Dissecting the Dan Wesson Revolver

News that CZ-USA has ceased making the wheelgun that won ninety percent of the top places in metallic silhouette competition right out of the box for five years in a row puzzled me some. How so? CZ never actually made the Dan Wesson. Under the CZ/Wesson arrangement the revolver is produced at a Dan Wesson facility in Norwich, NY — also the guns’ warranty service center — with CZ-USA handling sales and distribution from its Kansas City headquarters.

Parts can be ordered from either location with a larger variety available from Norwich along with multiple barrels ranging from two-and-ahalf inches to a near Buntline-length of ten inches. Any Dan Wesson needing warranty service is first sent through the Kansas City HQ, not directly to Norwich. At least that’s how things are as this is written, but I’d advise checking in with the CZ-USA home office before doing any shipping or ordering.

There’s one thing I’ve learned about the firearms business: Standard Operating Procedures can change faster than a speeding bullet and what’s a fact today ain’t necessarily so come tomorrow. " It takes far longer to describe the metamorphosis of a Dan Wesson from the contents of a plastic bag to a complete revolver than to get the job done. It actually has fewer parts than Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers. An example is the matter of the Dan Wesson revolver being gone forever. Well, maybe not.

While new gun production is currently at a halt in Norwich, it could return to high gear soon. Which way things go depends on some tweaking here and there, plus the cost of the tweaks, to modernize the gun without detrimentally affecting its unique features and near legendary accuracy. I, for one, intend to write and call the CZ-USA head office in support of keeping the Dan Wesson alive and invite you to join me! "I Took It Apart to Clean It" Now for the contents of that plastic bag.

Inside were the jumbled components of a Dan Wesson Model 15-2, which is mechanically identical to the Model 15 distributed by CZ-USA. We’re using the same schematic and parts list as the original, but with a difference. Regulars amongst you know I go "by the numbers" in my take-down-and-rebuild contributions to these pages. In this case, I’ve shunned the numbers in favor of the part names.

The tools you’ll be using include a good set of Allen wrenches, a pair of parallel-jaw pliers (Brownells), roll pin punches, a small blade screwdriver, a large blade screwdriver, a .006" feeler gauge and, perhaps, a pair of tweezers. You can skip the

Allen wrenches and feeler gauge if you call CZ-USA for a Dan Wesson disassembly tool and barrel/cylinder gap gauge. Both are packed in with every revolver shipped but I suspect the individual bringing the plastic bag to your attention will have misplaced them. Before using the pliers, apply two or three strips of duct tape to the opposing surfaces of the jaws for extra protection against marring. Let us begin. A roll pin retains the firing pin through the rear of the frame.

Hopefully it hasn’t been drifted completely out. If you’re unlucky and that pin happens to be among the loose parts in the bag, bring a roll pin starter punch (Brownells) into action. This will help prevent damage to the pin and makes it easier to drift back in, acting as a retainer for the firing pin. Note that the firing pin has a groove allowing the roll pin to clear it. Align the groove with the pin hole before any drifting or driving is done. Underneath the firing pin is a hole for the aligning ball screw.

Insert the aligning ball and its spring in the hole then turn in the screw until it’s flush with the back of the frame. The ball, spring and screw are critical elements in the revolver’s frontal lock-up feature. Insert the double action strut spring and plunger into the hammer and capture the plunger under the rear surface of the double action strut. This can be pushed into its hammer cut-out from either direction.

You can hold the strut to the rear temporarily with a small strip of tape to make sure the plunger and spring don’t escape. The tape has to be removed later so provide for the inevitability. Take a close look at the photo of the action with the side plate removed. Note the slit on the rear of 006" barrel-to-cylinder gap gauge. the hand and the small, bent end of the hand spring and how the trigger return spring is finally installed. Place the connector (hammer block) in the frame.

The block has a middle and lower stud on it. Eventually, the lower stud will engage the trigger. Right now, the coil of the hand spring is slipped over the middle stud with its top end inserted through the block to its upper rear position. Install the cylinder bolt on the stud located forward of the trigger stud in the frame. Lift the rear of the bolt upward and install the trigger on its own stud and move along to the mainspring and guide. Select the longer side plate screw.

