Traditions JH Dance revolver

[Forty Rod]

Wouldn't surprise me.  It would be easier, even having to remove the recoil shields.  Now you went and got me curious.

[hawkeye2]

Who was the indian chief photographed holding a catridge conversion Dance?  Gerinomo, Sitting Bull?

[Forty Rod]

That was Gerry.  Might not have been his, but a studio prop.  I don't know that anyone ever proved that one way or the other.

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[44caliberkid]

The Pietta dance replicas are more the size of the 1860 and 1851 44 calibers.  The Dance cylinder is same diameter but shorter than an 1860 cylinder, so you might have to shorten the conversion cylinder from the front and use 45 Cowboy Special brass.   They defineitly did not use Dragoon frames or cylinders.   They are sometimes refered to as Dragoon models because of the square back trigger guard.

[hawkeye2]

    The photo of the .44 Traditions Dance replica on their site shows a revolver with a cylinder of constant diameter, no rebate, which would imply a frame larger than the .44 army.  Unless they did a new frame and internals for this revolver that would mean a Dragoon frame and parts which would be the cheapest way to go for them unless they were striving for 100% accuracy which never seemed to be a priority for an Italian revolver. 

[hawkeye2]

44caliberkid thanks for the input, just what I was looking for.  Its nice to know that they took enough time to get it right.

[44caliberkid]

Here is a pic of a Pietta Dance and a Pietta 1851 navy side by side.  The frame size is identicle when held together as is cylinder length and the hammer.  Grip frame is identicle except for the square trigger guard.   Cylinder diameter is slightly larger because of 44 cal Vs. 36 cal.   They could have used the navy frame and milled off the recoil shields.   All the internal parts are 1851/ 60.

[44caliberkid]

Wish I could have gotten the pic bigger but they don't accept a very large file size here.   Hawkeye, I e-mailed you a bigger version of the pic.

[hawkeye2]

Thanks, looking foreward to seeing it when I get home, working this evening.

[drjldavis]

Many of those who share on the various forums may have seen the many postings of my requests for information about various replicas that have been produced.  One of these has been the Confederate replica of the Dance revolver which was originally made in Texas.  After 17yrs 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.

Under contract with Tony Gajewski, owner of Southwest Muzzle Loaders Supply in Angleton, Texas, Uberti made 50 Dance Commemoratives with only 44 being accepted by Tony.  They were finished with the Colt bright charcoal blue.  The Texas Star appears on the cylinder inlaid in gold.  All other marking on the revolvers were also gold filled.
They all have an AR prefix on the serial number starting with AR001 and have a Certificate of Authenticity with each gun. Square back trigger guards, rather than the original oval type, were used to readily identify the replica from an original. The six guns rejected by Tony did not have the proper markings on the barrel and were unfinished.  The barrels were returned to Uberti for correction but never returned to SMLS.  That left six finished frames and cylinders without barrels.  Each of the Commemorative revolvers came in a Walnut Case with a Leather covered Flask, Bullet Mold, Nipple Wrench, and Brass Cap Box.

Probably the rarest production replica revolver ever produced is the Uberti Prototype of the Dragoon size .44cal. Dance Commemorative with all the gold fillings and inlays.  This original Dance replica was rejected in favor of the .36cal.   

After the Commemoratives the "Shooter Model” was introduced starting with serial #  0001.  These revolvers had plain cylinders and are marked SMLS INC – ANGLETON – TEXAS on top of the barrel.  There were only 50 of the Uberti “Shooter Model” made.  Uberti was furnishing parts to Colt at this time and could not fill any other contracts for the Dance revolver.

In the mid 1990’s Tony again revived the Dance revolver with a contract with Pietta.
It turns out that the Pietta .36cal. 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 .44cal. with rebated cylinders, # C00048-C00051.  The .44cal. revolvers were prototypes for a possible
.44cal. series.  These were produced in 1996.
 
Pietta continued shipments of the .36cal. Dance revolver that are only marked F.LLIPIETTA –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 Dance revolver in .36cal. ended with serial # C00127.  This is a total production of only 75 revolvers.  The only revolvers left in serial #C00051-C00126 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.

Due to a legal action between Pietta and Southwest Muzzle Loaders Supply for breach of contract, Pietta could not resume any manufacture of the .36cal. Dance revolver.  Pietta had sold twelve of the Dance Firearms Co. revolvers on the European market in violation of the contract.  That is the reason for there only being thirty five of the Dance Firearms Co. revolvers in the U. S.  Of these thirty five revolvers fourteen are owned by RPRCA Ltd. in addition to the four .44cal. prototypes produced by Pietta.
 
Pietta resumed production of the .44cal. 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 .44cal. made with rebated cylinders.

The Dance in Adler's book is the current .44cal. available from Dixie and Traditions, which are made by Pietta. He does not even mention the original Uberti or Pietta .36cal.
 
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.
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Fingers McGee]

Thanks for the info Jim. 

When's the book coming out?

FM