by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Umarex Legends Ace in the Hole revolver.
This report covers:
- Interest
- CO2 cartridge
- RWS Hobby
- Air Arms Falcon
- Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
- Shot count
- Trigger pull
- Evaluation
Today we look at the velocity of the Umarex Legends Ace in the Hole revolver. The specs say 340 f.p.s., but today we’re going to find out for sure.
Interest
There is a lot of interest in this sawed-off Colt. Many of you readers either have one already or are wanting to get one. Let’s see how they work.
CO2 cartridge
First I installed a fresh CO2 cartridge. The captive Allen wrench in the left grip panel made installation a breeze, but don’t forget to put a drop of Crosman Pellgunoil on the tip before you install it. The oil gets blown through the valve by the gas and gets on all the inner seals. The cartridge pierced and sealed in less than a second. Turn the piercing screw one more turn after piercing, but then stop. That will ensure sealing, while not compressing the face seal too much.
RWS Hobby
First up have to be RWS Hobby pellets. They are both very light and also pure lead, so they will go pretty fast and are also accurate in many airguns. I use them because in the “olden days” when I was new at this, Hobbys were the lightest and fastest pellets around. They are still a wonderful pellet today.
Hobbys averaged 344 f.p.s. in the test pistol. And I waited at least 10 seconds between each shot to counteract the cooling effect of the gas. That’s very close to the advertised velocity! Velocity ranged from a low of 332 f.p.s. to a high of 359 f.p.s. That’s a 27 f.p.s. spread which is large, but you must consider that the first shots on a fresh CO2 cartridge will always be faster than those that follow.
At the average velocity the Hobby pellet generates 1.84 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. It’s not a lot but enough to break paper and possibly to move an action target. I may even test that for you.
Air Arms Falcons
The next pellet I tested was the Air Arms Falcon dome. These are also light and sometimes go faster than Hobbys. And they can be quite accurate.
Falcons averaged 341 f.p.s. in the Ace, and the top speed has settled down as you can see. The spread went from 334 to 345 f.p.s., so only 11 f.p.s. At the average velocity Falcons generate 1.89 foot-pounds at the muzzle.
Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
The final pellet I tested was the lead-free Sig Match Ballistic Alloy wadcutter. These are very light, so very fast, as well. In the Ace they averaged 403 f.p.s. for a muzzle energy of 1.89 foot-pounds. It’s unusual that a lighter pellet (the Sig) develops the same energy as a heavier pellet (the Falcon), but in this case they did. That means they are very efficient in the short Ace barrel.
Shot count
I then loaded with Hobbys to see how many shots can be gotten from a CO2 cartridge. Here are my results.
Shot……….Vel.
36…………349
50…………338
60…………359
70…………365
81…………348
91…………348
102………..275
110………..239
I would say there are about 100 shots on that cartridge. Each cartridge will have more or less, so don’t risk it. Maybe stop at 90 to be safe?
After each shot seen on the list above I fired a number of blanks and then loaded the next pellet. A couple times at the end of the string the shots didn’t register and I had to fire again. I waited at least five minutes after each string of blanks before chronographing the next shot.
Trigger pull
The trigger pull on this revolver is very light. It’s a single stage pull that breaks at 2 lbs. or just under that.
Evaluation
The Ace in the Hole is an interesting air pistol. It’s a lot of fun to shoot, though that fanning hammer is still hard for the thumb of my average-sized hand to get around.
I will test the accuracy in the normal way next time, but I’m thinking of a different kind of accuracy test I can conduct after that. We’ll see what happens.
BB
It’s nice to see you doing the review on the Ace in the Hole revolver. I have to admit that your gun is so much more heavily “weathered” than mine was when I received it. Whoever did the “weathering” on yor gun really got carried away with the sand paper. All that stark white bare metal gives the gun a bit of a surreal look.
I realized a while ago that the sanded white metal look was not in keeping with how a gun of that design should look! Even a heavily weathered real gun would be mostly near black or dull grey because they’re dirty to shoot – especially with black powder loads. But even with todays relatively cleaner loads, products of combustion, unburned powder, soot and then being wiped down with a dirty oily rag and bare hands, if ever, would blacken any weathering that would be happening to the gun after only a few shots.
I decided to give my Ace the blackened, well used, dirty look as well as to get rid of the white printing and Toy warnings.