A hole in the bottom of the guide accepts the screw. Drop in the mainspring, its guide and install the mainspring seat. The threaded section of the side plate screw will pass through the hole in the mainspring seat. It will require some fishing, much patience and a hefty blade screwdriver pressing downward on the guide to make screw contact with the hole in the guide. Now, turn in the screw to compress the mainspring until you A

can place the hammer on its stud in the frame. Before releasing the guide, make sure it will contact the hammer as shown in the photo then back out the plate screw slowly allowing the mainspring to exert all its upward pressure in forcing the guide into solid contact with the hammer. Place the coil of the trigger return spring on its frame stud with the short spring leg downward. Lift the long leg of the return spring back on to rest on the hammer shelf.

The hole at the bottom of the hand fits a stud on the trigger. Once these two parts have been properly joined, swing the hand forward and use a small tool to locate the little bent end of the hand spring into the slot at the rear of the hand. Place a finger over the hand/trigger union then cock the gun and pull the trigger a few times to establish the presence of a properly functioning firing system. f all is well, reinstall the side plate.

The front edge of the plate has to be first back into the frame, then the plate is carefully pivoted down and given a gentle tap to seat it. Reinstall the plate screws remembering the longer screw goes in the rear most hole in the plate. Be extremely cautious when handling this plate. I’ve never seen one with edges as sharp. I think you could manage to shave with it. How close? Can’t say for sure … haven’t tried it.

Just in case your plastic bagger went overboard with the "cleaning" I’ll add some appropriate words about the latch assembly. A small roll pin in the crane retains the latch and latch spring. Since both are removed Due to its extremely sharp edges great care should be taken when handling this plate. Bupward in disassembly they must go in downward before drifting the pin back into place.

Something, perhaps past and plentiful experience with plastic baggers, tells me to keep going with some guidance on the crane/cylinder assembly. Working with it is when the paddedup, parallel jaw pliers come into play. Install the bolt plunger and bolt spring in the crane. Use the pliers to reinstall the crane, the ejector rod bushing, its spring and the ejector rod. They all go in the front of the cylinder. The extractor ratchet goes in the rear. Finishing up will be easier if you have the factory disassembly/reas

sembly tools mentioned. In addition to all the built-in Allen wenches of the proper size are two studs fitting the recesses in the barrel nut, a plastic guide that fits the bore and a dead-on .006" barrel/cylinder gap gauge.

The Dan Wesson Model 15 Revolver (Speci ications subject to change without notice) 1 Barrel Wrench 2 Barrel/Cylinder Gauge (.006) 4 Barrel Nut 5 Front Sight 6 Front Sight Pin 7 Shroud 8 Barrel 9 Frame 10 Mainspring Guide 11 Mainspring 12 Firing Pin Retaining Pin 13 Rear Sight Tension Spring 14 Rear Sight Elevation Screw loose barrel is screwed back into the frame clockwise. The shroud is slipped on and tightened with the barrel nut.

Stop when the gauge tells you there is a .006" gap between the cylinder and barrel. 15 Rear Sight Body 16 Rear Sight Retaining Pin 17 Firing Pin Spring 18 Firing Pin 19 Cylinder Aligning Ball 20 Cylinder Aligning Ball Spring 21 Aligning Ball Screw 22 Ejector Rod 23 Latch Retaining Pin 24 Latch 25 Latch Spring 26 Crane 27 Ejector Rod Bushing 28 Ejector Spring 29 Short Sideplate Screw 30 Long Sideplate Screw 31 Sideplate 32 Cylinder 33 Extractor 34 Bolt Spring 35 Shroud Locating Pin 36 Bolt Plunger 37 Bolt 38 Hand 39 Trigger 40 Front Sight Retaining Screw After everything is back together the plastic bag of parts should look just like the assembled Dan Wesson shown here.

Whether it works just like it and equals its accuracy should be checked out at a range. AG 41 Trigger Return Spring 42 Crane Lock 43 Hand Spring 44 Connector (Hammer Block) 45 Strut Plunger 46 Strut Spring 47 Double Action Strut 48 Hammer 49 Mainspring Seat 50 Grip 51 Trigger Stop Screw 52 Grip Screw