I'm in HOG heaven now!!

[georgeld]

Just today, rec'd an old CVA copy of Walker Colt .44.
My first C&B wheelgun. It's a copy of the 1847 model it says.

Am looking fwd to playing with it!:-D

The bore has a few small pits from rust, the hammer and cyl, frame head have nickle sized patch's of deep rust. THis gun was found buried under leave's around a deer stand last fall back east. It had been there several years the way it looks. I got it cheap enough from the finder. He advertized it for a month and no takers. Wanted to part with it and I asked for it.

IT's a real monster almost 5lbs, 9" barrel. Cleaned it up real good today, sanded the stocks down and truoiled them. Should be another coat before I go to bed.

Now then, I need a RB, or boolit mold for it. Need to slug things yet.

Am surprised at the "shape" of the bore. It's not round with rifling, it's made of several flats instead. Looks much like octagon, only there's a bunch more than 8 flats. I'd never seen that shape of barrel before either.

Am open to info and suggestions. No, I'm not gonna send it for testing either, lol.

Thanks much,

[danski26]

WOW! A couple years buried in leaves and only minor rusting. Knock me over with a feather. I would have thought it would be junk after that amount of time in the elements. Congrats on a good find!!

[georgeld]

Thank you, that was quick, I just put another coat of TruOil on the grips and have a reply.

The rust is deep, and large in places, but, it is in amazingly good shape. Rust is only on the outside, not much in the bore, nor cyl, none on the shaft. The rammer handle is pretty bad, but, sanded most of that off to good steel. Will rub some blue on it tomorrow.

Would have posted this in a proper place, but, don't find c & b section.

[S.R.Custom]

Great find! But I want to know how you lose a Walker Colt in the woods. Dude musta been really drunk.

[jdhenry]

PICS???????? Id like to see it:) So I can drool.......

[georgeld]

sorry about no pics. May have some on e'm the seller sent me that are not very good. am not sure I still have them.

I really don't think this and the rifle with it were lost. I'd come nearer thinking someone stole them, buried 'em out there a few yrs ago and couldn't find them again. There was a decent rifle with it, he sold to the guy that was with him that day. I can't think what it was now.

Anyone know what ser numbers mean on CVA copy's like this? I'd doubt they've sold many Walkers. Does a five digit number mean anything? 441xx
has a brass guard and frame, wood grip, rest was blued with real light cut engraving of men on horseback. I can't make out for sure what the scene is. Block: model USMR, another with" Patent, but, no numbers. The rest of the scene looks like soldiers shooting. horseback chase, possibly Indians. It's so faint it's hard to make it out and looks like whoever did it. Used a hand engraver to draw it with.

I'm sure the scene is meant to represent what ever battle a Walker Colt was famous for.

One thing I like about it, all the parts have matching numbers. Whether that means much on this gun or not I have no idea.

There is resistance in the cyl turning at two holes, that makes those out of time. The other four are right on. I'll have my gunsmith cheak it out before I fire it.

[georgeld]

More intense cleaning, some oil and polishing. Then refinishing the stocks, some hand bluing rubbed in made a world of difference to it today. Sure looks nice now.

Cleared up the resistance of the cyl too. Plus, now that it's free wheeling like it should be. Perfect timing too. Worked the hammer about forty times and it sets on the nipple perfect.

Could use some advice now though.

Only had three .54 soft rb's on hand. Rest of my soft lead is in 60lb hunks.

Hammered one into the muzzle with a small wood mallet to get the dia. Muzzle mic's: .460" on the outside of the grooves. Calipers are in the shop, so haven't measured the lands yet. Thats next.

Cyl mic's: .452" on the one I slugged. Haven't slugged the barrel yet, need to run one full length. But, gotta get some lead balls to do it with yet.

Any advice, suggestions from this so far? Would appreciate anything you may be able to suggest. I'll listen, as this is my first cap n ball.

Thanks much,

[StrawHat]

Couple of thoughts for you.

The serial number won't help to much with the age of the piece. I don't know of any public records of that info. What will help is a pair of letters on the frame, usually on the right side but sometimes in front of the triggerguard. That is the date code for when it was proofed in Italy.

If your cylinder mikes .452, you will probably need .454 round balls. Unless you can ream the ends of the chambers, you will not be able to match bore size. Once the ball is squeezed into the cylinder it is .452.

The cylinder scene was applied by rolling the cylinder over a plate that had the reverse of what you see on the cylinder.

The scene is actually not related to the Walkers but the predecessor, the Paterson.

USMR = United States Mounted Rifles. A variety of theories have been put forth for the use of that. I don't have a favorite.

