Hey y'all. I'm working on building a Colt Walker replica from scratch. So far all the machining operations are within my ability, but I'm absolutely stumped on how to cut the channel the hand rides in. It's a square-sided blind hole that pierces the face of the recoil shield in a way that doesn't follow the channel walls.
It looks like a feature that would have to be cast in--did original Walkers have cast frames? Are modern repros cast? There are a ton of reasons not to cast steel, although I suppose that would give additional cause for case-hardening the frame.