Replica 1862 J.H. Dance And Brothers .36 and .44 Revolver (Pietta and Uberti)
[Prologue: Dr. James L. Davis (Claremore OK) passed away September 2019. Much, or all, of his collection was sold to October Country (Idaho). I, along with others, have been fortunate enough to have purchased a few of the RPRCA (Replica Percussion Revolver Collector Association) collection items. Dr. Davis had collected many replica revolvers and was in the process of organizing his notes and other material to write a book when he passed, which I understand is to possibly be finished by Dennis Norton sometime in the future.]
***********************************************************************
This was written by Dr. Jim L. Davis, January 07, 2009 on the FirearmsTalk Forum and April 28, 2010 on the CAS City Forum:
"Many of those who share on the various forums may have seen the postings of my requests for information about various replicas that have been produced. One of these has been the Confederate replica of the Dance Brothers revolver which was originally made in Texas. After 15 yrs. 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 that have been manufactured.
It turns out that the Pietta .36 cal. 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 .44 cal. with rebated cylinders, # C00048-C00051. The .44cal. revolvers were prototypes of a possible .44 cal. series. These were produced in 1996.
Pietta continued shipments of the .36 cal. Dance revolver that are only marked F.LLI PIETTA 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 .36 cal. were 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 .44 cal. 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 .44 cal. made with rebated cylinders.
The Dance in Adler's book is the current .44 cal. available from Dixie and Traditions, which are made by Pietta. He does not even mention the original Uberti or Pietta .36 cal.
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 revolvers had plain 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.
There was a Uberti Dance revolver recently auctioned on Gun Broker. It sold for around $325 which was a correct price since it was what I categorize as a Scrap Gun in our book. A Scrap Gun is a gun that is assembled from parts left over from special edition guns and commemoratives that a manufacturer produced. Armi San Marco produced many of these. Uberti also used left over or seconds parts to assemble the Dance recently sold on Gun Broker. These guns have a very limited interest to the collector. They are oddities but have little monetary value."
Dr. Davis on another Forum a few years ago:
"The first Dance replicas were produced by Uberti in .36cal. in 1985. The .36cal Dance will probably never be produced again. Uberti produced 45 commemorative models in .36cal. that came in a Walnut cased set complete with leather covered flask, mold, wrench, and cap box. The original cardboard box that they came in was a "Western Arms-Uberti" box. Each of these revolvers is certificated and is not authentic without the certificate. These have an "AR" prefix on the serial number starting with AR001. Uberti then produced 50 "shooter" models in .36cal. These also came in "Western Arms" boxes. They have no engraving on the cylinder and are marked SMLS on the barrel. Tony Gajewsky of South West Muzzleloaders Supply (no longer in business) is the Father of the Dance replicas. Tony had one Dance .44cal. made on the Dragoon Frame with all the commemorative markings as a prototype. This, of course, is the rarest of all the replica Dance revolvers and is retained by Tony.
Tony commissioned another production of the .36cal. Dance revolver with Pietta in 1996. These were to be marketed by Dance Firearms Co. and were to be so marked on the barrel. After a breach of the contract with Pietta, production of the .36cal. Dance revolver, marked as such, stopped with #00047. There were actually only 35 of these revolvers delivered making this rarer than the Uberti production of 50 guns. There were four .44cal. Dance revolver delivered marked "Dance Firearms Co. - Angleton, Texas" as prototypes for a possible future production. These are on the 1851 Navy frame with rebated cylinders. These four revolvers are the second rarest Dance revolvers produced. No need to search for one because all four with consecutive numbers C00048-C00051 are in the RPRCA collection.
There were 75 more .36cal. Dance revolvers delivered by Pietta from serial number C00052-C00127. These, however, are not marked Dance Firearms Co. but have only the Pietta markings on the right side of the barrel. As part of the contract settlement Pietta can no longer produce the .36cal. Dance so there will be no more.
Pietta continued production of the .44cal. Dance exclusively through Dixie Gun Works until recently when Traditions also started marketing the Dance as well as Bass Pro. Pietta is the only manufacturer of the .44cal. Dance revolver at this time. There is no difference between those sold by Dixie Gun Works, Traditions, or Bass Pro except for the box. To my knowledge there is only one serial number range that Pietta uses for the Dance Revolver.
Interestingly for you collector types, Pietta first produced the .44cal. with rebated cylinders and the 7-1/2" barrel. This was then changed to the current variation of shorter straight cylinder with 8" barrel. There are only around 105 of those rebated cylinder Dance revolvers out there."
Dr. Davis, from May 01, 2010 CAS City Forum:
"Thanks to this Forum I have just been able to purchase an original, not 'scrap', Uberti Dance Replica on Gun Broker. It was not listed in the right place so there were no bids on it. The Pathfinder put me in touch with this find. There were 50 of these manufactured by Uberti. This is only the second one I have ever seen for sale in twenty years. The first was a set, #3 & 4, which RPRCA was able to purchase around 14yrs. ago."
******************************************************************
First run with Dance barrel marking:
Pietta Dance .36 SN C00007 date code BH/1996 (Photos: Hoof Hearted).
Pietta Dance .36 SN C00013 date code BH/1996 (Photos: sourdough).
Second run without Dance barrel marking:
Pietta Dance .36 SN C00096 date code BH/1996 (See Davis' text above.) (Photo: Ephraim Kibbey).
Pietta Dance .44 Rebated Cylinder date code BH/1996 SN C00156 (Photo: OC/unknown owner).
Pietta Dance .44 Smooth Cylinder date code BH/1996 SN C00279 (Photo: OC/unknown owner).
Pietta Double Cased Sets .44 and .36 (unknown SN's) (Photo: OC).
Pietta Dance .44: Current production with round trigger guard, Navy frame with lowered water table, and smooth non-rebated cylinder (Photo: Pietta).
Pietta Dance .44 cylinder and Pietta 1851 Navy .36 cylinder (Photo: sourdough)
Uberti Dance .36 Double Cased Set date code AN/1985 consecutive SN 0003 and 0004 (Photos: A34).
Uberti Dance .36 Confederate Army Commemorative SN unknown (Photos: OC/unknown owner).
Uberti Dance .36 Confederate Army Commemorative SN AR031 (Photos: Dennis Norton)
That is all I have. If anyone else has more information, it would be much appreciated!
Regards,
Jim
