IMO if you want to spend only $65 then I guess the Ace is as good of a place to start as any, BUT, if you want to have a pistol that is good for something better than hanging on a wall or making loud BANGS without hitting the target, I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Yes, it will shoot but not very well.
It is intended to represent a pocket or boot pistol for ranges across a card table and that's about as far as it would hit a man sized object.
The following is about bottom end to middle class kits that shouldn't break the bank:
I would suggest you save your lunch money for a while and get something like the CVA Kentucky Pistol Kit, or Hawken Pistol Kit..
It has a real barrel with rifleing in it. It will fill your hand when you hold it and it will give you a much better feeling for what is envolved in building a gun.
I think these are around $120 for a .50 caliber gun.
Up the scale to a kit that will really give you a good shooting gun you might consider a Lyman Great Plains Pistol Kit. These are in the $170 area. They are available in .50 or .54 caliber and some of our members have had great luck with them.
Another kit to be considered is the Pedersoli Queen Anne .50 cal smoothbore flintlock or the Pedersoli Kentucky Style in .45 caliber (flint or precussion lock).
Both make nice looking guns. The Kentucky shoots very well. The Queen Anne shoots like you would expect from a sightless smooth bore pistol (but IMO it looks very nice).
These kits are in the $180-$200 range.
Any of the guns I mentioned below the Ace will give you a good feel for what gunmaking is about, and if you take your time, they will produce something you can be proud of. ::
These are all 98% finished so except for some final fitting, sanding and stock finishing they are about done.
If you want to blue or brown the barrel you can do that too, or just leave it in the white.
