Classic Arms pistol kits out of business? What happened?

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 05:39 PM

I was browsing the Dixie website a couple of days ago and found a little gem that I never even paid attention to before: The Classic Arms Twister Pistol Kit. Two .36 barrels in a chassis that is turned to fire each shot. Pretty nice looking little pistol, looked like something a riverboat or saloon gambler would carry from the 1850s to the 1900s.

I wanted to get one of these as a hideout gun that always rides in my motorcycle jacket in case I am ever caught somewhere without my usual 1858 in a belt holster. The recent "flash mob" attacks in the big urban areas, and the video showing the attack on the bus in South Korea came to my mind immediately.

There is no question that I can get immediately down and dirty and absolutely vicious with my bowie knife in case of these urban youth meltdowns have me in their sights, but I thought that having some additional deterrant in the form of two nasty close up shots wouldn't hurt. I was going to shear off the tops of .375 conicals with a file to create a semi-hollow point flat point, and hollow out the base of the bullet a little too so the slug will expand and receive the full impetus of the burning charge. So in effect I am going to be firing a cylindrical shaped object with slightly concave ends out of that thing. No doubt it will put a big hurt on an attacker, drug addled or not.

But I called Dixie today and they told me that Classic Arms kits are all sold out and no date on which they were expecting new shipments. So I googled around maybe someone else like Track of the Wolf might have them. Then I saw on the Possibles Shop site that the company has stopped producing the kits

To add to the confusion, I thought Classic Arms INC. http://www.classicarms.us was the same company that made the kits, but they turned out to be just a tacticool rifle manufacturer and importer.

I might settle on using that Pedersoli Liege screw barrel .44 as a hideout pistol instead but maybe someone here could sell one that they have lying around, point me to somewhere that still have them, or at least enlighten me to whats going on with Classic Arms, the kit builder, not the tacticool builder? I really like the looks of that two barrel CA pistol. It looks like what a (card-table)Derringer is supposed to look like lol

Thanks

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 05:58 PM

First off the Twister has smooth bores. A patched round ball works best. The barrels aren't long enough to get a decent muzzle velocity. As a self defense weapon it would be mediocre at best.

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 06:01 PM

Quote:

First off the Twister has smooth bores. A patched round ball works best. The barrels aren't long enough to get a decent muzzle velocity. As a self defense weapon it would be mediocre at best.

I was going to patch that little cylindrical slug too. And as a hideout/emergency pistol, it wouldn't be used at ranges of more than 10 feet. These little things were not meant to be used any farther either.

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 06:27 PM

I forgot, it doesn't take revolver balls. Patching a cylindrical bullet in a smooth bore doesn't help anything anyway. It's still going to tumble.

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 07:00 PM

Quote:

I forgot, it doesn't take revolver balls. Patching a cylindrical bullet in a smooth bore doesn't help anything anyway. It's still going to tumble.

Yes, but it wouldn't be a factor if it is going to be used at 10 feet or less. These pistols are literally built to be used as gunpowder-driven ballistic knives to defend against close-quarters attacks.

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 07:11 PM

Ok, if you say so but it still doesn't take .375 balls or bullets.

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Ok, if you say so but it still doesn't take .375 balls or bullets.

Oh okay...What do they take? I certainly can take a .44 conical and whittle it down till I get it to the right specs. I am a machinist

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 07:30 PM

I think I used 00 buck in mine. It's been about 30 years since I fired it

. If there's one thing it does not do it's pack a punch.

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 07:33 PM

Quote:

think I used 00 buck in mine. It's been about 30 years since I fired it. If there's one thing it does not do it's pack a punch.

It's okay because the small size compensates for it. Do you still want it by the way?

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 07:37 PM

Yeah, I guess I'll hang on to it. It's not in the greatest shape after spending 20+ years in moms attic anyhow. The plastic grips split with the first shot and I made a crude set out of a mouse trap.

This was the assembled version. It came with blued barrel and polished frame. Serial number is 0003233

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 08:00 PM

WOW that sure is purdy!!!

Put it on the table next to a bottle of Jack Daniels, a deck of cards, maybe a pack of Marlboros and illuminate the whole scene with nice amber light, and a Peterbilt, Kenworth or Harley poster on wall behind table. Classic BADASS style still-life right there.

