Pietta Dance Bros. Revolver - Anyone have one

[Roshi]

I like the looks of the Pietta .44 Dance Bros revolver at Cabelas but they never put it on sale. By the time you add shipping and tax it is over $ 400 which is more than I'd like to spend on something I've never seen in person.

Do any of you have one? How about a pic alongside a 51 Navy or 60 Army for comparison.

 

[MJN77]

I have had two. They are about like holding an 1860 army revolver with navy grips. Very well balanced revolver and they shoot good too. Only reason I sold mine was because I got out of C&B guns. Now I just have two 51 navies.

 

[brazosdave]

I agree with you man. I love the looks of it, but the price point is sitting a little bit on the high side for me right now. Would love to pick one up eventually oneday. There's always gunbroker.......

 

[Captainkirk]

My buddy had one. He never fired it. I never could get used to the appearance of the shaved recoil shield. Just not my cup o' tea.

 

[madcratebuilder]

The slab side was for ease of production. They shoot like any other open top Colt clone.

Along side a Dragoon.

 

[Roshi]

Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[bprevolver]

Dance revolvers

Pietta has produced five different variations of the Dance revolver. These were first commissioned by Tony Gajewsky to produce the .36cal Dance revolver for Dance Firearms, Angelton, TX. and thus marked. Only thirty-five revolvers with the Dance Firearms markings were delivered. Pietta also delivered four prototype .44cal Dance revolvers marked Dance Firearms. These had rebated cylinders. A lawsuit over sales rights of the .36cal Dance revolvers prevents Pietta from ever making anymore .36cal revolvers.

A third variation was seventy .36cal Dance revolvers that were only marked with Pietta’s markings on the left side of the barrel. These were the last of the .36cal revolvers shipped to Tony.

Pietta continued producing the .44cal Dance revolver with rebated cylinder distributed though Dixie Gun Works. These had 7 ½” barrels. These were actually built on the 1851 Navy frame in .44cal. Re-enactors did not like these because of the rebated cylinder so Pietta redesigned the revolver with a shorter straight cylinder and an 8” barrel which is sold today though several distributors.

The original .44cal Dance Brothers revolvers were more the size of the Colt Dragoon but not as big making it larger than the .36cal 1851 Navy but smaller than the Dragoon making this particular revolver hard to fake.

 

[Hellgate]

I have one and use it in Cowboy Action matches. It sure is easy to cap on the clock. I hated the Pietta Navt grips (too narrow at the top and too flared at the bottom) so I swapped them off for a set of Pietta Army grips. I pair it up with my 1860 Army. The shorter unrebated cylinder id drilled straight a bit deeper than the rebated Army cylinders. I can just get 30grs of FFFg under a wonder wad and a ball. With much shooting it is harder to ram home due to fouling build up in the chambers. I like mine but I've changed grips.

The second picture is me shooting my 1860 Army with the J H Dance laying on the table. Note the short cylinder and slab sided frame of the Dance. Sorry, I can't seem to enlarge that second photo to give a better look.

 

[Roshi]

Thanks for the history BPRevolver!

I live less than an hour from the first Dance Bros. factory in East Columbia, TX. I posted pics of the site in an earlier post.

Dixie Gun Works lists a .44 with square back trigger guard while Cabelas have a .44 with round guard.