Working the Colt Walker Revolver

The Walker Dragoon revolver was Samuel Colt’s first big-bore revolver and, man, what a revolver it was. The huge cylinder had chambers that could hold as much as 60 grains of blackpowder, making this Dragoon-sized Colt the .44 Magnum of its day. Nearly the size and power of a carbine, the Walker was in every respect a powerful and formidable handgun. Colt had produced revolvers before this, starting in 1836 with what is known today as the Paterson Colt, which I wrote about last month.

The Patersons were smalland mediumframe revolvers and the largest caliber produced was .36. Due to financial difficulties, the Paterson factory closed in 1842. As the Mexican War began in 1846, Samuel H. Walker, a former Texas Ranger and by then a captain with the United States Mounted Rifles, traveled to New York and sought out Samuel Colt. His purpose was to convince Colt to produce anew, much larger and more powerful re- This replica of the Walker Colt was manufactured by A. Uberti in Italy.

Author photos. volver than the old Paterson. Walker was looking for a revolver that would be suitable for mounted cavalry and could possibly even take the place of the carbine at short ranges. The revolver that came to be named for Capt. Samuel Walker became a reality in 1847. In all, only about 1,100 Walker revolvers were manufactured’all made during 1847. Most of them filled the government order for 1,000 pistols to equip five companies of mounted soldiers.

Legend has it that when Captain Walker died of a (lance) wound sustained in combat in Mexico, he had a pair of these massive revolvers in his hands. These massive six-shot revolvers were nominally of .44 caliber (actually, they were almost .46 caliber), nearly 16 inches in length with 9-inch barrels and weighed a whopping 4 pounds, 9 ounces. From all indications, the Walker Colt gave a good account of itself in combat.

This was not only because the Colt was a six-shot repeater pitted against single-shot muskets and pistols, but charged with 60 grains of blackpowder the Walker could throw a lead ball at velocities similar to that of a service carbine. That combination offered the U. S. Cavalry trooper firepower that was far in excess of what his counterparts had on hand. There were some problems in service with the Walker, not the least of which were cylinders that burst with a full charge of powder.

It’s likely the poor metallurgy of the period played some part in this. The loading lever had a latch that was insufficient for the purpose, and, of course, for a sidearm the gun was terribly heavy. For today’s collector, the Walkers are some of the most sought after of all Colt products. Original specimens are highly prized by collectors and command prices among the highest of any collectible firearms.

Collectors should be very wary, since the quantity of original revolvers known to remain in existence is very small. That and the high prices they command has tempted a few unscrupulous individuals to build fake Walkers. Make no mistake, some of the fakes are exceptionally good, making them difficult to distinguish from an original Walker, even for an expert. These instructions will work for

the original Walker Colt’if you’re lucky enough to ever see one’but they are directed primarily at the far more plentiful and more affordable modern replicas manufactured in Italy by Uberti. Disassembly Instructions 1. Always begin by making absolutely sure the revolver is not loaded. Do this by holding the revolver firmly by its grip (#11), keeping your fingers away from the trigger (#10), and pointing the barrel muzzle in a safe direction.

Place the hammer (#2) into the loading position by pulling it to the rear until you hear one audible click. You can now check the revolver’s cylinder (#5) to be sure it is unloaded before attempting any disassembly. Perform this first check by examining the rear of the cylinder at each chamber to be certain there are no percussion caps on any of the nipples (#14). If any caps are present on the nipples, consider this to be a loaded firearm.

Then examine the front of the cylinder to see if there are charges in the cylinder chambers. A good indication that a chamber is loaded would be if bullets or balls show at the front end of the chamber or if the chamber appears to be filled with grease or a wad. Of course, we never look directly into the barrel or the chambers. Always view the chambers by carefully looking down into them from the side. You can empty a loaded cylinder by taking the weapon to a range and firing it until it is empty.

