I had been having rough operation from my model 15 from my pack since I got it. (my first revolver). the main issues were the cylinder would not always rotate and the trigger would not always return fully.

I ordered the shooters pack from wolff and the small parts assortment and a new hand spring from EWK.

After a light polishing with a hard Arkansas stone, I followed up with a gentle polishing using my cordless dremel and some polishing compound with a small buffing wheel on low speed.

Upon reassembly, I used the reduced power trigger return spring and the 7.5 lb. main spring from wolff. From the EWK parts I installed the new strut plunger spring the bolt plunger and shell knockout springs as well as the new hand spring. I slightly shortened the end of the new hand spring to fit better into the hand slot without binding.

Also I was careful not to over lube and used ATF for reassembly.

I have yet to range test it (maybe tomorrow) but I already know it's going to be like having a new gun.

Thanks for the new gun, Shoot. You da Man.

Jeff

This is without a doubt one of the best how to posts on the web. Totally indispensable for a Dan fan.

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Have to finish reading here- 100+ pages about DW- YES! I'm very glad I found this forum.

Having home-tuned about everything which goes 'bang' for myself or someone else, and on one DW (mine) I have to say my Monson Mod.14 benefitted least of all because it was so good to start with. Note that I've not used Wolff springs- going there soon!I see someone else has figured out the Lansky stones with the 'handle' are easier to use too. And the thoughts about metallurgy show depth.

Here's my generic approach. The first is if it ain't broke don't fix it. What I mean is don't go tweaking springs or reshaping parts till you know they need to. Next is to think. Intensely study what is going on, then decide what needs the most careful attention. IIRC, on my DW it was the mainspring strut, a punched part as on many guns. That left two sharp rough edges to grind against the mainspring which you could feel in SA cocking with the thumb or DA cocking with the trigger. That smoothing gave the biggest improvement. The rest is just seeing what rubs where and smoothing it all out. Deep machine marks may need you to use a corner of the stone to help a part 'ramp' across it. They make good lube-holding grooves so don't try to get them all out! And metal removed anywhere is essentially gone for good so always go slow!

Also think about how the parts relate to each other and how much friction is there. Sometimes two dead-flat lubed surfaces are better than slightly rounding one over for less initial bearing against each other- sometimes not. If you round-over where you shouldn't, that surface will make itself flat PDQ and you'll have excessive wear soon- not what you wanted! Sideplates are never to be pried- use inertia by tapping the frame so they can find their own way out. These are closely fitted and prying can make them move in directions they don't want to go. Use something soft- a plastic hammer, a wood hammer handle (not the metal head!) a block of wood etc. Never force them back in place either. If it's not going in it is not properly aligned or something else is out of place. You should be able to seat any sideplate with your thumbs using a rocking motion across it's axis.

One overlooked area is often drilled/bored holes which can be very rough. It's a real bugger to get into a small hole to polish it. Sometimes you'll have a 'rod' hone that will fit, but with the really small ones that won't work. If the surface isn't hardened needle files will work in there. Things still too rough? Mate parts with 'Clover" compound or automotive valve grinding paste. Just get it all out when you're done with a brush. These compounds embed in the softer part to cut the harder one and if left will create excessive wear! I like a solvent, a WD spray, very hot soapy water, then boil-rinse  method, always using new clean cloth or well washed brushes to scrub between stages. Now you've got super-clean bare metal so rustproofing must be applied now, not tomorrow.

Again think. Where there is heavy friction or sliding, perhaps a grease will work best, but not always. Tight tolerances like oil better. Also the more a part has to move freely, the greater chance a grease will impede that movement. When rustproofing alone I use RIG and it makes a good heavy friction fighter too. Lighter grease is lithium or whatever is here. Good gun oil for heavy oil, and TriFlow or DriSlide for lighter oil. JM Browning said "If you're going to oil it, you needn't fill it full" and that's good advice. Use only what you need and no more. Minimal lubing also doesn't hold dust or dirt that finds it's way into the works like heavy lubing does. Also think about the environment the gun will be in- cold makes most lubes stiffer and can result in non-moving parts and misfires!

I have been known to over-bend coil springs to reduce their tension but I shy away from that where I can and go slowly when I go there. Reducing the length of a compressed-coil spring reduces it's initial (and sometimes final) tension (power) as it increases the spring rate proportionally. In other words the spring will then act faster for it's size and may actually feel stiffer. When you cut it down again to fix that you reach a point of needing a new spring quickly. Never change springs without replacement ones on hand unless you can wait till you can get another one.

Specific guns often need specific attention to specific areas. S&W style revolvers need all the help they can get for the rebound slide- especially in the spring hole. Those are thinly hardened, so go very lightly on the outside. In the return spring hole you needn't worry about that- it can be soft there. IDK about DW's- like I said my one experience still hasn't shown any problem areas except that mainspring strut. Can one make a better DA revolver design than DW? Yes, but it will be more complex and thus more likely to fail. Can one make a simpler design? Again yes, but at the expense of smoothness. This is one heck of a design and as perfect for it's purpose as any I've ever seen. But it's also a mass produced one which means there will be room for improvement and it's easy to do so long as you think before you act.

As always do a reliability test under real-world conditions when you change anything before you bet your life on it.

Whew, looks like I got long-winded but with the folks I've seen here so far knowing as much about DW as you do, I will be more to happy to share whatever I know in return along with my best wishes!

Phil

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I just had my 15-2 parkerized and smoothed the insides and performed the AJM to the interior components. upon reassembly I could not get the hand spring to sit right. With the pin it sits on located on the connector the springs seems to be crooked when the other end of the spring is place in the hand.

I thought I had it installed correctly and reassembled. I dry fired twice and the hand spring broke where it goes into the hand groove. I am ordering a new EWK hand spring and I see they leave it "long" for a custom fit. When I get the spring what do I need to do to get it to fit correctly? Can someone get some pictures of the spring installed to the connector and in the hand groove? Do I need to bend the end of the new spring to get it to install?

I already purchased the small spring pack from EWK and freshened up the rest of the gun. I want to get this Dan back together so I can hit the range. Please help! The AJM is a great tutorial! thanks

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