Matching numbers means whoever owned it did not swap out any parts.

I am curious about the way you describe the shape of the bore, a photo would help to visualise what you are saying.

I will post some photos later of the cylinder scene and where to find the date codes.

Enjoy it.

[KCSO]

Having had a Walker I assume that is where it landed when he threw it away. I was never fond of these as they are too heavy for a hand gun and too light for a rifle. The loading lever will drop every time you fire the gun unless you make a band for it. Add the fact that it is not meant for holster carry ar 5 pounds and you have a nice conversation piece but not a practical field gun. But worst come to worst you can clean it and doll it up and trade it for a nice 1858 Remington.

[BruceB]

My fascination with historic firearms lies to a large degree in appreciating them only in part for what they are today, but more importantly, what they represented AT THE TIME OF THEIR INTRODUCTION. My interest in loading for them extends to making them perform as they were intended to perform at the time they served...I DON'T CARE if my Krag won't challenge the accuracy of my .220 Swift (but that doesn't stop me from trying to get the best possible results from a given rifle).

The Walker Colt???? It arrived in the infancy of the reliable repeating firearm. It was NOT a defensive belt gun, although it could serve as one. The revolvers were issued in pairs to mounted troopers, carried on their saddles, and were designed and intended to deliver OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER superior to what was available from the cavalry carbines of the day, let alone the cavalry saber.

The Walker represents a short stage in the development of effective combat firearms, and its shortcomings were discovered and corrected in very short order, under the stress of real combat. It also represents the very short era when HANDGUNS were actually more effective weapons than long guns.

The gun HAD to be heavy, both to contain the charges big enough to drop enemy horses and to serve as effective clubs in close-quarter hand-to-hand fighting.

Imagine being a trooper with a saber, a single-shot muzzle-loading carbine, and a single-shot percussion pistol or two. Your unit is engaged in active fighting against a similarly-equipped enemy. One memorable day, your sergeant shows up and delivers to you and each of your bunkies a PAIR of heavy revolvers, instantly transforming the unit with twelve rapid-fire rounds available for each man. THIS is "Hog Ass Heaven!!!" Tactically AND strategically, you now have a "force multiplier" that the enemy simply can not match.

Let's not be misled into assessing the Walker Colt using TODAY'S criteria. Such considerations are unfair and incorrect. In its heyday, the Walker was very serious medicine indeed. Whether it meets ANY modern needs at all is simply irrelevant, and to compare it to modern service firearms is to compare snowflakes to catfish....NO valid comparison exists.

Enjoy it for what it is, an artifact out of history, and in using it, try to place oneself in the boots of those tough old troopers of our early days as a country. Respect it, and learn from it .

My own Walker is one from the Colt "Blackpowder Series", and it has NEVER, repeat NEVER, dropped the loading lever when firing. This certainly does happen in many such revolvers, as witnessed by many mods to latch the lever both by gunsmiths and factories back in the day....but mine works perfectly without lever-dropping problems.

The Walker Colt is a fine example to demonstrate just how far we've come, but I can tell y'all that it is a fearsomely effective WEAPON in its own right even today, and anyone with such a revolver is a looooong way from being un-armed.

Impressive, that's the word. Mine doesn't get shot all that much, but every time I use it I sorta have to re-calibrate my ideas about handguns, black powder, and how they were used 160 years back. It's a "reality check".

We are very fortunate to have so many of history's blackpowder firearms on the market in replica form. Not only are they fun and educational, but they are also among the most beautiful guns ever built, to my eyes (unless it's a LeMat or other such aberration...grin).

[StrawHat]

Okay, here are the photos I mentioned.

This is the cylinder and some of the scene.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc194/StrawHat/YearStamping001.jpg

Here is were the date code is normally found, in this case XXVI,

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc194/StrawHat/YearStamping002.jpg

Here is an alternate spot for the date code, above the 53 in the serial number, in a box, usually two letters.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc194/StrawHat/YearStamping003-1.jpg

I have misplaced my link to what the codes mean but I do have the hard copy.

Have fun with the Walker.

[OeldeWolf]

As was stated, they were a fascinating piece of history, and quite the thing for their time. They were developed for and with the aid of Col. Walker for his Texas Rangers, who were fighting Injuns at the time. The capacity and power of them enabled the Rangers to be successful.

I am hopeful of getting one at some point, as I like my 1860's a lot.

[MtGun44]

Cool deal. Still trying to figure out how you could drop a 6 lb
20" long (I exaggerate a tad [smilie=1:) PISTOL and not realize it?????

Bill