Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Video - Shooting the Colt Walker Revolver


Recommended Posts

A picky bit - around the 4 minute mark and a bit beyond, you are talking about it, holding it, and your finger is resting on the trigger most of the time.

 

Other than that (and not showing those last shots in low light) great video.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Darn Mike you are making me wanna take mine out and shoot it. My Uberti version is several years old now and still unfired but the plan was to use it with a Third Model Dragoon when I could afford one. Think I would tend to stay light on my loads also But does anyone know what kind of power the conical loads produced?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Howdy Mike

 

Another great video. Thanks very much for taking the time to show some of design details of the Walker. That's what really interests me, the nuts and bolts of gun design and how the designs evolved over time. I have never shot a Walker or had one apart. What a crazy mainspring! I never saw that before. Besides being difficult to assemble, that spring would have been more intricate and therefore more costly to manufacture than the later strap design.

 

I have always felt that after making only 1100 Walkers Colt already knew he needed a major design change so that's why the Dragoon series came out rather than a second version of the Walker. Clearly Colt realized the Walker was a little bit too big to be practical, so all of their later 44 Cal revolvers got scaled down in size until the 1860 Army was developed. I knew about the poor loading lever design, but details like that crazy main spring and the rounded nature of the front of the grips would also have added cost to manufacture the gun. So thanks for showing those details.

 

I only wish you had laid the Paterson next to the Walker so we could see the actual difference in size. Any chance you could take a still photo with the two together?

 

Thanks.

 

P.S. I have shot a Dragoon. Sheesh they are huge, I can only imagine how much more massive the Walker was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also tend to think that Colt, and the early Texas Rangers, were thinking of a fighting weapon hybrid between the rifle and pistol. I think the early Rangers, who seemed to drive early designs of the Colts, thought of themselves as being a fast moving assault team, much like a small cavalry unit. With the advent of the Civil War their techniques were quickly adopted by the South of whom they became a part of. Both militarys quickly realized that an actual repeating handgun was far superior to both the sabre and rifle while engaging from a mounted attack. These guys were on the cutting edge of product testing for a new weapon design and had not figured out that a handgun loses its niche when you try to make it to large and powerful in an attempt to make it into a rifle. I think Colt actually turned more to the civilian market with his first pocket pistols and ultimately the '51 Navy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Pukin Dog, SASS#55356-Life

Darn Mike you are making me wanna take mine out and shoot it. My Uberti version is several years old now and still unfired but the plan was to use it with a Third Model Dragoon when I could afford one. Think I would tend to stay light on my loads also But does anyone know what kind of power the conical loads produced?

 

Hey Slowhand, a Walker and a 3rd Model Dragoon was the first combo I shot at a SASS shoot. I'm not sure if it was my alias or my selection of handguns that folks were laughing about when I came to the shooter position. :unsure::blush:

 

Anyway, I made it though the match but don't think I ever shot that combo again. Having about 9# strapped to your waist for 3 hours can get kinda old. Plus the Walker doesn't point worth a damn. There is a reason only 1100 were made. Probably one of the worst handgun design of all time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great video, Mike! I really like how you include the place in history that the gun has. I also enjoy seeing the little details that separate one gun from another. I would always see pictures of the loading levers falling on walkers when fired. It's nice to see why. Thanks for taking the time to put up another informative and well done vid!-------Eastwood

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.