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Dance .36 (Pietta)

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Anyone have experience with the Pietta .36 caliber Dance Navy revolvers?
00-D36-A66-8555-4124-8-FC9-8-B9-E2807-DD78.jpg

http://www.octobercountry.com/pietta-1862-dance-revolver-36-cal-127/

All over the October Country homepage, must have just got a load in. They also have them in presentation cases with consecutive serial numbers.

Thoughts?
 
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Wasn't aware that the Dance was ever produced in .36 . The originals were a bit larger than the 60 Army, more Dragoon sized and were .44 . I would buy the .44 version if I were gonna get one , they are fun to shoot and you will likely be the only one on the range shooting one but to me they are a bit clunky . I have two in a case that were made by my pap sometime in the early 60's . He made two sets from scratch , my aunt had the first finished set and I have a set that was started but never finished when he lost his sight .

I think the real reason for the lack of recoil shields was to save the iron rather than anything to do with ease of loading , also made them somewhat lighter and easier to handle than a Dragoon .
 
The Dance took features from both the Dragoon and the 1851 Navy. I wasn't aware that any Confederate revolvers were made in anything other than .36 caliber. My understanding is that the recoil shields were eliminated to reduce machining and ease manufacture - they would only be a tiny bit of metal. Re the Pietta versions offered by October Country, a bit of online research indicates that VERY few were ever made. I think I "need" one!
 
The J.H. DANCE & Bros COMPANY of Texas was the only Confederate revolver maker to produce both .44 and .36 caliber guns. Some had round barrels, some octagonal, and some had recoil shields. The .44 was similar in size to the Colt Dragoon, but lighter in weight, and had a shorter cylinder. Estimated production was 350 .44s and 135 .36s.
(Information from Littlegun. Google search for Dance revolvers will show the article, along with photos of guns described, including an original in unfired, mint condition.)

Richard/Grumpa
 
Wasn't aware that the Dance was ever produced in .36 . The originals were a bit larger than the 60 Army, more Dragoon sized and were .44 . I would buy the .44 version if I were gonna get one , they are fun to shoot and you will likely be the only one on the range shooting one but to me they are a bit clunky . I have two in a case that were made by my pap sometime in the early 60's . He made two sets from scratch , my aunt had the first finished set and I have a set that was started but never finished when he lost his sight .

I think the real reason for the lack of recoil shields was to save the iron rather than anything to do with ease of loading , also made them somewhat lighter and easier to handle than a Dragoon .
Probably less material but significantly cheaper to mill the frame as well.
 
Another reason for not having a "recoil shield" is, it allows you to see at a glance if a cap has fallen off of a nipple. This can happen due to a poorly fitting cap coupled with the recoil of the gun firing another chamber.

With the absence of a recoil shield, the escaping, flaming powder gasses from the firing chamber won't be held against the rear of the cylinder like they are on the guns that have a recoil shield. The gasses would diffuse into the air.
This would greatly reduce the possibility of the gasses having enough energy to work their way into adjacent cylinders nipples and causing a chain fire situation.
 
The most frequently reason given for the lack of recoil shields is that the iron stock available to manufacture the frames wasn't thick enough to allow for them. A couple of the very first revolvers show evidence of the shields having been milled off, possibly to test the practicality of a revolver without them?
 
Saw a "Dance Brothers" antique revolver on an internet auction site for $39,000+! And it's funny, but I think it may have started life in Italy instead of Texas. The revolver is heavily pitted and edges are rounded, but there are a couple of 'tells' lurking here & there.
Some of the 'tells' are:
1. there's a flat cut into the underside of the barrel by the rammer pivot like a Pietta - there is no flats on the Dance round barrel revolver
2. there's only 1 serial number on the pistol like a Pietta Dance - there are 3 on a real Dance right next to each other on the barrel, frame & brass trigger guard; another number on the left side of the hammer & on the bottom of the brass frame grip & on the cylinder; so maybe someone forgot to put the other 5 serial numbers on when it was made 156 years ago?
3. the wedge spring has a round casting mark like a Pietta - a cast spring, really?
4. the screw heads on the left side of the frame are slightly domed like a Pietta - on the Dance most of the screws on the frame are flat heads. I looked at a lot of antique Colt '51's and they all had slightly domed heads on the frame.
5. the rammer catch looks exactly like a new Pietta part & the round arm portion of the rammer has no pitting on it like the rest of the pistol
Maybe I'm being too picky, but other than those few 'tells' it's probably authentic and worth 39 grand, too.
I'm not an expert, I'm just suspicious. Have a good one, Mike
 
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Anyone have experience with the Pietta .36 caliber Dance Navy revolvers?
00-D36-A66-8555-4124-8-FC9-8-B9-E2807-DD78.jpg

http://www.octobercountry.com/pietta-1862-dance-revolver-36-cal-127/

All over the October Country homepage, must have just got a load in. They also have them in presentation cases with consecutive serial numbers.

Thoughts?

I was able to get one of the Pietta Dances from Oct. Country. I have been able to compare it to an original Colt 1851 and a Dance repro from Uberti. I had no idea that the Dance repros were so rare & feel very lucky to be able to get one. I believe that both the Pietta and the Uberti were made in the 70s and are both well made & nicely finished. Timing on both was good as well. It appears that both guns were made by modifications to the 1851 repros made by the two companies. Compared to the original Colt, the Pietta grips are about 1/32" shorter , 3/32" thinner mid grip and 1/32" wider at the butt. The Uberti measured about 5/32"shorter, same thickness as colt and almost 1/8" wider at the butt. All three barrels were 7 &1/2" on the nose. The three all had the trigger offset slightly to the left and had the triggerguard squared at the rear but the only photos of real Dances (in Confederate Arms by Albaugh & Simmons) show rounded triggerguards.
 
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olt
I was able to get one of the Pietta Dances from Oct. Country. I have been able to compare it to an original Colt 1851 and a Dance repro from Uberti. I had no idea that the Dance repros were so rare & feel very lucky to be able to get one. I believe that both the Pietta and the Uberti were made in the 70s and are both well made & nicely finished. Timing on both was good as well. It appears that both guns were made by modifications to the 1851 repros made by the two companies. Compared to the original Colt, the Pietta grips are about 1/32" shorter , 3/32" thinner mid grip and 1/32" wider at the butt. The Uberti measured about 5/32"shorter, same thickness as colt and almost 1/8" wider at the butt. All three barrels were 7 &1/2" on the nose. The three all had the trigger offset slightly to the left and had the triggerguard squared at the rear but the only photos of real Dances (in Confederate Arms by Albaugh & Simmons) show rounded triggerguards.

In addition, the Colt has the loading lever screw coming in from the right where both replicas and the Albaugh photos have the loading lever screw in fro the left. The Pietta has a (correct) plain un-engraved cylinder whereas the Uberti has two good sized stars on opposite sides. The Uberti also has a large "CA" on the top barrel flat and "COMMEMORATIVE" on the side. I have no reason to believe that there would be any noticeable difference in how the two replicas would shoot so based on the more correct markings on the Pietta, I would choose it over the Uberti (in the unlikely event that a choice ever comes up).
 

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