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Tuning up your 15-2 -- The Average Joe method....
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brucertx
North TX

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September 13, 2011 - 9:25 am
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Well, using the info in this thread and some advice from my brother, I got it cleaned and back together. She feels much smoother. That EWK wrench that Steve suggested I get arrived just in time and is a sweet tool. Steve also recommended that I install new springs. A good idea, I think. I'll get those ordered today or tomorrow.

So, i'm sitting there last night looking at all the pieces and thought, I'm taking Friday off..... so I could put it back together, go to the range and get it all dirty, then take it apart to clean it and install springs.

Long story short, she's back together and gonna' get dirty on Friday. Also, have a new scope for the Mauser. It's gonna be another fun day Friday! big-grin

I appreciate all the good info. The front of the cylinder was so bad, i had to go at it with some oiled up 600 grit. I'll finish it next time with some 900 when I install the springs and give her a complete exterior de-scratching rub out and polish as well as polishing up some of the interior componenets.

Thanks guys,

Bruce

To the paranoid people who check behind shower curtains for murderers:

if you find one...what's your plan?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dave_Ks
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October 26, 2011 - 10:39 pm
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Just Shoot tuned a 715 4"LH  now to see how it is with a few dozen rounds through it!  Thanks  Shoot for the great Post! 

occasion

DSCN1339.jpg

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deluxacman
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October 29, 2011 - 10:15 pm
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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.smile

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

Jeffdwf-sign

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

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bigshoe
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December 10, 2011 - 7:26 am
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I was getting some light primer strikes on my m15. With the help of your tutorial I was able to clean out and install all new springs in two hours. Truly one of the reasons the internet is not the spawn of satan is folks like you who give of their time and knowledge.

Thanks Tom

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Steve
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December 10, 2011 - 7:35 pm
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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

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stick_man
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January 24, 2012 - 3:50 pm
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OK, so I am just about ready to dive into a tune-up on my 15-2.  I am wondering if anybody uses anything (possibly like locktite) upon reassembly to keep the sideplate screws from working loose?  Is anything needed?

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SHOOTIST357
Colorado Springs, CO

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January 24, 2012 - 4:21 pm
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A simple drop of oil on the sideplate screws is all that is neccessary--the important thing is that the screws themselves and the holes they go into are CLEAN... ensure you remove any/all grit from these areas.  It doesn't take much to damage the threads.

SHOOT

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Steve
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January 24, 2012 - 10:32 pm
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stick_man said:

OK, so I am just about ready to dive into a tune-up on my 15-2.  I am wondering if anybody uses anything (possibly like locktite) upon reassembly to keep the sideplate screws from working loose?  Is anything needed?

In a lot of years of shooting a lot of DW's, I have never had a sideplate screw work loose.

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

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CarpenterMan
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February 5, 2012 - 1:38 am
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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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Rod Slinger
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February 5, 2012 - 4:38 pm
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CarpenterMan...Some very good advice.  Thank You.   R S

 

Remembering Col. Jeff Cooper

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Tampa357
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February 17, 2012 - 12:29 am
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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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TheTman
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March 14, 2012 - 2:16 pm
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Thanks so much for the tutorial.  I tore down "Ole Porky" and luckily everything was similiar to the model 15-2 inside.  I too had problems with the reduced power trigger spring coming out of place and locking the trigger back.  I used a pair of needle nose pliers to make sure it was riding in the little groove, and straightened the tip out a hair where it has the little curve, and that seemed to do the job.  It's much smoother DA now, and SA is scary light.   I couldn't believe the mess I got into when I took the sideplate off, looked like someone had sprayed white lithium grease in there and it was really crudded up.  I cleaned it all up and then couldn't find my bluing, so used a bluing pen, where I had polished.   (I moved a few months ago and some things have just disappeared).  I used the 7.5 lb hammer spring and the reduced power trigger spring.  The trigger spring was kind of a bear, and the project actually took a couple days as that spring jumped out of the gun and took a couple days to find it.   All turned out good though, and am thinking about redoing my 14-2 next.  It did have a lighter pull than the 14, but now it's heavier, DA and SA.

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Dave_Ks
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March 15, 2012 - 7:00 am
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DSCN1339.jpg

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The Fatman
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April 2, 2012 - 1:24 am
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This is fantastic! I am new here, been lurking for about 3 months. Opened my early 80's 14-2 .357 the other day just to see if I could figure out why the timing is off. Stripped it down, cleaned it up, timing is still off.  The hand disengages the cylinder before coming to full rotation and locking. Tonight I found this post and read through its entirety, and I'm glad to see the pics and reassured that I got it all back together properly.

Issue: I am disappointed with 2 gunsmiths here in Boise, ID already and reticent to attempt a third.

Question: What are anyone's thoughts about simply replacing the hand and perhaps associated springs as a timing fix?

Please forgive me if my terminology is not perfect, I am a biologist, not a rocket surgeon.

Cheers!

---A

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Dave_Ks
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April 2, 2012 - 6:54 am
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I am sure others will chime in, to me that would be a pace to start, if others had shortened the hand then this maybe where the problems is!  Does it operate ok in either SA or DA?

DSCN1339.jpg

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The Fatman
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April 2, 2012 - 12:05 pm
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@Dave_Ks,

The cylinder fully rotates and locks if the hammer is pulled back quickly in SA, or with a fast trigger pull in DA; it seems the cylinder inertia carries it through the rotation in these cases. However, in a slow DA trigger pull or with a slow hammer cock, the cylinder does not rotate to lock, and I will need to turn it an additional 1-2 mm (depends on the chamber) to lock. Could the ratchet be worn and needing replaced as well?

---A

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SHOOTIST357
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April 2, 2012 - 2:26 pm
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Your hand is worn/too short...  It is hard to "stretch" a DW hand.  Many models are like this--if you don't cock them slow you will never notice.

You may be able to find a new hand and have it properly fit to your gun.

SHOOT

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The Fatman
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April 3, 2012 - 9:59 pm
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Shoot,

I am confident that I can replace the hand if I buy the part. If I did this myself, is there other modification that I would need to do to it to make it fit?  I know this is speculation, but typically, is there an adjustment that is needed when replacing this part?

I am not familiar with "stretching" a hand.

—A

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SHOOTIST357
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April 3, 2012 - 11:10 pm
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The Fatman said:

Shoot,

I am confident that I can replace the hand if I buy the part. If I did this myself, is there other modification that I would need to do to it to make it fit?  I know this is speculation, but typically, is there an adjustment that is needed when replacing this part?

I am not familiar with "stretching" a hand.

—A

if it is a NEW hand, it will need to be fitted to the star by removing material from the back of the hand.  If it is a USED part, you may get lucky and it might fit with little or no modification.  Fitting a hand is kind of an art--when done properly it is easily felt.

SHOOT

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Rod Slinger
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April 5, 2012 - 2:46 am
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Fatman.   Welcome to the forum.  For your information you can send the gun back to Dan Wesson and they will fit the hand.   If you choose to fit the hand yourself you will need to sent the part to an ffl. as DW will not ship this part to a customer.   R S

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