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 08:10 PM

I've got five Civil War playing cards, some Confederate money and some sitting Liberty coins. Thought about doing a shadow box but never got around to it. Actually it was one of these I had originally thought about using tho.

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 08:18 PM

I LOVE that rimfire at the bottom. Unique sidehammer design too. Imagine the stories it would tell if it can talk.

pvt.Long · August 30, 2011, 08:35 PM

id use it all to make a shadow box. One thing about it no matter how you display the artifacts itll be the most unique display.

Hawg · August 30, 2011, 08:40 PM

I don't have those anymore. They were both made in 1858. Top is a Bacon .31, serial number 606 out of about 3,000 made. Bottom is a .22 lipfire made by Allen and Wheelock. A direct infringement of the Rollin White patent. This one was sold before the law suit as later ones had to be marked made for Smith and Wesson by A&W.

Rachen · August 30, 2011, 08:43 PM

Quote:

I don't have those anymore. They were both made in 1858. Top is a Bacon .31, serial number 606 out of about 3,000 made. Bottom is a .22 lipfire made by Allen and Wheelock. A direct infringement of the Rollin White patent. This one was sold before the law suit as later ones had to be marked made for Smith and Wesson by A&W.

Whew! I used to think that we have it bad today, having to deal with so much legal issues when starting a business and always on the lookout for lawsuits, code violations, and patent infringements and whatnot. Reading about the history of the Rollin-White patent changed all that. Looks like the oldtimers had to deal with just as much paperwork as we do today.

DG45 · August 31, 2011, 08:32 PM

BP guns are cool, but modern guns have their place. For discreet street carry get a concealed carry permit and a Kel-Tec P3AT (or a pricier Ruger Elsie Pea if esthetics are important to you and you don't want to do your own fluff and buff) and you can have 7 rounds of 380 auto to deal with your problems with instead of 2 of whatever that BP thing shoots. Buy a couple of extra magazines, load em, and keep em somewhere on your person and you get another 12 rounds. It'll make you feel a lot better about yourself if you stumble into a flash mob scene.

I'm not knocking BP guns; I love mine, and nothing's cooler, but......

Fingers McGee · August 31, 2011, 10:43 PM

The twister is .36 cal which means it takes a .350 roundball with .005 or .010 patch. The right combo will yield surprizing results - even with a smoothbore barrel.

**4V50 Gary** · September 1, 2011, 01:42 PM

Like modern cartridge guns, shot placement is everything.

orangello · September 1, 2011, 03:21 PM

If it must be a BP hideout gun, what about the lil BP "Earl" that NAA sells, looks like a mini-me of a 1858 Remington. Kinda pricey though: http://www.northamericanarms.com/fir...1830-3-cb.html

http://www.classicarms.net/ Don't suppose it was this place that made the kits, do you? Their site mentions BP supplies.

Rachen · September 1, 2011, 03:31 PM

Quote:

I saw one on one of the auction websites the other day, about $225ish.

If it must be a BP hideout gun, what about the lil BP "Earl" that NAA sells, looks like a mini-me of a 1858 Remington. Kinda pricey though: http://www.northamericanarms.com/fir...1830-3-cb.html

Ooh yes the summer edition of "Guns Of The Old West" did a pretty nice article on that "Gambler's Best Friend"

The author said that the .22 mags zipped out of that short barrel at just over 1200 fps.

Quote:

BP guns are cool, but modern guns have their place. For discreet street carry get a concealed carry permit and a Kel-Tec P3AT (or a pricier Ruger Elsie Pea if esthetics are important to you and you don't want to do your own fluff and buff) and you can have 7 rounds of 380 auto to deal with your problems with instead of 2 of whatever that BP thing shoots. Buy a couple of extra magazines, load em, and keep em somewhere on your person and you get another 12 rounds. It'll make you feel a lot better about yourself if you stumble into a flash mob scene.

I'm not knocking BP guns; I love mine, and nothing's cooler, but......

True but I like being old fashioned. Besides, my primary upbringing, since I was very young had been knife combatives. I had been using a ridiculously HUGE Chinese DA DAO to chop bamboo bundles before going on to the more refined systems of Bowie Knife fighting. That is why the Mississippi riverboat saloon era of the 1820s to the 1900s fascinate me so much. One of my two bowies sit somewhere within easy reach in my riding jacket or belt all the time.

