Dance and Brother's Revolver?

I've only seen one used repro of that model a few years ago. It's good to see new models coming out. And that's not a bad price at all.
Round barrel, hinged loading lever, no recoil shield - looks interesting. It'd be a good addition to a collection.
 
I've never seen one up close and personal; but two things come to mind from looking at the pictures.

It appears that the lack of a recoil shield would make it easier to place caps on the nipples. It also seems that lack of a recoil shield would make it easier for a chain fire to propel an unfired cap straight back toward the shooter's face.

An interesting looking weapon for sure.
 
napp said:
It also seems that lack of a recoil shield would make it easier for a chain fire to propel an unfired cap straight back toward the shooter's face.
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That's certainly true but in theory, not having the recoil shield may help to lessen the chance for a chain fire to originate through the nipples from behind in the first place.
The close proximity of other recoil shields may actually serve to contain and then redirect more of the hot gases back toward the nipples and in a much higher concentration than if the recoil shield wasn't present at all.
About propelling an unfired cap straight back, when the pistol is being held at arms length I wonder how far back a cap could actually be propelled backward?
Just like with the expelled ball, the cap may not be propelled by much force at all. Since the chamber mouth is not aligned with the barrel during a chain fire event, there would be much less pressure being produced than during normal firing.
But even the possibility of flying cap debris does serve as a good reminder to always wear safety glasses while shooting any black powder guns.
 
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Many of the British percussion revolvers had no recoil shields. I have always wondered about this myself..the possibility of a cap coming back.
 
junkman_01 said:
And don't forget about loosing the caps not under the hammer.
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When the chamber is aligned with the barrel none of the caps can dislodge. The slab side frame keeps the nipples in place except during cylinder rotation. There is a few degrees of rotation were there is sufficient room for a cap to dislodge. Should not be a problem with proper fitting caps.

The Cabela's ad describes it as a Dragoon style revolver. Not even close, it's a round barreled 51 frame.

Colts01.jpg
 
I have one, the only problem I have with it is it's small grip. My pinky is hanging free when I shoot it.

Remington caps fit snug and tight on it, no worries about them falling off. I can put two caps on it at a time, the lack of a recoil shield helps my sausage fingers a lot.
 
I had two, and sold one on here sometime back...I kept the other.;)

I really like it and it shoots very well- the only problem I've had is extra cylinders- they aren't cheap because they are shorter than those used on 1860 style Piettas, and therefore not interchangeable. If you could shorten the 1860 cylinders yourself, then you could save some good money.

The best thing to do- is buy another one. :D
 
Since it doesn't have a recoil shield, does Krist make a loading gate style converter cylinder for them and if they do, that means you wouldn't have to mill a slot for the loading gate and that a Krist converter with the loading gate that is attached to the Krist converter cylinder, would just drop right in. Instantly changing it from a percussion cylinder to a cartridge cylinder with a loading gate that does not require you to do any milling of the recoil shield and you don't have to remove the converter cylinder to reload it.

Now, the 64 dollar question is...does Krist make a loading gate cylinder conversion for the Dance & Bros? I haven't checked.


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I 'made' a Dance Brothers out of a brass frame '51 Colt I picked up pretty cheap. If you know a competent machinist, it's not hard, and you get an 'unusual' pistol for a good price. Mine looks just like the pictures in the gun books.
 
Hey Poppa, suppose you just milled off only the right side of the recoil shield of a standard BP revolver so that it looked like the Dance revolver only on the right side and would work with the drop in, loading gate, Kirst conversion cartridge cylinder. I guess that would be a "half Dance". Darn it, now I can't get the old disco song of "Last Dance" by Donna Summer out of my head. :D


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We have one in the store. It looks great. I too thought about the recoil shield and caps falling off. I don't think #10 caps fit but might be wrong. It really is an interesting piece. Be careful where you get them. Hammer action is rough on some.

WBH
 
Bill Akin: Some years back I saw an ad for a gun shop(?) that was doing just that, converting b/p revolvers to cartridge. I never pursued it, wasn't interested enough. But, over the past years, I've run into the name/address of the place in my notes. Now, when I want to find it..................
Maybe someone else out there has crossed paths with these folks or knows who they were/are. I don't hear much about it being done, so I suppose doing it never really took off and got popular. I imagine converting a .36 to cartridge might be interesting. Bore too small for .38 unless they rebore/rifle the barrel. The .44's wouldn't be too difficult, I'd imagine. Cylinder is long enough to hold a .44Mag, but I don't think I'd trust that Italian steel barrel or cylinder enough to put a Magnum through it. Maybe a 44/40 loaded pretty limp.
As for my "counterfeit" Dance Brothers, I really disliked the way the caps kept falling off the nipples or slidingoff the cones far enough to jam the cylinder from turning. I'd bet it was something they had to deal with back when the pistols were new. I guess that's why Dance Brothers pistols never left any great mark in firearms history. But, they look neat and are 'different'.
 
Bill Akin: After browsing thru some of these threads/replys, I keep seeing this "Kirst conversion" getting mentioned. I've never heard of it before, guess I learn something new every day. Old dogs can learn new things! Even saw pics of a fella converted a Walker to cartridge and came up with his own cartridge, .45BPM if I recall correctly. Looks to be a small caliber hand artillery piece, if you ask me, but he says he can swap out the cylinder and go back to c/b if he wants. When I had my Walker, all I ever planned to do was put a catch on the loading lever. I wonder if those "Kirst conversions" are still available and how much $$ they want for them. Uberti makes an 1871 Open Top reproduction. It has a loading gate and ejector like the 1873 Colt.I also suppose Colt went to the top strap with the 1873 for a reason, but the open top revolvers always looked so cool! LOL The Dance Bothers was a knock-off of the 1860 Colt and I guess, under the circumstances which the Dance Brothers came into being (the War of Northern Aggresion), some corners had to be cut. I'm happy with my "counterfiet".
 
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