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March 21, 2013
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I have a DW model W12. cant seem to find out anything about it. It is a monson gun, but other than that im not seeing any information telling me what the W in the model number stands for. Any info would be great. Thanks
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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Dans Club
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April 20, 2010
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Welcome to the forum, Steve posted you a good link to read. I do not know what the W stood for, I am not sure anybody does, but I would guess it was for Wesson.
-Lonwolf
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Dans Club
December 4, 2011
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The earliest ones were marked -12- then they changed it to -W12-. I have no idea what it stands for though. They made a fixed sight model -D11- I think. Both had the exposed 'bottle cap' style 'ugly barrel nut'.
Great gun, post a 
 if you get the chance, we like .
BTW Welcome the best place for Dan Wesson info.
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January 24, 2009
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Although I haven't seen in writing what the "W" stands for, many of us (myself included) have assumed that it simply stands for Wesson. When the W12 was being produced, the other model they had was a fixed sight service revolver called the D11. The "D" & "W" most likely were for Dan Wesson.
The D11 & W12 models were available in either .38 Spl or .357 Mag versions. They were only made for a couple years & were eventually replaced with the model 14 & 15. Here's a couple shots of my D11 & W12 for an example.
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April 2, 2013
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i have a model 12 6" barrel, adjustable rear sight, and the "bottle cap" style nut. It has no serial number. any idea how old it is
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Dans Club
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November 17, 2008
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Your DW would be of 1970 or 71 vintage.  Have you looked under the crane, and I believe some of the earliest DW's the SN was on the grip tang.Â
LB
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January 24, 2009
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LB is right, some of the very early model 12's (not W12) have the s/n stamped on the grip tang & are only visible once the grip is removed. The outer rollmark should look like this...
With the s/n stamped here. These 2-digit s/n's are from 1970.
A short while later, the "-12-" rollmark was changed to "-W12-". This happened at or near the 20xx s/n range, which I believe would place it near the end of 1970, to early 1971.
The s/n on these guns are stamped here, under the crane...
If yours is stamped on the grip tang & is more than 2-digits, I would sure love to see a photo of that.
Â
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April 2, 2013
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hard to see in this pic but the number on the tang is 205
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January 24, 2009
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Thanks for the photo, Rob! I'm glad to see your s/n on the grip tang. Yours is the first 3-digit number I have seen on the grip tang so far, previously I have only heard testimony but not visual proof, so for me, seeing this is good news.
April 2, 2013
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why is it good news to you? can you tell when it was built
Thanks
Dans Club
March 2, 2008
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A three digit W12 would be 1971
April 2, 2013
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Steve it has no "W" just marked -12-
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January 24, 2009
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Well, I don't know...from the info that has been collected up to now (drawn from the DWCA site), the first Dan Wesson guns were shipped in August of 1970. It's my personal opinion that at least 205 guns were produced 
during the first 4-5 fledgeling months...possibly closer to the 350-450 + mark or beyond?
I am certain that at some date (likely) in (early) 1971 the W12's (and D11's) had evolved into the Dan Wesson D&W models, the D11 & W12. My own opinion is that because of the decision of the introduction of DW's initials into the model numbers, that this caused a rift between...
Wait, I will officially curb my opinion here, because so far it's simply my opinion & not fact. Since this interweb-behemoth thingy (okay, more like the parasite it's become) has a history of running away with baseless opinions as "fact" (compounded daily), I refuse to exacerbate the problem in the slightest.
So...sorry, I digress.
I own a W12 # 4748 for example/fact. I think this gun was more than likely a mid-production s/n. In the hint-miss model number vs. s/n list I have acquired in my few years of DW s/n Porkchop scrutiny, I'll enter this one for example, #7400...
This particular gun was sold n GB in Dec. '08 for $649 (a reference for future values)...and I love the even numbered s/n.
This gun was one of the 2nd generation Pistol Pac's with the black rounded case.
I do think that Rob's #205 gun was most likely built in 1970. Other 70's buyer's newly purchase dates could have easily been 12 (or less) months of their manufacture dates, especially back then...in those days, when gun laws were simpler/basic/sane, yes, sane! At least more sane than when...1980? Geez, these days I'd even be happy for 1992. Crap, I long for yesteryear more & more these days.
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