Now I don't want any of that to happen at all but if a flash mob happens to roll at me, ain't gonna be purdy and them young ruffians are gonna think twice 'bout forming flash mobs in the future. Just saying,

orangello · September 1, 2011, 03:33 PM

No, the BP, cap-n-ball version of the Earl is the one that i desire (various barrel lengths available).

(edited out about the find on the auction site, coulnd't refind)

Rachen · September 1, 2011, 03:49 PM

Quote:

No, the BP, cap-n-ball version of the Earl is the one that i desire (various barrel lengths available).

Ah okay...I am looking at NAA's website and I see it now. And I see that they are still producing the Companion and Magnum caplocks too. I've seen those just ONCE in the 2005 Cabelas catalog and never heard about them since.

gpwelding1 · April 3, 2018, 10:11 AM

Classic Arms pistol kits are now manufactured by Deer Creek Products.
However, I cant get a definite answer as to if they are going to resume production of the Twister kit.

ThomasT · April 7, 2018, 08:07 PM

GD Zombie threads. How do people find these things?

I have one of these pistols partially finished in one of my safes. My buddy bought it and did a lot of polishing on it and then gave it to me to finish. I never had any interest in it. And it takes .350 round balls.

When he got the gun I gave him 3-4 boxes of .350 balls but he doesn't seem to remember what he did with them.

August 30, 2011, 05:39 PM	#1
Rachen Senior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Weekend cowboy Posts: 542	Classic Arms pistol kits out of business? What happened? I was browsing the Dixie website a couple of days ago and found a little gem that I never even paid attention to before: The Classic Arms Twister Pistol Kit. Two .36 barrels in a chassis that is turned to fire each shot. Pretty nice looking little pistol, looked like something a riverboat or saloon gambler would carry from the 1850s to the 1900s. I wanted to get one of these as a hideout gun that always rides in my motorcycle jacket in case I am ever caught somewhere without my usual 1858 in a belt holster. The recent "flash mob" attacks in the big urban areas, and the video showing the attack on the bus in South Korea came to my mind immediately. There is no question that I can get immediately down and dirty and absolutely vicious with my bowie knife in case of these urban youth meltdowns have me in their sights, but I thought that having some additional deterrant in the form of two nasty close up shots wouldn't hurt. I was going to shear off the tops of .375 conicals with a file to create a semi-hollow point flat point, and hollow out the base of the bullet a little too so the slug will expand and receive the full impetus of the burning charge. So in effect I am going to be firing a cylindrical shaped object with slightly concave ends out of that thing. No doubt it will put a big hurt on an attacker, drug addled or not. But I called Dixie today and they told me that Classic Arms kits are all sold out and no date on which they were expecting new shipments. So I googled around maybe someone else like Track of the Wolf might have them. Then I saw on the Possibles Shop site that the company has stopped producing the kits To add to the confusion, I thought Classic Arms INC. http://www.classicarms.us was the same company that made the kits, but they turned out to be just a tacticool rifle manufacturer and importer. I might settle on using that Pedersoli Liege screw barrel .44 as a hideout pistol instead but maybe someone here could sell one that they have lying around, point me to somewhere that still have them, or at least enlighten me to whats going on with Classic Arms, the kit builder, not the tacticool builder? I really like the looks of that two barrel CA pistol. It looks like what a (card-table)Derringer is supposed to look like lol Thanks Last edited by Rachen; August 30, 2011 at 05:59 PM.

August 30, 2011, 07:30 PM	#8
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I think I used 00 buck in mine. It's been about 30 years since I fired it. If there's one thing it does not do it's pack a punch.

August 31, 2011, 10:43 PM	#18
Fingers McGee Senior Member Join Date: March 19, 2008 Location: High & Dry in Missouri Ozarks Posts: 2,113	The twister is .36 cal which means it takes a .350 roundball with .005 or .010 patch. The right combo will yield surprizing results - even with a smoothbore barrel. __________________ Fingers (Show Me MO smoke) McGee - AKA Man of Many Colts - Alter ego of Diabolical Ken; SASS Regulator 28564-L-TG; Rangemaster and stage writer extraordinaire; Frontiersman, Pistoleer, NRA Endowment Life, NMLRA, SAF, CCRKBA, STORM 327, SV115; Charter member, Central Ozarks Western Shooters Cynic: A blackguard whose faulty vision see things as they are, not as they should be. Ambrose Bierce

September 1, 2011, 01:42 PM	#19
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 21,829	Like modern cartridge guns, shot placement is everything. __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*

September 1, 2011, 03:21 PM	#20
orangello Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2009 Posts: 566	If it must be a BP hideout gun, what about the lil BP "Earl" that NAA sells, looks like a mini-me of a 1858 Remington. Kinda pricey though: http://www.northamericanarms.com/fir...1830-3-cb.html http://www.classicarms.net/ Don't suppose it was this place that made the kits, do you? Their site mentions BP supplies. Last edited by orangello; September 1, 2011 at 03:29 PM.

