dan wesson converted to 500 S&W

[340wby]

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I own 2 DAN WESSON 445 SUPER MAGs, I WAS INTERESTED IN THE CONCEPT. of convertingone to 500S&W or buying a spare cylinder and rechambering it..I heard that at one time their was a 505 dan wesson super mag built, and it sure seems like a 45/70 case would fit the 445 supermag frame if a 5 shot cylinder on that larger case necked down to 44 or 45 caliber was built with the correct barrel

but ...my question is, is there going to be a cylinder and barrel made by anyone to adapt a 445 dan wesson to a 500 S&W or a similar 500 dan wesson super mag??? and is there a posibility of rechambering a 445 supermag cylinder to a 44 cal wildcat based on a larger case like the 45/70 or 348 win shortened and necked down necked down to 44 caliber or 500 S&W necked down to 44 caliber

[supermag 445]

Hey 340,  I also have a 445 supermag and just love it.  I called Dan Wesson about a month ago to find out what is going on with them.  I know that they have been busy with the new semi autos, but I told them that I hope they don't forget what made Dan Wesson and that was the revolvers. HE told me that Forget the guys name but he said that they are not forgetting about us revolver shooters and will have some new offerings this fall. I keep checking there site just about everyother day to see what is coming out.  I do hope or with they would do the 460 supermag. But I would be just as happy with the 500 s&w.  I would snach one up in a second.  Well I can only keep my fingers crossed about what will be coming out this fall.

Brian

[340wby]

IDEALLY they will sell cylinders and barrels and complete revolvers in 500 S&W or they will sell cylinders and barrels and complete revolvers in some other wildcat/DAN WESSON CARTRIDGE that come close to matcting  the energy figures of the 500 S&W, if they build a wildcat that pushes a 44 cal.300 grain bullet to about 1850-1900fps that will shoot flatter and hit almost as hard as the big 500 S&W

[supermag 445]

they tried this past year with the 460 supermag but they never put into production.  They told me that the460 supermag would push a 300 gr at just over 1900 fps and at 44 mag pistol pressures.

I hope you are right as I would love a 500 in a dw gun.  That would make my day. :grin:

[unspellable]

I don't think there's a lot to be gained by altering a 445.  The Super Mags have a 1.610 case length which gives them plenty of powder room.  There's little to gain by going to a bottle necked case.

The Super Mag cylinders are the same diameter as the 44 mag, so with a 44 mag case diameter such as the 445 has, you canot expect to run any more pressure than the 44 mag.  (The 357 Super Mag does run higher pressures than the 357 Magnum, as it has thicker walls.)  Going to a five holer does not buy thicker walls, it just moves the weak spot caused by the bolt notch away from the chamber.  The Dan Wesson is already pretty good in this respect, so again you don't gain a lot.

[ira41magfan]

I saw somewhere, mention that at one time, Mr. Gates was working on a  505SM.  I wouldn't be suprised to see DW might embrace the 505SM since S&W brought out the 500S&W.

[supermag 445]

Ira 414 ,  Man I hope you are right.  You got my mouth druling now with that 505 sm  talk. :-D .  I just hope so.  Can't wait either.  I will just have to put more Dan Wessons in my vault.

Brian

[414SM-E.T.GATES]

:biggun:  :gun4: I read my fathers notes on the 505 and the 414 supermag.  He was trying to figure out which gun to bring out first.  The 414SM came out in 1988 in a pro-to-type.  Dad died in Novmerber 88 and never saw mass production of his 41 Supermag.  My brother and I managed to squeese 25 guns out of Wesson before they went belly up in 1994.  I would guess this is the shortest run of guns Wesson ever made.  Front cover Gun World Mag  Dec 1994  Just for your info, These guns started at number 25 and went to 53.  Wesson skipped some numbers in production.
One of the 505 cases Dad came up with was the 348 blown out to 50 and cut off at 1.610.  I had talked to one of the Wesson family members 93-94 about doing a 505 in a 5 shot.  They had the cylinder machine.  We had to put the 505 on hold, because of the high of production.
The 455 Supermag was never produced.  A 45 L colt extended to 1.610.
The 610 Supermag would have been produced over seas.
Bottle neck.  In the early 90's Wesson engineers were working on a 7mm Rimmed bottle neck case revolver.  I'm sorry they went out of business before it came out.  I don't know if the new Wesson people ever knew of some of these developements.  The Supermag story can be found the 6 th edition of Cartridges of the world.  My web site is www.silhouette-shooting.com.
The 448 and 449 Supermag was in the developement stage.

[unspellable]

You will note that in a given frame size the various calibers have a different thread on the rear of the barrel.  This is to prevent putting a smaller caliber barrel on a revolver with a larger caliber chamber.  I do not expect t osee a cylinder/barrel set from DW allowing a change of caliber.  The lawyers would have apoplexy.

On the other hand they seem to have been reluctant to offer dual cylinder combos such as 22 LR/22 Mag or 32 Mag/32-20.

The Super Mag cartridges have probably already  reached the point of diminishing returns for powder capacity and there wouldn't be much to gain by increasing it.

Going to something like to 500 S&W would probably require a larger frame and cylinder.

[414SM-E.T.GATES]

:gun4:  :biggun: The one thing I liked about Dan Wesson is they had an open ear to shooters and inventers.  That's what sets them above the rest.  I remember when Dad went to the shot show in the late 70's and early 80's and tried to get S & W to make and produce the supermags. Back then they didn't want anything to do with it.  They had dirty harry and that's all they needed.  They didn't want the 505 back then, but they have the 500 now.  Since the company has changed hands they seem more shooter friendly.  They make a good gun now.  I think change is great for shooters and hunters.  For those who have good cartridge ideas, you have to find a company who will mass produce your gun=  They expect you to buy the first 500 or 1000 guns.  Brass:  100,000 min order + head stamp fee.  etc.  20 to 35 K up front.  Dies  Custom dies list for $120 bucks a set.  100 sets to start.  Testing? load Data?  How many "Super Mag Alasken Trundra" calibers do you have to produce?  It's easy to have a good Idea but hard to get your Idea produced.  This was just a snap-shot of what you could run into.  FYI.

[475/480]

DW needs to make a 475 SuperMag 1.610",would a 5 shot fit there cylinder.
 Sean