Canadian Airgun Forum

This is a brief review of the Dan Wesson 8” I recently purchased from Sniper Dan. It comes with a styro box, 6 shells, a speed loader, accessory rail and a manual. The manual! It is in several languages, the most incomprehensible being English. Ignore it. Look at the pictures if you must. The gun is dead simple to operate. Loading and firing are intuitive, and Marvin’s replica site has a video on the simple power upgrade, and this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ_hamzDkoQ , although frustrating to watch, shows the accessory rail installation. (Hint: Do not remove the windage screw; only the elevation screw and the pin are necessary.) Now for the gun. It is a replica-style revolver and has great feel and a realistic look. It feels solid and there is no discernible looseness or play in the action or cylinder. It also seems to have less air loss due to the spring-loaded barrel to cylinder seal. (I say ‘seems’ because this is a purely subjective opinion as I have no way to measure or compare any actual air loss.) To be clear, this is a fun plinker! It is not for marksmanship or pesting. There are many other guns out there far more suitable for those purposes than this one. But this gun is fun X 10. Just loading those realistic-size shells into the swing-out cylinder is a serious hoot. Considering it’s a smooth-bore BB pistol the accuracy and consistency is more than acceptable, and is improved with the above-mentioned power upgrade. The balance and pointability of this gun is superior to my S&W 686 in my opinion, and though less accurate, is just plain more fun to shoot. Accuracy can be improved by adding a scope or red dot, with the downside being the added weight affects the balance, and, for me at least, requires a two-handed combat grip, as opposed to cowboy-style. This gun has quickly become one of my favourites, and is definitely a valued addition to my collection. A couple of suggestions for anyone planning to buy this gun. First, get extra shells. Dan was out of stock so I was SOL. Having to stop everything and reload the shells is a Royal Pain. It’s like using a Civil War cap-n-ball revolver instead of just popping in a half-dozen shells from the quick loader and carrying right on. Second, use lead balls instead of BBs. I know BBs are cheap, easy to collect with a magnet and re-use, but unless your basement is totally devoid of everything except you and what you’re shooting, any savings will vaporize with one ricochet into a plasma screen, vase, lamp, or that box of china or crystal your significant other packed away. I hope this has been helpful, Happy Shooting All,
Dave

Where is a good place to get lead bb's?

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Crosman Phantom .22
Crosman 2240
QB78 Deluxe .22
Daisy Red Ryder 70th edition
Crosman 357w .177
Crosman 1088 .177
GSG 92 Full auto mod
Walther ppk/s
Umarex SA177
Umarex H & K MP5

Sniper may have some and D&L carry Gamo brand.

Hi
What would be a good scope for Dan Wesson 8"?

That was a very well written review Dave. I have always admired those guns and now you've got me thinking again. I must check out the power upgrade you mention.

The Tasco Red Dot BKRD30 works well but keep it just front of rear sights ( see my review of March 18). A pistol scope
may add more front-end weight on an already heavy barrel.
The Replica Airguns video on increasing power/FPS was done on the 6 inch silver model which is deemed to have less
FPS than the 8 inch model as stated in reviews.

I agree that it is fun and some days, this 8 inch BB revolver comes close to a S&W 586 in accuracy at 15 to 20 feet and
hits hard!