Smith and Wesson or Dan Wesson .. which one would you choose and why?


here is the Smith 28-2



here is the Wesson



and both is not an option

Smith & Wesson. Better grips and no chrome finish so it doesn't look like something you're knock over a liquor store with.

Because...S&W.

Dan Wesson since you can change barrel lengths and you can always replace the grips Plus it's very accurate and durable.

SMITH!

S&W. DW's are fine guns, but I've always had an almost irrational appreciation for 4"-5" N-frames; especially in .357 or 45LC.

If you took the question one step further, asking specifics; would that maybe have any effect on the choice...?

If the question was, "which one if you were building a long-range target or hunting gun", my choice might well be the DW.

If the question was "which one for a nightstand gun", "which one if you were stranded on a desert island", or "which one if you were carrying it into battle"; then I'd even more-strongly pick the S&W.

This right here. I have owned both, and used the Dan Wesson at pistol silhouette events. Supremely accurate and a damn fine trigger. Not a fast reloading gun due to the location of the cylinder latch but I could use it for HD in a pinch. S&W would be my first choice with out any hesitation though.

Dan Wesson hands down.

Cylinders:
The 28 is built with pre-55 standards meaning the cylinders before 1955 were 1 9/16" long. 1 9/19" ='s short, bullets like the lyman 358429 classic keith swc 173gr bullet or the 358311 rn are too long for the cylinders. The dw cylinders are the same length as the s&w l-frame series and will accept longer loads/bullets than the s&w 28. When reloading/using 38spl's it doesn't matter, but these are 357's. Why miss out on some excellent loads/bullets due to cylinder length???

Barrels:
With the 28, you get what you see. With the dw you you not only get what you see but you also have the ability to set the cylinder gaps yourself. When fine tuning loads you'll find that some loads like shorter/longer cylinder gaps. I've ran the cylinder gaps as short as .002" on my dw's. Buying aftermarket bbl's are super cheap for the dw. You're not locked into the standard 1 in 18 3/4 twist that are standard on both dw's and s&w's. I should point out that dw did make a 1 in 16 twist for their silhouette bbl's & any spl twist bbl's dw made are marked on the side of them. You can buy custom bbl's cheap and with 1 in 10 or 1 in 12 twists to take advantage of the longer/heavier bullets.

(Back in the day the built target pistols based on the s&w frame, s&w had excellent triggers. They'd put colt bbl's on them, the colt bbl's were 1 in 14 twist and were excellent at stabilizing the longer bodied 148gr hbwc's).

Sight:
There's allot more choices out there for the dw's. sights. They are easily replaced, the early models have a pin holding them and the later models have a allen screw holding them in. Again for little $$$ you can have fiber optic front sights, colored insert (like in your picture above), black standard rounded for holsters of target partridge style and several different heights. Along with the ability to change the height and color of the rear sight.

Barrel shrouds:
With the 28, what you see is what you get. You can have the same 4"bbl on the dw and have the same ribbed barrel or a low profile sight with the same ribbed bbl (better for conceal/holsters) or a vented rib or a heavy shroud. You actually have all those different choices with any length dw barrel.

Accuracy and bbl tuning:
Not only can you fine tune accuracy with the bbl gap on the dw's, you can tune them with bbl tension. The dw bbl system is stress free and s&w started using the same setup with their x-frame line. The only difference in s&w glue their bbl's in. Tightening the front bl nut on the dw's allows the owner to tune the bbl to the load by increasing or decreasing the amount of tension on the bbl (think guitar string).

bbl add-ons:
All dw bbl's are threaded and can accept things like muzzle breaks, cans, bbl weights for target work, etc. With the s&w's what you see is what you get.

I'd take the dw's over the 28 any day of the week and twice on sunday. Oh, wait a minute, I picked these up on a sunday gunshow.

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Those dw's are setup for beating and banging on steel with full house 357's. They have heavy bbl shrouds (the 4" setup weighs the same as a 6" bbl'd 586/686), custom 1 in 10 twist bbl's (heavy/long bullets) and muzzle breaks that tame the blast from the full house loads. Add trigger jobs and the rubber grips and these dw's flat out shoot.

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Those long 4-holed muzzle breaks are the cat's meow and really show their worth when shooting 173gr to 180gr bullets with full house loads.

But ,I also like to shoot the dw's with standard 4", 6" & 8" bbl's also.

