# 4 Ace Manufacturing Company



## ARMARIN (Apr 8, 2017)

ARMARIN has test fired this little gun with .22 BB and CB caps and with .22 short ammo. The latter ammo gives surprising accuracy and, incredible as it may seem, it also kicks a fair bit. 

Shooting the Little Ace with CB or BB produced some fair groupings on the targets...Unloaded, the pistol weighs 3 ounces, measures 3-7/8" overall. The frame is solid bronze, the barrel is blue steel and rifled to standard .22 caliber specifications.

The earliest Little Ace guns were made in Norridge, Illinois. However, the majority of them were made in Itasca, Illinois. Finally, the maker - Erl Svendsen - moved to Brownsville, Texas in about 1973, and made his last guns in that location. 

He eventually sold the rights to his guns to Herman J. Seminiano of Brownsville, Texas. Herman intended to continue to manufacture the pistols, but when he asked about the plans for the guns he was told there weren't any. All of Earl Svendsen's guns were made by hand and were hand fitted. There were no interchangeable parts.

Erl had been manufacturing guns of one kind or another since the 1950's. Erl did business as the "Erl Svendsen Firearms Manufacturing Company" (ESFAC) and later as the "4 Ace Manufacturing Company." His best-selling gun was a single-shot derringer called _Little Ace_, but he also manufactured a four-shot derringer called _4 Aces_. 










These guns had brass frames and steel barrels and parts. Both were chambered for the .22 Short, but toward the end of production Erl began chambering _4 Aces_ in .22 Long Rifle, making it an effective defensive weapon for the first time. Around 1974 or 1975, for reasons I don't know and can't speculate on, Erl Svendsen filed for bankruptcy. 

Erl Svendsen _4 Aces_ Derringer

Used a little info from 
"The HJS Frontier Four .22 Derringer," by Phil Spangenberger. _Guns & Ammo_, July, 1982.

Have a big cigar now with rgds from
ARMARIN


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## JC Burton (May 10, 2021)

Do you know of a parts source for the "4 ACES" model? I am in need of a mainspring.


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