took to seat them in the barrel nut.
While the shroud may be a little smaller, I think DW left enough room for the tool. I re-read some of the posts and went back to my range bag where I have the only new-style (all metal) tool I own. It happens to be .22 so I left the plastic cover on the center pin. I fits the 738 without any coercion from the heal of my hand. It just slips right in.
-Mike
September 12, 2010
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Does your standard barrel nut (22 or 15) fit your 738? Mine does not - my 722 barrel nut just slips over my 738 barrel.
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January 24, 2009
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That's odd Zoomb, my plastic factory 738 wrench is visibly smaller than the EWK 15-2 wrench. Holding them side by side, I can't see a difference, but when I stick them in the barrel, that's when I can see the difference. The EWK wrench hits the shroud & won't seat in the nut slots...it's just a teensy bit wider. If I had my micrometer, I could give you a better measurement than "teensy".
I don't yet have a factory plastic 15-2 wrench to compare, unfortunately.
Range Officer
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February 28, 2009
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OK guys, here's how it stacks up on my guns.
Dimensions are approximate since the battery in my micrometer is dead so they're mechanical observation measurements.
The OD of my EWK (stainless) tool = 16mm.
The OD of all of my standard .357 tools = 16mm.
The OD of both my 738 tools = 15mm.
The barrel nut from a 715 slips right over the barrel of a 738 so the barrel of the 738 has a smaller OD than that of other small frame Dan's.
My EWK and standard .357 tools both fit my wife's 738 with a little prompting from the heel of my hand.
They both slip right on to my 738 with no assistance at all.
Apparently the shrouds, barrels, and the barrel nuts of the 738 are a unique, smaller size than those of other small frame Dan's.
Yet another DW anomaly.
-Mike
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May 2, 2009
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Did he just speak DW in METRIC 
!!!! Burn him at the stake
SHOOT
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February 28, 2009
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Oops!
My bad!
I must be losing my mind.
Maybe it's alzheimer's setting in.
Please forgive the heresy.
-Mike
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