445 Super Mag Quality Palmer, MA vs. Norwich, NY

[dougk]

I am looking at a 445 super mag.  One is from Palmer, MA.  Are there any known quality issues with the Palmer 445 super mags.  I know the Palmer guns have a stigma of poor quality given the company was teetering on the verg of bankruptcy at this time.  But did the poor quality roll over to the super mags?

Thanks
Doug

[DWTim]

The quality varied, which makes them a risky purchase. I definitely wouldn't touch it unless it was going for under it's market value. I definitely wouldn't buy it unless I could handle it myself and inspect it.

[unspellable]

If you know what you are doing when you inspect a revolver, and it passes inspection, I wouldn't worry about it.  If I had to send away for it, I'd worry about it.  The quality issue will be mostly with fit and finish, things that wil lshow up on inspection.

[GrantCunningham]

Quality on the Palmer guns varied rather considerably, and with no apparent pattern. A thorough inspection will reveal most problems.

Two specific areas to check: make sure that the crane sits flush with the frame when closed, and examine each chamber for machining marks. (There will always be some, but what you don't want are deep marks or a rough chamber. Extracting full house .445SM brass from a rough chamber can be quite difficult.)

Of course, all of the other normal revolver checks are indicated.

[Travis Shuck]

Grant Cunningham, what has been your experience with the Norwich 445s?  Are there certain things that need to be addressed on their new revolvers?

[GrantCunningham]

Norwich guns are quite rare, and I've only seen one large frame, and a handful of the small frames.

What I can tell you is this: despite gunzine claims that the Norwich guns are "the best ever made", the examples I have seen do not support that contention. I would recommend careful examination, just like you would with an older DW.

Many hope that with the acquisition by CZ-USA the situation will change. Unfortunately, I don't yet have any confidence it will happen.
My take on the current state of affairs is at http://www.grantcunningham.com/blog_files/dan-wesson-problems.html

[RollTide]

This is the first I have heard about poor quality on Norwich guns from aomeone who has owned one.  I only have Monson and Palmer guns.  Even the worst Palmer gun I have personally seen was probably on a par with the worst Ruger or S&W I have ever seen.  All companies have guns that get out of the factory that could have used a little more TLC.  What really bothers me is reading where Mr. Cunningham sent his back to the factory and they did not fix it.  That is a problem.  Hopefully the new owners will do better with customer service, but from everything else I have heard, guns built in Norwich have been overall very good quality.

Roll Tide