Pietta Dance and Brothers

[Stantheman86]

You are correct that it is based on the Navy frame. The entire water table has been lowered to accommodate the larger non-rebated .44 cylinder, shown below compared to a Navy .36 cylinder.

View attachment 66497

What is the date code (and SN) of your revolver? If it is BS/2002 (when Pietta went to CNC machining) or newer, any CNC Pietta 1860 Army 3-piece grip assembly will work. You may even be able to use the Dance mainspring.

Pietta started manufacturing the Dance in 1996 (BH) as a consignment revolver initiated by Tony Gajewsky. The first ones were .36 caliber. After a contractual disagreement Pietta produced the .44 cal. with 7-1/2" barrels and REBATED CYLINDERS starting with serial # C00128. This production was modified to the current STRAIGHT CYLINDERS and 8" barrel at around serial # C00233. There were only 105 Dance revolvers in .44 cal. made with rebated cylinders.

Any Dance revolvers manufactured from BH/1996 to BP/2001 are NOT CNC machined, and therefore all bets are off that an 1860 Army gripframe assembly will work without fitting.

Just to show off, my Pietta Dance Firearms Co. - Angleton Texas SN C00013, one of only 35 produced before the contractual dispute.

View attachment 66499

I had been looking for a Dance .36 for a few years and was just about to sacrifice a Pietta Leech & Rigdon (milling off the recoil shields) when I found this and several others of both calibers (.36 and .44) for sale when Dr. Jim L. Davis (RPRCA) died in 2019 and most, if not all, of his collection was sold to October Country (Idaho).

In early 2020 I posted a thread about his (and other) Dance revolvers, both Pietta (1996) and Uberti (1985) and what history I have found about them. If interested:

Replica 1862 J.H. Dance And Brothers .36 and .44 Revolver (Pietta and Uberti) (blackpowdersmoke.com)

Good luck in your endeavors!

Regards,

Jim

My Dance .44 cylinder is smaller than that, only very slightly smaller than a .36 Navy cylinder.

 

[maillemaker]

Here is what Mr. John Holland, member of the Small Arms Committee in the N-SSA, replied to me back in 2020 regarding the .44 Dance and Brother:

Steve - Both Dance revolvers were submitted at the same time, and the .44 caliber version failed the inspection process. The original .44 caliber Dance revolver is built on a Dragoon frame, the reproduction is not. Thank you for asking.
John Holland
Small Arms Committee

 

[Stantheman86]

That makes sense

They don't want Fantasy Guns in competition

I don't think Pietta can or will make another .36 Dance because of that dispute, but probably 3 people actually care about that anyway

 

[maillemaker]

What was the dispute?

 

[Stantheman86]

From what I read, a guy who was an importer tried to start something called the Dance Revolver Company or something like that, and contracted with Pietta for various .36 Dance Brothers repros, commemoratives etc and something happened where there was a lawsuit or dispute, I forget.

Pietta started making rebated cylinder Dances and then quickly switched to the current type of .44

I guess one of the conditions of this lawsuit was that Pietta could only make .36 Dance revolvers for this one guy and they can't make them while this man is still alive. I'm probably butchering the facts but I read the whole story 2 days ago and I'm going from memory

The Pietta Dance revolver is just a Navy sized frame with a slightly larger .44 cylinder so it's not totally HC

 

[Stantheman86]

You could easily make a .36 Dance with a plain Navy cylinder and a Griswold barrel , you could solder an 1860 sight on it . The cylinder is slightly smaller but would work. The barrel might need some finish work by the frame

I'm never going to be that motivated .

It would be easier to do what the Lodgewood guy did and grind a Uberti Leech and Rigdon frame flat

Honestly, .375 and .454 balls are readily available, a .44 Dance repro is all the same to me.

 

[hawkeye2]

Stantheman86 if you have a link to that article I would be very interested. I do have a Pietta .44 Dance which I like as is and have often thought of making a Dance copy using Italian parts. If I recall Uberti made a .36 Dance possibly back in the early 80s.

 

[Stantheman86]

Stantheman86 if you have a link to that article I would be very interested. I do have a Pietta .44 Dance which I like as is and have often thought of making a Dance copy using Italian parts. If I recall Uberti made a .36 Dance possibly back in the early 80s.

I'll find it when I get home, I'm on the work computer now, it's a pretty bizarre story with the guy rejecting guns and why someone would start a distributor that just sells Dance repros, it's pretty interesting.