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There's nothing wrong with the s&w 28 it's just that the dw brings so much more to the table. I'd highly recommend the dw over the 28 for the reasons listed above. At the end of the day 1 firearm can be used for ccw, plinking, custom setups for bowling pins/steel, target work, silhouettes, hunting, etc. Whith the 28, what you see is what you get.

Just another opinion.

Thanks. Good points about the DW

I may just need both

Does this come in the railed version? Because I am interested on putting a bipod on it.

I know a guy that makes them....

Smith - better double action trigger.

Depends. But I like the 4 inch 28 a lot.

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The Dan Wesson has a highly polished blued finish vs. the 28's matte finish.  No chrome.

While I will freely admit this is a matter of taste, I think there is no finer .357 wheelgun than the N frame Smith & Wesson. Built like a tank, sexy as hell, accurate and reliable.

For pure functionalism, the 686 and GP100 probably edge out the old blued guns, but they can't hold a candle to the blued steeled beauty - even in a matte finish like the 28.

And for me, Dan Wesson ain't even in the running.

Dan Wesson by a mile -----     It would be a slightly different story if the Smith were a nice Model 27 though   ---  the N frame is just too darn big for a .357 for my tastes --- seems unnecessary until you step up to a 41 Mag and above

Make no mistake - the Dan is a big gun too, but it is more in line with an L frame i believe -- plus great accuracy , a better cylinder locking mechanicsm , and the interchangeable barrels -- good stuff

But thats my opinion and one could argue quite correctly that there is not a "wrong" choice here

Errr---- that Dan is a blued gun

I would take the 28, just because I don't have one. I have 2 DW .357, one blue, one SS.

Dan Wesson. I own both and the recoil management with the dan wesson is better due to the grip. I know that you can change them out but still I say the Dan Wesson.

28-2.



With the -2, if it is good shape or better you have excellent chances of getting a good working gun.



With a DW from the same era you have a chance at getting a GREAT gun....and you have a chance at getting a very not so great gun.



Out of all of the revolvers I have ever owned, I have had ONE -2 ( a 29-2 ) that just wouldn't hit a barn if you shoved it down the barrel.



That's one gun out of something like 30 Smiths I have owned over the decades.  The rest were nothing short of fantastic



My first Dan Wesson was so  incredibly bad that it became my last Dan Wesson.  Now, my roomie has an AMAZING one.....but others I have run into were always people asking me if I could fix this issue or that.

Dan Wesson's are really cool, but they take a back seat to S&W in quality.  Any revolver smith will work on a S&W, but try to find gunsmiths who do action work on Dan Wesson's; they're exceedingly rare.  And the reason is because the internal parts are not held to a quality level similar to S&W's and the gunsmith doesn't want to lose money trying to do an action job on a gun where the internals could be out of spec.  Gunsmiths choose not to work on the lesser known brands because for every 5 revolvers you work on, there's a good chance you'll lose money on one or two when you're working on something like a Dan Wesson.  Whereas with a S&W it's more like 1 in 30 you'll lose money on.  

I'm a pistolsmith, and I will not work on anything other than Colt, S&W, and Ruger for DA revolvers.  I'm a for-profit business so I'll gladly let someone else take all the risks with Dan Wessons.

Dan Wesson all the way...Indestructible and interchangeable.. I own a 625 nice gun but nowhere as robust as the DW:

Dan Wesson all the way...Indestructible and interchangeable.. I own a 625 nice gun but nowhere as robust as the DW:

Smith is a better carry gun:  lighter and has a better DA trigger.
Dan is a better range/target gun: stronger, more accurate, and better SA trigger.

If I had to pick one, I'd pick the DW.

Though I like my 6" 686  from the late 80's and my nickel 4" m-10 from the 30's, I would say the Dan Wesson by a country mile.

Far better grip options in custom grips as they are not limited by a traditional frame
Better Finish (available in either polished blue or stainless steel)
Better sight options.  

Versatility with either a moderate weight 4" barrel or a heavy 6" barrel.
I have found the DW to be much better at Pin shooting as I have shot 230 gr slugs out of it.   BUT, a 7/8  shot S&W would be better still for the round capacity.

Both will be strong.
Both will be accurate.

The M-28 is the M27's ugly sister.

You can buy additional barrels from Dan Wesson.   You can even run a ported barrel.

As for triggers?   In order of preference  of what I own  Python, Pre WWII S&W, DW, post war S&W.  
Finding knowledgeable people to work on a DW trigger is harder.    

When I bought mine about 30 or more years ago, my  parent asked me if I was going to put wheels on it when I showed it to them.