Or to render the revolver safe for further handling without firing, the loaded cylinder can be carefully removed by following the instructions in step 2 below. Note: Place the hammer so it is all the way down and resting in between two chambers for the following operation. Once you have removed the loaded cylinder from the revolver, place it aside, somewhere out of the way from the remainder of the firearm. 2.

The barrel (#3) can be separated from the frame (#1) by first pushing out its wedge (#4) from the left to the right side of the barrel as far as it will move. Colt barrel wedges use a wedge spring (#17) with a lock that grips the right side of the barrel, so before the wedge is moved, this lock has to be depressed. If the wedge

is very tight and won’t move by hand pressure, use a small nylon drift punch and a hammer to drive the wedge from the left. I use a nylon punch to avoid damaging either the wedge or the surrounding areas of the barrel. Normally a few light hammer blows will break the wedge free. Colt Walker Percussion Revolver (Specifications subject to change without notice) (Uberti nomenclature) 1 Frame 2 Hammer 3 Barrel 4 Wedge 5 Cylinder Place the hammer (#2) back into the loading position so the cylinder will spin freely.

Rotate the cylinder so that the plunger (#24) will come into contact with the cylinder in between two of the chambers. Now pull the rammer lever down, and apply pressure to the cylinder.

This action will 7 Hand 8 Backstrap 10 Trigger 11 Grip 12 Bolt 13 Loading Lever 14 Nipple 15 Sight 16 Cylinder Lock pin 17 Wedge Spring 18 Hand Spring 19 Trigger-Bolt Spring 20 Mainspring 21 Base Pin 22 Hand Spring Pin 23 Barrel Pin 24 Plunger 26 Trigger Guard 28 Cylinder Lock Pin 29 Wedge Pin 31 Front Trigger Guard Screw 32 Rear Backstrap Screw 33 Wedge Screw 34 Plunger Screw 35 Trigger-Bolt Spring Screw 37 Hammer Screw 38 Trigger & Bolt Screw 39 Loading Lever Screw 41 Cylinder Pin 131 Hammer Latch 455 Lower Backstrap Screw 532 Loading Lever Latch 535 Mainspring Latch cause the barrel to loosen and move forward from the frame slightly.

The barrel is now free to be removed from the frame by pulling it off straight to the front. The cylinder assembly can now be removed from the frame by pulling it straight forward off the cylinder pin (#21). The cylinder pin is

After that, the grip itself can be separated from the backstrap. also known as a base pin or arbor pin. 3. Disassembly of the Walker’s barrel and cylinder begins by unscrewing and removing the rammer-pin screw (#34) from the rammer. If the revolver is so equipped, also remove the loading-lever screw (#39) from the left side of the barrel. The rammer (#13, which is also called a "loading lever") along with the plunger (#24) can be removed out the front.

Remove the wedge from the barrel by first unscrewing and removing the wedge screw (#33) out the right side of the barrel, and then withdrawing the wedge. The only disassembly that is possible on the unloaded cylinder will be the removal of the percussion nipples. The nipples are removed by using a special tool called a nipple wrench. Percussion nipples are threaded into the rear of the cylinder and have right-hand threads, meaning that they will unloosen in a counter-clockwise direction.

Original, vintage percussion revolvers will often have nipples that were hand fitted to each specific chamber. Knowing this, be sure that the nipples are reinstalled in the chamber they came from. 4. Next come the removal of the grip, the mainspring, and the trigger guard. This revolver is equipped with a onepiece wood grip (#11) and is disassembled like this: Unscrew and remove the two backstrap screws (#32) from the top-rear of the backstrap (#8).

Also unscrew and remove the single butt screw (#455) from the butt of the backstrap. The backstrap along with the one-piece grip is removed by pulling down and to the rear so they come off as a unit. Once they’re off the frame, the grip can be separated by pulling it straight forward and off the backstrap. Reassembly note: For ease of reassembly, start all three of the backstrap screws together, and then tighten them in at the same rate.

Now compress the top of the mainspring (#20), pushing downward at the same time to allow the mainspring to disengage from its latch (#535) on the rear of the trigger guard.