Dan Wesson is more than a familiar name to firearms collectors and shooters.
For Eric Wesson, grandson of Dan Wesson Arms founder Daniel Baird Wesson II, it’s family history, personal responsibility and a legacy he never expected to help preserve.
To many collectors and shooters, the Wesson name carries almost legendary weight. To Eric, it’s something much more personal.
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“Like my father Seth would tell you, it’s just a name,” the 54-year-old father of two told me. “For a lot of people, they associate the name as gun royalty, but we are just regular red-blooded Americans. We love the outdoors including hunting, fishing, shooting both recreationally and competitively, and of course we like to manufacture stuff.”
That mix of humility, history and mechanical curiosity runs through nearly two centuries of Wesson family history. It also helps explain why the name still matters.
Dan Wesson Begins with a Family Name
When his grandfather Dan Wesson passed away suddenly in 1978, Eric was just a kid. His father Seth immediately packed up Dan Wesson’s office and stored it all in the attic with strict instructions not to touch it.
As a result, Eric didn’t fully realize the importance of the Wesson family heritage until he was in his late teens. But even as a kid, he knew something special was happening at his grandfather’s funeral.
“It was humbling that so many people respected him in and outside of the firearms industry,” Eric says.
Eric Wesson Remembers the Man Behind Dan Wesson Arms
So, what was Dan Wesson like?
“He was my grandfather, so I put him pretty high on the pedestal as any young grandson would,” Eric says. “As a machinist tool and die maker by trade, he spent most of his time in the shop. My grandmother referred to the shop as his ‘grey mistress’ because all the machines during that era were grey in color. He was a perfectionist and always wanted to make something better. He loved the outdoors, to alpine ski and to fish for trout up north in Maine. He was a husband, father, and grandfather that respected the name given to him.”
Eric also remembers the day his grandmother became worried because Dan had been gone from the house for too long.
“One memory I have was when my grandmother had asked if we could try to find where my grandfather was. He had been out of the house for some time, and she wanted to make sure he wasn’t hurt or something,” Eric said. “We found him out in the woods logging trees with his bulldozer he just acquired. Apparently, he was trying to keep that a secret because my grandmother would not have been too happy with that purchase.”
That story says plenty about the Wesson family’s hands-on nature. So does another family trait Eric describes with a smile.
“You also have to understand that Wessons like to make noise. My grandfather Dan used to shoot howitzers at his pond and my father Seth used to shoot signal cannons at certain functions,” he says.
Inside Eric Wesson’s Family Collection
Eric is now the keeper of a large Wesson family collection, a private display that feels more like a museum than a simple collection of family keepsakes.
“I am proud that I have been able to do what I could with the resources available to display it the way I have,” he says.
The collection reflects generations of American gunmaking and family history.
“I have been blessed with the task of preserving family history,” Eric says. “Having the ability to have examples of each Wesson’s work, from Edwin, Frank, Daniel Baird I, Joseph, Victor, Daniel Baird II, and my father Seth, is a true appreciation and respect of the Wesson name.”
As an arms historian, my inevitable question to Eric was whether there were any particularly rare items in the collection. His answer did not disappoint.
“The first Dan Wesson Arms prototype revolver, serial number X1, would be at the top of the list, but I also have a couple Smith & Wesson prototypes and low serial number Smith & Wesson stuff I am proud of to have in my possession.”
For Eric, these firearms represent more than mechanical objects or collectible pieces.
“We look at firearms differently than probably most,” he says. “We look at them as engineering marvels or a piece of fine art.”
The “Cradle of Wesson”
Many historians regard New England as the “Cradle of Gunmaking,” a twist on world history’s “Cradle of Civilization” in Mesopotamia. One particularly interesting item in Eric’s collection isn’t a Wesson gun, drawing, blueprint or advertisement.
In fact, it’s probably the most unassuming thing in the room. It’s the Wesson family bassinet, or the “Cradle of Wesson,” if you will.
“The story behind the Wesson family bassinet is that every Wesson since Daniel Baird has been in the crib, all the way down to my two kids, son Dan and daughter Morgan,” Eric says. “It has been a tradition carried down for many generations and hope to continue that with generations to come. It would get moved from family to family and it’s amazing how it has remained this way over the years.”
