The 2 guns (Ruger and Dan Wesson) that the previous poster put down for being investment cast are 2 of the strongest revolvers on the market today, BAR NONE. A LOT of silhouette shooters put thousands of HEAVY rounds through the Dan Wessons without problems. Take a look at the IHMSA records owned by Dan Wessons, especially before they lifted the price limit. NO SMITH AND WESSON REVOLVERS HAVE EVER BEEN ABLE TO SURVIVE THE CRUCIBLE OF SILHOUETTE COMPETITION TO MY KNOWLEDGE. But Dan Wesson is legendary for both its strength and accuracy in the silhouette world with a strength record that even exceeded the very strong Ruger guns over long periods of heavy use. As far as service and parts, all that is available straight from the factory now. They have been under new ownership for several years now. As I have followed the company for 2 decades through its ups and downs and different iterations, I think they have finally found there niche. Instead of trying to compete with Colt and Smith and Ruger in the service pistol category like they did years ago, they are concentrating more on the specialty gun market now. The down side is that the guns are more expensive now (but still comparable to Smiths and Rugers). The up side is that they will proably be around for a long time. They always did build a fine gun, but I think they finally figured out how to build a fine company. They have not changed hands as many times as Smith & Wesson has in the last 20 years. The good part is that the guns are so dang strong, you rarely need parts or service.
I am a bit mystified at the following that the S&W 29 has among those who know they will need to fire heavy loads. The 29 is a fine gun in many respects and the quality of S&W is usually very good, especially their trigger pulls, but the 29 has always been too light for heavy loads making recoil painful and making the gun shoot loose during repeated use of any +P loaded ammo. Don't get me wrong. I like Smiths. I own them in other calibers and if I needed to carry a 44 Mag concealed for any reason, the 29 with 4" barrel would be a viable choice due to its relatively small size, but I would not fire heavy loads in it. Rugers and Dan Wessons are very strong, and even Taurus' are bigger and stronger than the Smith 29. Why risk your life or the life of others based on brand loyalty when the 29 has proven time and again they cannot handle a steady diet of heavy loads. I think their new 500 S&W Magnum (THE MOST POWERFUL PRODUCTION HANDGUN IN THE WORLD) will prove to be very durable since they have designed it specifically to address the weaknesses of the Model 29. Smith & Wesson consulted with the president of Dan Wesson during the developement of their new 500 S&W and used many features on their new gun that Dan Wesson has used for years. They redesigned the crane, went to a barrel/shroud arrangement and attachment just like Dan Wesson, increased frame size and weight, even reversed the direction of the rifling so that the impulse imparted to the gun when the bullet hits the forcing cone tends to CLOSE the cyliner crane as opposed to OPEN it as it does in the Mod. 29. The Performance Shop had to develope a special front crane latch to help keep the 29 closed and heavy barrels because of all the problems that developed with the 29 firing heavy loads. Of course this drove the price of the gun very high and still did not fully remedy the problems with the Mod. 29.
If you need to fire heavy loads, get a gun designed for it (i.e. Ruger or Dan Wesson), not the S&W 29.
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I have known a few Silhouette guys that swear by Dan Wessons and typically load far heavy than would ever do for my ruger blackhawk.
So, are the Dan Wessons capable of higher pressure than the Smiths (I have shot a few S&W's loose in the past and had a 629 that used to lock up after a few cylinders of factory rounds - one reason why I only have rugers now).
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If my life depends on it, I don't want a gun that may lock up when I need it most with heavy loads.
By the way, one answer to the previous question on the other forum:
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I can't speak for the large frame Dan Wesson revolvers, but I shot with a lot of guys who beat the pi$$ out of them shooting silhouettes with no problems whatsoever. I have two small frame Dans, a 357 and a 32-20. The 32-20 has only had 2-3000 rounds through it, from factory level to 357 plus levels. The 357 was my first centerfire handgun, I got it when I was 16 or 17. This revolver has had over 15K rounds through it, 10K of which have been heavy 180 grain loads. It is still tight and shoots as well or better than the day I brought it home.
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So in answer to the original post, the Dan Wesson is one of the finest guns you can buy at any price as far as accuracy, shootability, and durability goes. What else do you need from a gun.