As it turned out a small job with big rewards in the looks dept.
The original blueing, more like blacking, was easy to match useing Outers Liquid Blue. Outers worked the best of several I tested and I’ve itemized the steps required as follows:
Degrease the gun (wipe it down) with Lighter Fluid or Camp Fuel (white gas). Use just a little on a .22 cotton patch.
Use 400 to 600 grit wet/dry plastic automotive sand paper to rub off the Toy and other white printing and any other badly blued areas. Take those areas down to stark white metal.
Apply the Outers Liquid Blue full strength to the white metal and degreased areas with q-tips or patches
After 1 or 2 seconds, stop the chemical process with a wet rag.
Barneys gun in the Expendables appears to have a case hardened frame. You could achieve this look on the Ace’s frame by mixing in a bit of gun oil with the liquid blue on a q-tip when doing the frame. Experiment!
Use the Outers Liquid Blue to darken the grip medallions as well as the bright steel BB barrell just inside the muzzle.
When you get the finish you like dry and buff out the treated areas with a soft rag. On my gun some areas took 3 to 5 applications of the liquid blue.
Final step – level the newly blued/splotchy black areas with parafin wax. Candles or crayons work well and color doesn’t matter. Handle the gun a bit to warm it up then run squigley lines with the crayon over the whole gun. Level the wax with your fingers and polish/blend with a soft cloth or old T-shirt.
You won’t believe the end result!
See the attached photo which took less than an hour to complete.
Cheers – Dave
Redrafter,
Nice job! 🙂 I have not played with any bluing chemicals myself. Since this would be something other than real steel, I would have thought that chemicals would react differently than intended. I guess not. The crayons/paraffin wax was interesting. It is nice that you got rid of the writing. It is also nice to see an action pistol with such a light trigger pull. I do not believe that is the norm for action pistols.
Good Day to you and to all,… Chris
Dave,
You have done well with that. We will look forward to your next one.
I am in the middle of my first bluing project, a Crosman 101. I have bead blasted all of the old paint and rust off and have started on the bluing. For the aluminum I have some aluminum black. I think it is going to turn out nice.
Dave,
The gun in the picture isn’t the one I am testing. That’s a stock photo. But mine does look similar.
I’m glad you were able to get a look that you like.
B.B.
Hope yours shoots like this . 25 feet , Weaver stance using Meisterkugeln 7 gr pellets
Dave,
Great job; it looks really cool! =>
Dave
A nice addition for theUmarex Colt. Made by a guy in Germany
Chris USA
I’ve been useing the liquid blue for quite a few years now on steel guns for touch ups, scratches etc. Lots of barb wire around here and sometimes, no matter how careful you are, scratches are unavoidable. It’s only been the last few years that I’ve been useing it on the non-ferrous action pistols with good results. Especially on visible wear areas of blow back action pistols. Now experimenting on removeing the Toy warnings, unecessary labels and other writings and repairing or upgradeing blueing on the non ferrous action pistols. Blending the blueing in with parafin came about almost by accident and I mostly do it that way on everything now. Oil does work but then you have an oily gun!! This technique also works great on the polymer guns ( without the blueing) as well.
I just recieved my next project and hopefully will get at it in the next few days. It’s a Umarex 7½” NRA Peacemaker with about the same weathering and white labeling as the Ace. Will let you know how it goes.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Nice job on the pistol!
Real bluing (controlled oxidation) is done in a salt bath at high temperatures and as far as I know it only works on ferrous metals. You are getting some pretty impressive results with the Outers Liquid Blue. Interesting that it works on non-ferrous metal.
The “liquid bluing” products that I tried (years ago) did a terrible (streaked, splotchy) job that were more brown than blue and I kinda gave up on them.
Question: The Outers Liquid Blue that you use, is it the kit that you can buy from Canadian Tire (Product #075-5412-2) or the one that I see in Cabela’s? By name, its the same product but the bottle graphics are different.
I’d like to get some as I have a couple of blemishes to fix up.
Thanks,
Hank
Vana2
No, not the kit. The stuff I use is from Canadian Tire and comes in a deep red colour box with a 2 oz. bottle of blueing liquid, steel wool and applicator sponge. The 2oz. bottle alone also might be available. Don’t know about their metal cleaner, it may have acetone in it – eats plastic so be careful. Ronson lighter fluid from the hardware store or Brand Name ” Windex with Ammonia” is all I ever use.
