Colt Walker question

[Idz]

I assembled an Uberti Colt Walker kit and notice the primer cutout in the frame isn't as deep as the nipple cutout in the cylinder. It causes the fired caps to hang up and not fall free. All my other BP revolvers have the cylinder and frame cutouts flush with each other. Could somebody who has a Walker look at the cutouts and see if they line up flush with each other?

thanks

[mazo kid]

Let me see if I understand your question; you mean the frame radius cut is higher than the nipple, thus the fired cap doesn't fall clear? I have both an ASM and a Uberti Walker, both openings in the frames are just slightly deeper than the nipple. You may have to file that radius slightly deeper. How are you capping the nipples if they are not slightly above the opening? You say it is a kit gun, so you (probably) need to finish the frame anyway.

[bedbugbilly]

Could you post some photos of what you are talking about? That would help so everybody is talking about the same thing. Thanks.

[Omnivore]

Yeah I have several Colt's revolvers and I can't make sense of the question. There is the segment of a doughnut (toriod) cutout in the top, RH side of the recoil shield, just to the right of the hammer cutout, for clearing spent caps until they reach the capping cutout, and then there is the capping cutout in the far RH side. What's doing what now?

[Idz]

The cutout in the cylinder is about 1/8" deeper than the cutout in the frame. I'm sure the frame should be cut deeper to be flush with the cylinder cutout but wanted somebody with a Colt Walker to look at theirs and see how its built.

150716

[mazo kid]

My answer stands.....you will have to file the frame opening a bit to get the clearance you need. Again, how are you capping the cylinder if the opening is too shallow?

[Idz]

Neither the Uberti Walker or the Pietta Army have a toroid cut in the frame. The brass frame Pietta Navy does. The question is how deep does Uberti cut the Walker? Too deep could allow dirt to get into the cylinder rachet andhand. Too shallow and fired caps get stuck.

150717

150718

[Idz]

The frame cutout is deep enough to put caps onto the nipples, but fired caps get stuck.

[Texantothecore]

Try treso nipples with cci caps. I am going make a guess that you are using Remington caps. When the skirt rips it sticks out much further than the CCI caps.

[Idz]

The Walker can handle a 60 grain powder load so it does much more damage to caps than the 30 gr loads in other revolvers. I'm also looking at some of the vented nipples made by SliXShot which may reduce cap damage. But I think the first thing to do is cut the Walker frame to the correct depth. If anybody has an Uberti Walker and could tell me how its frame is cut I would appreciate it.

[Omnivore]

Hopefully someone will post pictures of their Waklers, similar to the ones you posted. Be careful though about assuming the cause of your cap jams-- They come in many "flavors". I'd be hesitant to remove any more of the recoil ring unless I determined it was really necessary. On my guns that run reliably, the cap has room to back off a little, and then the shock of firing causes the spent cap to fly off on the next shot. I had a Colt Police with excessive cylinder gap, and sometimes the "petals" formed by the spent Remington cap would get stuck between the recoil ring and the cylinder. The only way to get the cap out was to grab it and pull firmly, sometimes requiring pliers. As suggested above, maybe all you need is a different brand of cap, or nipple, or both. Whether or not removing more steel from the recoil shield at the capping cutout would in itself cure your problem is an unknown to me. I'm sure curious to know how you end up solving it.

[swathdiver]

On my ASM Walker, it's common that the Remington #11 caps do not fall away after firing, they're busted to bits. They're generally easy enough to remove with a finger and the cone pic takes care of those pesky ones. The stock cones were trashed for Track of the Wolf cones, no more cap problems. These cones like Remington #11s better than Remington #10s.

Be careful to fire up the milling machine when all that might be needed is a call to Track and a cone wrench.

[bedbugbilly]

I can't help you with the Walker as far as nipples . . .

Idz . . I hope you have better luck with SlixShot nipples than I have had. I changed out the nipples on my Uberti 1851 Navy this week with a set of SlixShot nipples I had to give them a try. I'm using CCI caps. The package on mine say they work with a #10 cap. Not on mine . . . a 10 won't seat on it far enough and a CCI #11 is too big . . . and I'm not big on squeezing larger caps to fit. Even putting them on and using a piece of wood to seat them more firmly was not enough. So, I did the next trial by lowering the hammer gently and trying to seat with the hammer . . still a no go. All six were no fires repeatedly the first hammer fall. About half went off on the second hammer fall and the rest on the third.