That bassinet might not have the obvious collector appeal of a prototype revolver or a low-serial-number Smith & Wesson, but it helps tell the larger story. The Wesson name isn’t just a firearms name. It’s a family name, and that distinction matters.
Upon Dan Wesson’s passing, ownership of the company that bore his name switched hands. Eric’s father Seth was forced out. It was a difficult turn for the family, but it didn’t take them away from manufacturing.
When the Wesson Family Lost the Company
Upon Dan Wesson’s passing, ownership of the company that bore his name switched hands. Eric’s father Seth was forced out.
“That would have been right around 1981 or 1982, right after he helped implement the large frame revolver into production,” Eric says. “When that happened, my father didn’t know what he was going to do.”
It was a difficult turn for the family, but it didn’t take them away from manufacturing.
“It was at that point my father and mother secured the assets to Ceric Fabrication, a precision sheet metal fabricating company that services many industries,” Eric says. “They grew the business with the idea of eventually selling and retiring. That plan took a detour when then-Executive Vice President of Dan Wesson Arms, Edward Arventos, approached the family to purchase the company out of bankruptcy court. My parents, together with Ed Arventos, were in a position at that time to secure the sale.”
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Eric Wesson Joins the Family Business
This is where Eric’s involvement in the family business began. After the assets were purchased, the decision was made to change the name to Wesson Firearms, “home of the Dan Wesson revolver,” to avoid any potential legal liability issues. The other decision was to move the Monson facility to the Palmer facility in January 1991.
“During this time, I was finishing up my college degree, but at the same time working in customer service at Wesson Firearms and learning as much as I could about the business,” Eric says. “Once I graduated my role turned full-time and I started working with industry writers more and took on more of a sales and marketing role.”
Eric eventually rose to the position of Director of Sales and Marketing. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last.
In early 1994, Eric’s parents started looking for partners to take on an equity position in the company. Reluctantly, they had to give up majority control to make that happen. Things didn’t work out the way they had hoped, and the family stepped aside and moved on in September 1994.
“When you love something as much as we did, and to see it slip away again, was a hard pill to swallow,” Eric says.
Eric Wesson and the CZ Era
Today, Dan Wesson is part of the CZ corporate group, following its 2005 acquisition through CZ-USA.
The brand has become especially known for its 1911 production, while still carrying many of the attributes and the mindset upon which Dan Wesson built the company when he was making revolvers.
“I am very grateful CZ has as much respect and appreciation of the brand as they do,” Eric says. “They truly believe the Dan Wesson brand is one of those USA-made brands that matters. They take huge pride in the craftsmanship, quality, heritage, and precision that the company was originally founded on.”
After 21 years away from the family business, there is once again Wesson involvement at Dan Wesson. In 2025, CZ reached out to the family hoping to help fill in some of the missing blanks in the history of the company. Eric was more than happy to share that history with them.
“I appreciate the fact it was important to them wanting to know the DNA of the Dan Wesson brand,” he says.
Since then, Eric has taken on more of an ambassador role with the company.
“They appreciate the heritage and history of the brand, and I am glad and honored to take on that role and share some of that,” he says.
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The Future of the Dan Wesson Family Legacy
I asked Eric if there was anything else he wanted to make sure people knew about the current generations of the Wesson family.
“We have a lot of pride and respect for the family heritage and legacy,” he says. “Wessons have been designing and manufacturing firearms for almost 200 years now here in America. My children represent the 14th generation here. An incredible amount of history is associated with the name, and our children feel the same way. They recognize the importance of our history and to carry on that legacy. Hopefully someday, they will enter the industry they have learned so much about.”
Daniel Baird Wesson wrote in one of his daybooks in 1865, “No thing of importance will come without effort.”
That line still fits. It applies to the generations of Wessons who designed, built and preserved the family’s place in American gunmaking. It also applies to the people carrying the Dan Wesson name forward today.
Eric Wesson sees that future with the same practical optimism that seems to run through the family.
“The future is bright,” he says, “and I am looking forward to seeing what the future brings.”
After almost 200 years of Wesson involvement in American gunmaking, that future still carries weight. Whether it leads to new pistols, renewed interest in Dan Wesson revolvers or another generation stepping into the industry, the name still means something.
Not royalty, maybe. But definitely legacy.