BTW
Windex is all I use for my BB barrells. For steel barrells make sure they are dry after cleaning and if prepping for storage rub a drop of oil into a patch and pull through.
FYI
Windex is also the best cleaner for corrosive military ammo – the ammonia does the job. Those big two compartment oil cans (see attached photo) that you sometimes get with Euro or Russian surplus rifles – well, one half held oil, usually used motor oil ( dirty oil is better than no oil) and the other half held the ammonia. Think about it! Those cans are surplus and could have been used so I try not to handle them without wearing latex gloves and always store in Zip Lock bags.
If you use cheap bulk ammo ( esp. .22 cal.) Windex is the best cleaner to use. Remember to dry well and pull an oiled patch through.
Dave
Thanks Dave, will see about getting some of that bluing from CT.
Good tips on Windex use! Being totally seduced by airguns I rarely shoot powder burners any more.
I usually use Naphtha (white gas, stove fuel) for my degreasing work as it leaves no residue.
Another product that I use alot is Pledge furniture wax. Great for on wood and plastic. All of my fishing rods and reels get a through cleaning followed by a coat of Pledge to protect them from fish slime and dirt.
Hank
Hank
Yep on the Pledge.
I have done the same to a couple of the weathered John Wayne Peacemakers. The next step would involve several things. First there is a high polish blueduracoat that could be applied to the barrel , cylinder , backstrap and trigger guard. It is possible to apply Colt style case colors to an alloy frame . Chiappa does it to a clone of the Marlin 39 Mountie in 22 lr . Last I have seen videos of a guy in Germany making custom grips for theUmarex Peacemaker. He makes a replica of the Horse and Eagle grips in Black as well as White . I am trying to order a couple of pairs . This would make for a very close copy of a Colt SAA.
BB,
are you going to Findley this year?
Captain Bravo,
Not this year.
B.B.
I met you briefly at Findley last year, and I was hoping to pick your brain a little. My brother lives in Findley and his wife bought him a Hamilton youth 22 rifle for their anniversary. I understand Hamilton was the forerunner of sorts to Daisy? It looks like a brass lined barrel. Anyway I have never seen anything like it and wondered if you knew anything about them or could point me in a direction to learn about them.
Thanks for the blog.
CB
CB,
You need to read, “It’s a Daisy.” That book will tell you that Clarence Hamilton designed a BB gun that his friend, Cass Hough, the CEO of the Plymouth Iron Windmill Co., said, ” Clarence, that’s a Daisy!” upon seeing it the first time.
Brass barrels were common in .22 rimfire rifles back in those days.
B.B.
I’ll do that. Thank you.
Dennis Adler did an interesting and detailed tutorial on making a Bear River matte black Schofield look like the real deal. He uses some of Redrafter’s techniques and also discusses why he makes some of his choices regarding what to distress, etc., including how he approximates case hardened coloring on “zincaloid”:
/airgun-experience/airguns-american-west-part-7/
/airgun-experience/airguns-american-west-part-8/
Michael
Michael,
Thanks for the link. Something else to read when there is nothing else to do.
Siraniko
I have a question for everyone. Has anyone tried simply doing it (giving an air gun a weathered look) the old fashioned way? Why not get a tight-fitting leather holster, and holster the revolver a thousand times and see if the results look like they would over years of use?
Michael
Off subject, but something I find very interesting. Being able to shoot the Umarex Gauntlet with C02. I know other HPA guns can, but it’s been a mixed bag of results with those. Since the Gauntlet is a regulated gun (1,100 psi) the C02 works great from what I read.
https://hardairmagazine.com/buyers-guides/using-umarex-gauntlet-co2-power-part-one/
https://hardairmagazine.com/reviews/using-the-umarex-gauntlet-with-co2-power-part-two/
Doc
Doc
Yep perfect dual fuel gun.
Doc
Here check this out. The stuff in the picture with the QB79 will work on the Gauntlet.
Likewise the Gauntlet regulated HPA bottle along with the regulated HPA Air Venturi bottle will work on the QB79.
Gunfun1,
That is an excellent photo. It pretty much sums it all up right there.
Thanks!
Michael
Michael
No problem.
That’s a good shot count. I get 80 shots out of my Walther Nighthawk and am pleased.
Matt61