And . . it's not the caps. Same caps . . . on my Remington Navy and they all go bang first time.

I know the SlixShot nipples are supposed to be good but even a Remington #10 doesn't fit nor a #10 German cap. I ended up taking them out and putting the originals back in until I can get some different ones ordered from Track. And I'm not a beginner by any means . . .I've been shooting BP revolvers for 50 + years.

And I'll add this as well . . . even on the Walker . . if you do the "Colt twist" to the right when cocking, that will help a lot in getting rid of cap fragments. Even on my Uberti '51, I have had issues once in a while with cap fragments, even from CCI caps. I agree with what is said about Remingtons caps . . . years ago, that was about all I could get . . . but hey, they were only 25 cents a tin and DuPont was 75 cents a pound. When I started using CCI caps, the fragment problem let up quite a bit.

[Hellgate]

BB Billy. Sorry to hear the Remington #10 did not work for the Slix Shot nipples. I know the guys that designed them. They were made to fit the Rem #10. I wonder if the new lot is larger than prior lots 'cause yours is the first time I heard that a Rem #10 didn't work.

[swathdiver]

I wonder how old them Remington #10s are? Are they the old packaging or the "new" hotter ones?

[bigted]

good luck getting somebody with a Walker to post photo's of it to compare to yours.

personally I believe that the flat area behind the recoil shield to the right of the hammer in full battery is going to need the small hollow ground in this area to allow room for a exploded cap to rotate thru the next hammer pull and have enough room to scoot sideways so as to reach the concave section where it may fall clear of the revolver without causing a jam of any kind.

also I do believe that the section you describe should indeed be at least even with the hollow surrounding the nipple well. this should allow nothing to hang em up while thumbing your Walker thru its paces.

[Dbtk44]

Idz...don't take this the wrong way but, your nipples seem to be protruding out an awfully long way. (How often can you say that to a strange and not get slapped? )
Soon as I get a chance I will post a couple pics of my San Marco Walker.

[Dbtk44]

151600151601

Maybe it's the different make of cylinder, but I would think they would be at least PRETTY close...as you can see, mine are quite a ways into the cylinder compared to the pic you posted of yours. That might have something to do with the busted caps getting stuck. Mine has a good 1/8 - 3/16" between the nipple and the frame.

Hope this helps.

[Omnivore]

Dbtk; I notice also that your capping cutout in the recoil shield comes farther in, removing more of the recoil ring. On Idz's gun there's less relief there.

[Dbtk44]

You're right Omnivore. Too much difference in the two, and got me thinking...

Idz, is this a Dragoon? I just looked at my dragoon, and the cylinder is about the exact same configuration. Different than my 1847 Whitneyville.

[Dbtk44]

...is the dragoon.151667

[Idz]

Dbtk44
Your photo shows what I suspected. The cutout in the frame looks like it as deep as the cutout in the cylinder. The nipples I have are the ones that came with the Uberti Walker kit and they look like they are the correct size so the hammer impacts squarely on the nipple. Photos of the Walker show the original cylinder nipple spacing to be similar to mine. It may be one of the improvements done on the dragoon was to add a bit more space.

thanks

[Dbtk44]

Glad to be of some help Idz. I had some problems in the past with the spent caps falling into the action on the '47...but it's been a while since I took it out for a spin, and I can't really remember offhand how much of a problem it really was. Looks like I'm gonna have to do some fact finding here soon!

Besides the pesky issue with the busted caps, what are your thoughts on your hand cannon?
I love mine, wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Idz]

Dbtk44
I think the Walker is a blast to shoot. Even with 50 gr of 3Fg there is little recoil because the gun is so heavy. I have large hands so it fits me perfectly. I haven't yet finished the grips but may leave the scalloped surface on them rather than polishing them smooth. I also haven't decided if I want to blue the cylinder and frame as it looks kind of neat in two-tone.
The loading lever does fall with a 50 gr charge but stays put with a 25 gr charge.
The Walkers size seems to impress folks used to the more dainty Army and Navy models.