August 30, 2011, 05:58 PM	#2
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	First off the Twister has smooth bores. A patched round ball works best. The barrels aren't long enough to get a decent muzzle velocity. As a self defense weapon it would be mediocre at best.

August 30, 2011, 06:27 PM	#4
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I forgot, it doesn't take revolver balls. Patching a cylindrical bullet in a smooth bore doesn't help anything anyway. It's still going to tumble.

August 30, 2011, 07:11 PM	#6
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	Ok, if you say so but it still doesn't take .375 balls or bullets.

August 30, 2011, 07:37 PM	#10
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	Yeah, I guess I'll hang on to it. It's not in the greatest shape after spending 20+ years in moms attic anyhow. The plastic grips split with the first shot and I made a crude set out of a mouse trap. This was the assembled version. It came with blued barrel and polished frame. Serial number is 0003233

August 30, 2011, 08:00 PM	#11
Rachen Senior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Weekend cowboy Posts: 542	WOW that sure is purdy!!! Put it on the table next to a bottle of Jack Daniels, a deck of cards, maybe a pack of Marlboros and illuminate the whole scene with nice amber light, and a Peterbilt, Kenworth or Harley poster on wall behind table. Classic BADASS style still-life right there.

August 30, 2011, 08:10 PM	#12
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I've got five Civil War playing cards, some Confederate money and some sitting Liberty coins. Thought about doing a shadow box but never got around to it. Actually it was one of these I had originally thought about using tho.

August 30, 2011, 08:18 PM	#13
Rachen Senior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Weekend cowboy Posts: 542	I LOVE that rimfire at the bottom. Unique sidehammer design too. Imagine the stories it would tell if it can talk.

August 30, 2011, 08:35 PM	#14
pvt.Long Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2009 Posts: 433	id use it all to make a shadow box. One thing about it no matter how you display the artifacts itll be the most unique display.

August 30, 2011, 08:40 PM	#15
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I don't have those anymore. They were both made in 1858. Top is a Bacon .31, serial number 606 out of about 3,000 made. Bottom is a .22 lipfire made by Allen and Wheelock. A direct infringement of the Rollin White patent. This one was sold before the law suit as later ones had to be marked made for Smith and Wesson by A&W.

August 31, 2011, 08:32 PM	#17
DG45 Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2009 Posts: 904	BP guns are cool, but modern guns have their place. For discreet street carry get a concealed carry permit and a Kel-Tec P3AT (or a pricier Ruger Elsie Pea if esthetics are important to you and you don't want to do your own fluff and buff) and you can have 7 rounds of 380 auto to deal with your problems with instead of 2 of whatever that BP thing shoots. Buy a couple of extra magazines, load em, and keep em somewhere on your person and you get another 12 rounds. It'll make you feel a lot better about yourself if you stumble into a flash mob scene. I'm not knocking BP guns; I love mine, and nothing's cooler, but......

September 1, 2011, 03:33 PM	#22
orangello Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2009 Posts: 566	No, the BP, cap-n-ball version of the Earl is the one that i desire (various barrel lengths available). (edited out about the find on the auction site, coulnd't refind)

April 3, 2018, 10:11 AM	#24
gpwelding1 Junior Member Join Date: April 1, 2011 Posts: 2	Classic Arms pistol kits are now manufactured by Deer Creek Products. However, I cant get a definite answer as to if they are going to resume production of the Twister kit.

April 7, 2018, 08:07 PM	#25
ThomasT Senior Member Join Date: January 22, 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 2,753	GD Zombie threads. How do people find these things? I have one of these pistols partially finished in one of my safes. My buddy bought it and did a lot of polishing on it and then gave it to me to finish. I never had any interest in it. And it takes .350 round balls. When he got the gun I gave him 3-4 boxes of .350 balls but he doesn't seem to remember what he did with them.

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