Well, ordered 2 Old Silver Dance revolvers off the Old South site, one to chop, one to engrave. Both are now in my hands.
Good: Well finished, perfectly timed, not too many burrs. A few minutes with a few stones cleaned them up. Both shot about 2" above point of aim, 200 grain conical over 25 grains 3f. Windage dead on. I suspect a round ball would be close to on. Really nice wood with good figure on the grips, and indeed they are 1851 standard, no flare at the bottom. Recovered bullets show full engraving, chambers and barrel appear very close. Both break down without tools. Cylinder gaps are under .005, arbor bottomed as it should be.
Bad: One has a HAIR trigger. I had hoped this was a bur, but cleaning it up changed nothing. This will need to be addressed. The other is quite nice.
Weird: Why do these have 7 1/2" barrels? Serial numbers are 42 apart, yet one is laser engraved, the other crudely hand stamped. (The hand stamped match's the last 4 of my SSN) Every screw on both was finger tight. No gorillas at Pietta, but shouldn't they at least be snug? One of them had the trigger and bolt screws swapped. Pay attention Luigi!
Verdict. The CNC work is fantastic. But the wine still flows freely at lunchtime in Val Trompia.