Pietta Dance & Brothers pistol
- Thread starter dlbarr
- Start date
madcratebuilder
New member
The Dance Bros is a round barrel 51 Navy style in .44 cal with the slab side frame.
Dance Bros and Whitneyville Dragoon.
More Dance Bros by Pietta.
Dance Bros and Whitneyville Dragoon.
More Dance Bros by Pietta.
Andy Griffith
New member
I've had one for a while- I do like the looks of it and it shoot quite well. The only thing is, the cylinder of the dance is shorter than those of the other Colt clones and is not interchangeable- the internal parts are identical.
bedbugbilly
New member
Just curious Andy - if the cylinder is shorter - what type of load are you finding works best in yours? Thanks.
Andy Griffith
New member
IIRC, it's 15grs with a circle fly wad.
Remember...I'm a newbie...that seems like a fairly light load from what I've heard. I bought a '51 brasser cheap on gunbroker just to get started and I was told somewhere btween 15-20 gr was good because of the frame stretching with heavier loads. But that didn't hold for steel frames.
So couldn't you shoot beyond 15gr in this piece?
So couldn't you shoot beyond 15gr in this piece?
Andy Griffith
New member
Certainly, but those circle fly wads are quite, quite thick, and make the balls just come to the front of the cylinder IIRC. No reason to shoot up expensive blackpowder unless you're hunting.
And.... Plus a comment for MCB
Since the frame, more specifically, the junction of the arbor and frame which absorbs the vast majority of the stress upon loading and upon discharge, is brass, it is a good idea to operate the system (the pistol) with a stress level that is more appropriate to that junction (Brass does not have as much shear strength as steel).
In addition to loading light, I would also consider loading with a press rather than the loading lever.
You can get a press pretty cheap and even though I have only moved to a press recently (about three years ago) I am now a press convertee 100% of the time.
Others may say that these revolvers were designed to be loaded with the lever and that is true. Still others will say they have loaded with the lever for 35 years without loosening the arbor. That may be true as well. But in the time I have been shooting, I have examined for potential purhase nearly a hundred revolvers. I have encountered four loose arbors on brass frame revolvers and none on steel frame revolvers.
I am not saying the you can't shoot a revolver with a brass frame, only that you have to understand the limitations of that system.
For MCB, great photos of those revolvers.
Since the frame, more specifically, the junction of the arbor and frame which absorbs the vast majority of the stress upon loading and upon discharge, is brass, it is a good idea to operate the system (the pistol) with a stress level that is more appropriate to that junction (Brass does not have as much shear strength as steel).
In addition to loading light, I would also consider loading with a press rather than the loading lever.
You can get a press pretty cheap and even though I have only moved to a press recently (about three years ago) I am now a press convertee 100% of the time.
Others may say that these revolvers were designed to be loaded with the lever and that is true. Still others will say they have loaded with the lever for 35 years without loosening the arbor. That may be true as well. But in the time I have been shooting, I have examined for potential purhase nearly a hundred revolvers. I have encountered four loose arbors on brass frame revolvers and none on steel frame revolvers.
I am not saying the you can't shoot a revolver with a brass frame, only that you have to understand the limitations of that system.
For MCB, great photos of those revolvers.
I recently bought one. I like it but did a few mods. The nipples were too small for any of the readily available caps (needed RWS#55 which are hard to find and VERY small). I had a spare set of Pietta nipples from a past gun and now the gun takes the Remington #10s like ALL my other C&Bs. The grip is the flared Pietta navy grip that causes their guns to point high in my hands so I swapped the navy grip for a spare Pietta Army grip I had lying around. Feels fine now.
As for shooting it: Mine will just barely take 30grs FFFg under a 1/8" lube wad+ball. That's a nice load. The cylinder is indeed shorter than any other 44 I have but it is drilled full diameter clear down to flush with the face of the nipple. My ASM 44s have a stepped chamber and some don't quite hold 30 gr under a wad & ball so it is not under powered. It shot true. I also widened & deepened the rear notch a little for a better sight picture.
See attached photo with the Army grips.
As for shooting it: Mine will just barely take 30grs FFFg under a 1/8" lube wad+ball. That's a nice load. The cylinder is indeed shorter than any other 44 I have but it is drilled full diameter clear down to flush with the face of the nipple. My ASM 44s have a stepped chamber and some don't quite hold 30 gr under a wad & ball so it is not under powered. It shot true. I also widened & deepened the rear notch a little for a better sight picture.
See attached photo with the Army grips.
Attachments
Looks good Hellgate. I know this is a little off topic but regarding these nipples, the folks at Track of the Wolf have a stainless replacement for piettas that takes a #11 cap. I think I am going to go that route as I have a pretty god supply of 11s and they seem easier to find in my area.
TOW claims that their stainless is superior to the AMPCO nipples which seem to get alot of positive press.
TOW claims that their stainless is superior to the AMPCO nipples which seem to get alot of positive press.
I have their TOW stainless nipples in a couple of my guns and they also take the Rem#10 just fine. On occasion I have had to shim the SS nipples out a few thou as they can be shorter than the Ampco ones which are longer and the hammer face will hit the Ampcos. It is easy to shim nipples. Email me if you need a quick course. I can't remember if it was the Uncle Mike's or the TOW nips that were shorter. The SS nips have smaller flash holes than stock nipples but not as small as the AMPCO. I think they are the best replacements. Uncle Mike's/Butler Creek no longer make their nipples which are quite good and they are in some of my guns too. If a gun functions well with the stock nipples using #10 Remington caps I leave them in.
