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New Orleans Ace

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PreserveFreedom

40 Cal.
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
206
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Okay, so I finished another Classic Arms kit tonight. This one is the New Orleans Ace. As with the others, be careful as squeezing the trigger will drop the hammer from the half-cock position. I have to say that this kit looks decent, but the quality sucks. The wood they gave me for the grip was trash. There were holes bored through it like some kind of wood eating worms had gotten a hold of it. When I finally went to fit the grip to the rest of the thing, it wouldn't fit because the plunger that goes through the hammer spring sticks out at an angle that does not match the hole in the wood. I had to attack it with a drill to make it work. The grip and the rest of the pistol are held together with one screw. I am afraid to load this to its potential because I think the grip may shatter in my hand. The dovetails in the barrel did not match up well with the ramrod holders either. They may fall off when I fire it because I wound up superglueing them on. Wish me luck, although I may wind up just leaving this one as a wall hanger. I do have to say that the hammer pulls back very smoothly. It is smoothbore and .45 cal.

noace003.jpg


noace002.jpg


noace004.jpg


noaceparts.jpg
 
Looks like you did a decent job on it. I have two of those gems. I load mine with 20 grains of pyrodex p and a .433 patched ball. I had to reshape the nipple a bit to get it to pop caps reliably. I would guess that in its day it was a pretty effective point blank tool. Not very accurate but a real deterrant to card cheats.

Don
 
PreserveFreedom said:
As with the others, be careful as squeezing the trigger will drop the hammer from the half-cock position.

Not to be rude, but are you sure you're building them correctly? The half-cock notch should be recessed by filing enough of a lip to catch and prevent the trigger from being pulled. That's part of the build and fit process. Otherwise it would just be an assembly. :idunno:

You just have high sear and low sear by the sounds of it. That's unsafe. It should look like this when completed.

MVC-693F.JPG
 
Not much for safeties in these pistols. I use a spent centerfire pistol casing over the nipple when carrying mine.

Don
 
Stumpkiller said:
Not to be rude, but are you sure you're building them correctly? The half-cock notch should be recessed by filing enough of a lip to catch and prevent the trigger from being pulled. That's part of the build and fit process. Otherwise it would just be an assembly. :idunno:
Thanks for the info. Classic Arms specifically warns against doing any modification to the bottom of the hammer or the top of the trigger. That is why I left them all as is. I may rethink this after I give these all a range test.
 
OK Robert, now that you have proven to yourself that you can master the basics of building, why not move off these inexpensive pistols and tackle a more quality kit? After looking at your pictures, I remembered that I had built one of those kits maybe 20 some years ago. Never did fire it, but took it to rendezvous and doubled my money. Wish I had taken photos, but that was then and this is now...
 
mazo kid said:
OK Robert, now that you have proven to yourself that you can master the basics of building, why not move off these inexpensive pistols and tackle a more quality kit?
I have built better. My first kit wasn't a muzzleloader, so I am not sure if I am allowed to show it here. My second was a Flintlock Rifle. I am currently working on a couple rifles that I kind of took a break from with the holidays. They are not kits, but I am building them from various parts by my own design. Yeah, they may be neat or scary. After tax refunds, I am planning on buying a .50 cal Hawken Pistol kit to go with my Hawken Rifle. So many projects, so little time...until after Thursday when my ex and her kid move out. :D

By the way, if I am allowed to show my first kit here I would be happy to do so, but it fires modern cartridge ammunition.
 
Not to be rude, but are you sure you're building them correctly? The half-cock notch should be recessed by filing enough of a lip to catch and prevent the trigger from being pulled. That's part of the build and fit process. Otherwise it would just be an assembly. :idunno:

You just have high sear and low sear by the sounds of it. That's unsafe. It should look like this when completed.

MVC-693F.JPG
Would you do this to my hammer for a fee ?
 
Not to be rude, but are you sure you're building them correctly? The half-cock notch should be recessed by filing enough of a lip to catch and prevent the trigger from being pulled. That's part of the build and fit process. Otherwise it would just be an assembly. :idunno:

You just have high sear and low sear by the sounds of it. That's unsafe. It should look like this when completed.

MVC-693F.JPG
Would you do this for a fee ?
 

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