It would be pretty easy to just alter a Uberti or Pietta Navy , get a round barrel from Taylor's and make it into a .36 Dance revolver.

It was kinda unexpected when I got mine, the Pietta .44 Dance revolver is basically a .44 Navy "Reb Model" with no recoil shield , I expected a bigger gun but I'm happy with it. It's a very well fitted piece. I almost got a pair of them but Midway had a Quantity of 1 limit and I'm glad I just got the one.

 

[TDM]

Here is what Mr. John Holland, member of the Small Arms Committee in the N-SSA, replied to me back in 2020 regarding the .44 Dance and Brother:

Not disagreeing with Mr. Holland, I’m quite sure he knows more than me. But I’m still going to research that statement, luckily I’ve got some fine old books on Confederate revolvers.

 

[Boston Bill]

I'll find it when I get home, I'm on the work computer now, it's a pretty bizarre story with the guy rejecting guns and why someone would start a distributor that just sells Dance repros, it's pretty interesting.

It would be pretty easy to just alter a Uberti or Pietta Navy , get a round barrel from Taylor's and make it into a .36 Dance revolver.

It was kinda unexpected when I got mine, the Pietta .44 Dance revolver is basically a .44 Navy "Reb Model" with no recoil shield , I expected a bigger gun but I'm happy with it. It's a very well fitted piece. I almost got a pair of them but Midway had a Quantity of 1 limit and I'm glad I just got the one.

Have you shot it much?
If yes, do you have any problems with the caps not staying on the nipples?

 

[Stantheman86]

Have you shot it much?
If yes, do you have any problems with the caps not staying on the nipples?

I just put 7 cylinders through it a few days ago. I have the factory nipples on it, I used pinched CCI #11's, no problems with caps coming off. Except a few spent caps got flung into my face from recoil. I may put a set of SlixShots on it so they will hopefully just fall off instead of the popped cap staying on there.

It's a lot easier to cap, I'd also like to not have to pinch caps and I want to keep using #11's , also so I can use a snail capper.

 

[TDM]

This book was published in 1963, one of the very best references. Hopefully you can read the description.

 

[Stantheman86]

This book was published in 1963, one of the very best references. Hopefully you can read the description.

That book looks neat

Pietta should have put the 60 Army grip frame on these

 

[TDM]

That book looks neat

Pietta should have put the 60 Army grip frame on these

It is a great book, maybe Mr. Holland should try to find a copy before he passes judgment on the .44 Dance.

 

[hawkeye2]

Has anyone seen a copy of Gary Wiggins' book, "Dance Brothers" (I haven't)?

 

[hawkeye2]

From a 2010 post by the late Dr. J. Davis:

"After 15yrs of research into the replica revolvers that have been manufactured since the early 1950’s, I have finally been able to put together production numbers for all replica Dance revolvers (emphasis mine) that have been manufactured."

"It turns out that the Pietta .36cal. revolvers that were marked DANCE FIREARMS CO. - ANGLETON, TEXAS are the fewest in number at only 35 guns. These start with serial # C00001 and continue through # C00047. There were an additional 4 guns produced that are marked DANCE FIREARMS CO. - ANGLETON, TEXAS in .44cal. with rebated cylinders, # C00048-C00051. The .44cal. revolvers were prototypes of a possible .44cal. series. These were produced in 1996."

"Pietta continued shipments of the .36cal. Dance revolver that are only marked F.LLIPIETTA –MADE IN ITALY on right side of the barrel. This was at about the same time that they discontinued the marking of any revolvers with anything other than their own name. These terminated with serial # C00127. All production of the Pietta Dance revolver in .36cal. discontinued with serial # C00127. This is a total production of only 75 revolvers. The only revolvers left are only available from Tony Gajewsky. These now sell for over $1000. I acquired one of these Pietta Dance revolvers off the internet recently. It is like new condition with serial # C00096. This is the only resale I have ever seen. These were also produced in 1996."

"Pietta resumed production of the .44cal. with 7 1/2" barrels and REBATED CYLINDERS with serial # C00128. This production was modified to the current STRAIGHT CYLINDERS and 8" barrel at around serial # C00233. There were only 105 Dance revolvers in .44cal. made with rebated cylinders."

