Test firing a brace of Dance & Brothers pistols

[krolick]

Had some time today to fire my 2 new Dance pistols. I'm using 15 grains of 3f with a .375 greased, heeled conical bullet. By the time of the Civil War, the conical bullet was the most used in all military revolvers. The Dance pistols were made in East Columbia Texas and later moved to Anderson, Texas between 1862-1865. A total of about 400 were made in 36 and 44 cal. These 2 are in 36 navy cal. The lack of recoil shields makes little difference in the pistols performance, other than the shattered caps fell away and did not jam the pistols. One has a fixed rear sight, the other on the hammer. Hereto, didn't note any difference in accuracy. Both guns were fired separately and together at the target, 15 yards off hand. G.S.

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[swathdiver]

Thanks for sharing. You sure have some Texas treasures in those two sixguns. They look to be in fantastic condition. Is it my eyes, or does the one with the dovetailed sight have a shorter barrel?

 

[krolick]

You have an observant eye. The pistol with the dovetail sight has a 7 3/4" barrel while the plainer one has a 7 1/2" barrel. The Dance & Brothers guns parts were made using forging dies.They also had lathes and a mill. These machines did all the close tolerance work but after that everything was done with files and go/no go templates. Because of the amount of hand work, no two of these pistols are the same. Like the one with the fixed rear sight, there are a few examples that have folk art engraving and the names of their owners. G.S.

 

[MacRob46]

Wow...didn't know you had those. Neat. I always thought they were some of the better constructed Confederate revolvers. Looks like I was right.

 

[nkbj]

Purely lovely.
Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Chilidog]

Treasures for sure. Thanks for the look see :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

first I've seen a pair of those together.
and better condition than the only 2 others I've seen.
good post. :thumbsup:

 

[Grumpa]

Two beautiful, old revolvers. Glad to see that you are shooting and enjoying them. :hatsoff:

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ken Cormier]

Was nice thanks for posting.

 

[Major Tim]

Wow!!! Very cool :bow:

Talk about hens teeth! I never seen one in person let alone two together. If I recall, there's only about 100 left & most are in .44!

 

[BFJ]

Great post. Thanks BFJ