[fnfalman]

I saw at a local gun shops two wheelguns that perked my interest:

1. Colt Detective Special with the ejector rod shroud. Nothing out of the ordinary here since this model came out around early 1970s and I have one made in 1972. However, this one I saw has the compact Pachmayr grip (Colt Medallion) that is shown on the Detective Special II instead of wooden grips AND the serial number is funky too - RD1951 (could be RDI951 too, the "I" is hard to see). Asking price is $699 and it's in excellent shape. Some cylinder turns but otherwise I can't see any wear at all. No holster wear, period.

2. Snubbie Dan Wesson .357 Magnum (detachable barrel), this one was made in Monson. I'm not a Dan Wesson fan so I don't recall which one was good and which one was bad. Alas, this particular snubbie is out of time four charge holes out of six. Asking price is $599.

I'm going to negotiate the prices down anyway, but I'd like to see if I can find out some more info on the Colt and the Dan Wesson.

Please help!!!

[mgs]

I'd buy a new S&W at those prices. I had a Detective Special I traded years ago and wish I still had it. I paid $350........but.....I would not dump that much cash on one now. I had a nice DW 8" in .357 I use to shoot Long Range Steel Aminals with and it was very accurate out to 200M but a big gun even with a 2" barrel.....which I also had.

[HexHead]

The Colt will at the very least hold it's value. They are far more desirable. I have two DSs, a '77 in 98% condition with box & papers, and a '78 in similar condition I carry. I stole that one at $450.

The grips were probably swapped out as the original wooden ones aren't the most comfortable for shooting.

ETA: are you sure it's not a DSII? That serial number isn't even close to serial numbers for <='78 Detective Specials. If it is a DS, it's later than '78, and you're going to have to call Colt.
http://proofhouse.com/colt/index.html

To answer your other question, I would never buy a Wesson over a Colt to begin with, much less one that needs work.

[jollygreen]

The Monson Dan Wessons are the ones everybody prefers. I wouldn't want one that's out of time though. The parts are hard to come by and you don't really know why it's out of time. Faulty cylinder or bad hand? Those DWs were made of cast internals. A DW gunsmith would just have a box full of parts in front of him and keep trying until he found one that fit. Something about those cast parts prevented the gunsmith from hand fitting them.

Also, that's pretty pricey. What is it exactly? Stainless? What length and configuration for the barrel. Vent w/underlug?

[fnfalman]

I'll pass on the Dan Wesson for sure and probably pass on the Colt as well. I think that I've found out about this particular Detective Special: found a blued one with Pachmayr compact rubber grip on an internet review last night, the owner said that his was made between 1993 and 1995. I already have a stainless steel DSII, I don't need a blued DS in the same time frame.

[G26S239]

I have a DS with the RD in it. The format is XXXXRD and I was told by a woman @ Colt that I talked to said the RD indicated 1978 production.