"Uberti made 50 Dance Commemoratives with only 44 being accepted by Tony. They all have an AR prefix on the serial number starting with AR001 and have a Certificate of Authenticity with each gun. After the Commemoratives the "Shooter Model” was introduced starting with serial # 0001. These revolver had plane cylinders and are marked SMLS INC – ANGLETON – TEXAS. These were all sold the first year they were introduced in 1985."

"Both the Uberti and Pietta replica Dance revolvers have square back trigger guards. This was done intentionally as a deterrent to counterfeiters which seemed to be a fear of collectors of original revolvers."

 

[Stantheman86]

From a 2010 post by the late Dr. J. Davis:

"After 15yrs of research into the replica revolvers that have been manufactured since the early 1950’s, I have finally been able to put together production numbers for all replica Dance revolvers (emphasis mine) that have been manufactured."

"It turns out that the Pietta .36cal. revolvers that were marked DANCE FIREARMS CO. - ANGLETON, TEXAS are the fewest in number at only 35 guns. These start with serial # C00001 and continue through # C00047. There were an additional 4 guns produced that are marked DANCE FIREARMS CO. - ANGLETON, TEXAS in .44cal. with rebated cylinders, # C00048-C00051. The .44cal. revolvers were prototypes of a possible .44cal. series. These were produced in 1996."

"Pietta continued shipments of the .36cal. Dance revolver that are only marked F.LLIPIETTA –MADE IN ITALY on right side of the barrel. This was at about the same time that they discontinued the marking of any revolvers with anything other than their own name. These terminated with serial # C00127. All production of the Pietta Dance revolver in .36cal. discontinued with serial # C00127. This is a total production of only 75 revolvers. The only revolvers left are only available from Tony Gajewsky. These now sell for over $1000. I acquired one of these Pietta Dance revolvers off the internet recently. It is like new condition with serial # C00096. This is the only resale I have ever seen. These were also produced in 1996."

"Pietta resumed production of the .44cal. with 7 1/2" barrels and REBATED CYLINDERS with serial # C00128. This production was modified to the current STRAIGHT CYLINDERS and 8" barrel at around serial # C00233. There were only 105 Dance revolvers in .44cal. made with rebated cylinders."

"Uberti made 50 Dance Commemoratives with only 44 being accepted by Tony. They all have an AR prefix on the serial number starting with AR001 and have a Certificate of Authenticity with each gun. After the Commemoratives the "Shooter Model” was introduced starting with serial # 0001. These revolver had plane cylinders and are marked SMLS INC – ANGLETON – TEXAS. These were all sold the first year they were introduced in 1985."

"Both the Uberti and Pietta replica Dance revolvers have square back trigger guards. This was done intentionally as a deterrent to counterfeiters which seemed to be a fear of collectors of original revolvers."

The counterfeiter thing is crazy

There were a few original 1851 Navies that were found with the recoil shields nicely ground off and passed off as Dance .36's, I would hope anyone about to pay $10,000 for a revolver will have it verified by an expert.

There's what is supposed to be a real .44 Dance on GunBroker but so far no one has thought it was worth 10k

 

[TDM]

The counterfeiter thing is crazy

There were a few original 1851 Navies that were found with the recoil shields nicely ground off and passed off as Dance .36's, I would hope anyone about to pay $10,000 for a revolver will have it verified by an expert.

There's what is supposed to be a real .44 Dance on GunBroker but so far no one has thought it was worth 10k

I think the days of any normal person buying a real Confederate made revolver are long gone, unless you made it a primary goal. Counterfeit Confederate revolvers were being made while fires were still smoldering after the war. They were always popular. All the original guns are so old now it’s a manure shoot to find the real deal. While I would love to own a Leech & Rigdon, that’s never going to happen. I do hope to settle for an 1860’s made Colt 1851 one day.

 

[Stantheman86]

Stantheman86 if you have a link to that article I would be very interested. I do have a Pietta .44 Dance which I like as is and have often thought of making a Dance copy using Italian parts. If I recall Uberti made a .36 Dance possibly back in the early 80s.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/civilwartalk.com/threads/1862-j-h-dance-36-replica.166174/?amp=1
There's a lot of info in here, I'm still looking for the article about the actual guy who tried to start the Dance Revolver company

 

[wganz]

I have zero interest in collecting either confederate or nazi memorabilia. If you do, fine, no problem.
Just that with my family name, it would be a PITA if I had to use it in a Self/Home Def situation.
And Caddo Parish, Louisiana where my farm is, has a Soros supported DA................. So, there you go..................................................