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July 16, 2014
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Hello, please excuse me if I'm asking a question that's been beat to death but I'm having no luck using the search. I am curious if there is a way to tune the double action of the large frame revolvers? I just acquired a really nice blued 44 6vh monsoon early eighties. The DA action really stacks up heavy haven't put the gauge on it but its way way heavier than any of my others (smiff's and ruger's) ever were. It is also very stiff thumbing the hammer back in SA. It honestly feels like the spring is coming to full compression and beginning to bind. I absolutely love this gun its buy far the nicest shooting revolver I own but the DA leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to my others. I will go as far as to say its actually uncomfortable to shoot in DA. Yes I know most of the time I would be shooting SA but I enjoy shooting DA also. That brings me to cocking the hammer back, the last 1/4-1/3 of the travel (just like the DA trigger) is really stiff enough so that my wife has to completely reposition the gun to set the hammer and still has trouble. Myself I can do it without to much trouble but it sure seems to be excessive. Any help and or advice is greatly appreciated, I like to get a little insight from others before I just dive into something but I'm not afraid to go in blind either!
thanks in advance!
john
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November 17, 2008
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I will throw out a few thoughts. Please excuse me if I mention the obvious.
1. Many Dan's suffer from shelf life. Be sure it is free of hardened grease and dust and the like. In other words clean the heck out of it and be sure it has proper lube.
2. Be sure the grip screw is not interfering with the hammer spring. The easiest thing to do is take the screw out and dry fire, see if it makes a difference.
3. If neither of those help you could try different springs and or send it home to DW for a touch up.
Keep in mind though that the short hammer travel of a DW gives it a different feel than most others ( smiffs and rugers) so it is common for a shooter weaned on a Smith to not like the feel of a Dan regardless of how smooth or not. Just food for thought and good luck.
Others will be along shortly who may have better ideas than I.
LB
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
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March 25, 2013
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I have a 744 that had a factory trigger job courtesy of the original owner. Heck of a difference. I have several 15-2's I have put in reduced power springs ( trigger return and mainspring ). LB mentioned the fact that many dans have sat in safes and drawers and need lube badly. Also , many dans , especially the 44's that are barely fired ,have not polished themselves by use. Stoning the case walls amd lightly polishing rubbing areas will help but Wolff springs work wonders.
July 16, 2014
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It is my hope that it is just in need of breaking in I did lube it up before taking it out and that did help a bit. I did a little looking for springs but had no luck finding anything for large frames? Is there other springs I need to look for that will work or are they just hard to come buy? Actually guess I should check with wolff as I haven't yet. I will go in with the stones no doubt I just like to get the feel of the gun before I do it so I can feel the work better if you understand what I mean. If it is just the feel of the DW trigger than I will learn it that's not a problem for me, I shoot a lot of variety.
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March 25, 2013
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I think the Wolff springs are the same for both the large and small frames . Read the tutorial under " "large frame revolvers". When you stone, barely slick the lockwork. The inside of the frame will have grinding marks you can be vigorous with.
July 16, 2014
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Thanks Ole Dog stripped it down last night polished cleaned and lubed. Its a little smoother now but still real heavy spring pressure. Took a few minutes to look at the "large frame tutorial" a few minutes ago, didn't find anything about the springs? Just a good teardown guide but that's pretty straight forward although it looks like a lot of guys have trouble for some reason.
So if the small frame spring kit works for the large frame I am guessing you only use the hammer spring, what do you do for a trigger return spring or just leave it alone? Checked on the wolff sight last night and sent an e mail but they only list small frame models.
thanks
henry
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Dans Club
March 25, 2013
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John, I haven't messed with my lg frames yet. One 44 had a factory trigger job in 1991. It is described in the gunbroker ad as extremely crisp. My 45lc appears NIB and I may not fire it until the Docs tell me there is no hope and I take care of unfinished biz, and the other 744 is scoped amd I shoot it in SA. I may be wrong but I think the small frame trigger return spring is the same as the large. I wish the old time dan fans would chime in. IMHO the single biggest help is a Wolff reduced return spring. It does away with all the creaky scratchy trigger sounds and the pull is smoother. It makes more difference than a pound or two lighter mainspring.
October 26, 2008
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The springs are not the same for the large frame and small frame. As for action smoothing use sandpaper, (I use 400 grit) go in the direction of travel for whatever piece you're working on and don't necessarily go for shiny go for smooth. The DA strut should be"let out" as far as possible and the bottom should be as perpendicular as you can make it then sharpie up the trigger cam surface and try it. Stone down the high spots on the trigger so that you have maximum engagement on the strut all the way through trigger travel. Some people will cut a coil or 1 1/2 coils on the trigger return spring I don't and would recommend that you do that only after getting full or near full engagement of the strut on the trigger cam surface. Dan's stack it's just the way they are but they can be made better and worked over until the stack is constant throughout trigger travel instead of like a camel hump which is the way they usually are. Good luck
December 26, 2013
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I had the same hard cocking problem when I got mine, double action wasn't any better, seems that the grip screw was too tight, I set the grip screw on mine so the grip isn't loose then maybe tighten a 1/4 turn more, cocking the hammer is still somewhat more than a smith but DA is better than the super trigger job on my smith 686, after owning both DW's and smith and wesson I prefer the dan wesson revolver
July 16, 2014
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Thanks Superdan, I will work on the DA strut/trigger cam. I am not interested in cutting coils past experience for me is they never feel right after I have cut them.
Shotgunboss, understand the grip screw interference all good there. I've done quite a few trigger jobs on smiths and rugers GP100's mostly and when done they are amazing, I usually end up between 7.5 and 8.5lbs DA pull. When I started with the Dan I was around 12.8 average after a good stoning I am at 11-11.3 if I could get it under 10 I think I would like that much better!
July 16, 2014
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Well its been a while but I finally got some time and got it working great. It took replacing the hammer spring and now I have a super smooth 8lbs 11oz average in DA and a crisp 3lbs 3oz SA.
Very happy with it now. if anyone wants to know I used a Wolff spring that I trimmed to 1 coil longer than the one that was in it when I go it. I can only assume it was a stock spring. The spring I used was from the "metric heavy" spring assortment and it was the second heaviest spring in that pack. 16078 is the number of the assortment I have the standard springs as well as metric but the metric ones were the best fit and match to the original.
As much as I like shooting this gun I am equally as impressed with how easy these are to disassemble and reassemble, I hate when I guy needs that third hand!
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