The THR Walker Club

Hardway, I bought that book in 1993. It's been much loved, much read, and recovered from one miscreant who borrowed it and tried to keep it.
Not long after 1993 I found out about the Walker repros but as a poor student did not buy one...and it wasn't until very recently that I realized I was never going to have $450 run up to me screaming "Use us to buy a Walker!" so I just had to make myself do it.
It shoots very well at 50 yards (10 3/4" group of 10 balls), someday I need to try to hit a target at 200 yards using the loading lever for a monopod!

Honest John said:

someday I need to try to hit a target at 200 yards using the loading lever for a monopod!

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I have a feelin that was a joke, but just in case: Careful before you try that... I would only do that if I had serious protective garments for my hand and forearm. A whole buncha fire, powder gunk*, and possibly lead come out from where the cylinder meets the barrel, in theory your hand could be ok under the barrel blocked by the under-side of the barrel where it meets the frame, but how do you feel about the odds?

here are two captures of Goex FFFG black powder in an 1851 Navy, (I have walker pics like this but can't find 'em at the moment d'oh!)






* if powder gunk doesn't sound so bad to you, how about permanent 'freckle' tattoos of unburnt grains embedded in your flesh? Once upon a time my hand got a little too close, I know it's an unburnt grain because I dug a few others out! This one was too deep, happened over five years ago but pic was taken recently



Just lookin out in hopes you either already know, or read this before attempting that long shot using the load-lever as foregrip

My Walker "bit" me a couple of years ago the same way. I'm still trying to figure out exactly "WHY" I let my off hand get that far forward. It stung like the dickens when the gun went off and I didn't immediately realize that I had picked up some extra "stuff" in my left index finger until one of them started to fester out. I managed to dig the other two out and it left me with a permanent reminder to pay attention to where all my body parts are BEFORE the gun goes off.:banghead:

As a side note: 30+ years ago I picked up my first handgun, a Dakota SAA with a 12" barrel. My dad thought that was one cool gun and when we were out plinking one day I handed it to him and I started loading an old Mossberg 22. I looked up just before he pulled the trigger and realized that he had that barrel resting across his left forearm like they sometimes did in the old westerns. I had about enough time to open my mouth to stop him when he pulled the trigger. When he turned around to see what I wanted he had the cutest little string of tiny blood spots running from his wrist to his elbow with an unblemished spot right where the gun was resting. 'Til the day he died he carried a tattooed line of dots right where that hawgleg had nailed him. Some lessons stay with us for a while.

If the poster meant he was going to use the load lever as a mono pod there is no reason to think he would have to hold the loading lever. From a good roll over prone pistol position with both hands on the grips the addition of the load lever as a monopod touching the ground might make for a more stable position.

SUpposedly Berdan's sharpshooters of Civil war fame were known to fire their 1855 colt revolving rifles with the lever down though I do not know if they did so holding the lever or used the lever as a monopod or just felt it better centered the chamber being fired to do so.

Certainly if I were remotely tempted to use my support hand on the loading lever it would be with a stout roping gauntlet on that support hand and arm. I am not however tempted to do so.

One thing from Berdan's men that might be helpful in hitting 200 yard targets with a Walker might be to detirmine which one chamber gives you the most consistant group and use that one chamber for all long range shooting. This they did to counter the 1855 rifle's reputation for poor accuracy and some long range revolver shooters on the cartridge side do today. Berdans men thus had basically a single shot they could count on at range and four in reserve if things got hot closer in, much like the concept of the magazine cut off on the Spencer carbine, US Krag and '03 Springfield.

Be safe and have fun.

-kBob

kBob said:

If the poster meant he was going to use the load lever as a mono pod there is no reason to think he would have to hold the loading lever. From a good roll over prone pistol position with both hands on the grips the addition of the load lever as a monopod touching the ground might make for a more stable position.

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Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense, I think my brain glitched 'monopod' into 'foregrip' somehow when I read that post... I don't usually get onto THR until the lady is asleep, I was pretty tired. Now I'm thinkin about trying that next time I head to the pit.

So THAT's why there's no retainer-catch on the '47 Walker's loading lever!

Here's a quick and dirty p.o.v. of my Walker with conversion cylinder at the range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j83slPwbZw&feature=g-upl

My wife just referred to my Walker as my "hand-rifle-thingy."

iLikeOldgunsIlikeNewGuns said:

Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense, I think my brain glitched 'monopod' into 'foregrip' somehow when I read that post... I don't usually get onto THR until the lady is asleep, I was pretty tired. Now I'm thinkin about trying that next time I head to the pit.

So THAT's why there's no retainer-catch on the '47 Walker's loading lever!

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Holding the loading lever for support and stability was known as the "Cavalry Hold" during the acw. They were shooting at horses and riders holding it like that.

Took the Walker to the range last weekend and did some testing with a chronometer, with 48 grains of Goex FFFG and a wad it was clocking an average of 1039 Feet/Second. I filled it all the way up with about 55 grains and it went supersonic at 1138FPS,I could hear a crack over and above the normal boom.
Here are a couple of pictures of my day at the range:

Thanks for that info Skinny, and wow, that is an excellent selection of steel you have there!

I'm taking my Walker out on Sunday

I really like the engraving on your Walker! That adds a lot more interest to the revolver for me. And I like you 1911 Gov't at the end of the table. That sort of takes in the whole range of handguns, beginning with the Walker and progressing through the various types to the Gov't Model. Very nice.

Skinny 1950 said:

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Skinny, who produced your engraved Walker? Is that a factory job?

She looks awesome!

It is an ASM factory engraved gun,I bought this new in the box unfired but I had to shoot it, at first it would bind up after 4-5 shots but now it is very smooth.

Skinny,
How long have you owned the Walker?

I have had it since December 2011 see post #3247 in this thread.

Honest John said:

My wife just referred to my Walker as my "hand-rifle-thingy."

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ROFLMAO .. chicks...

^ actually that description isn't far off


Took my Uberti Walker out last weekend, I've owned it since the mid 2000s and have put somewhere over 1000 rounds through it in all this time, well the mainspring finally went on it Everything still functions as it should with the one exception that when I pull the trigger nothing happens, hammer stays back until I manually push it forward (no resistance). So that would be the mainspring, correct? I looked at VTI gunparts, anyone know if Wolff or any other site has a better price on a quality spring for my Walker?

Hey here is the link to a auction on GB for the spring your looking for.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=307037997

get it while the gittins good. Pete

I just received my Uberti Walker Colt this week and can't wait to get to the range with it. I'll also take my 1851 Navy too since I haven't fired it in 20 years (trigger broke and I just got around to replacing it). My parents gave me the Navy kit in the late 80s when I was 19. It is .44 caliber instead of .36, so not really a true Navy but it is fun.

A few months ago I picked up a neat book on ebay printed in 1949: Sam Colt's Own Record. It is a collection of correspondence between Sam Colt, Samuel Walker, Eli Whitney, Jr., some metal and parts suppliers, and government officials. It is dry reading but details the steps in getting the Walker Colt produced and delivered.

When you go to the range, don't forget to take a lot of powder. Walkers have a big appetite. They are a kick in the pants to shoot.

Yeah, I have to buy another can of powder, I only have 1/2 pound left. I went ahead and bought a correct copy of the Picket bullet mould supplied with the Walkers, it should be interesting to see how hard they are to load and how well they shoot.

I've been shooting my (Uberti) Walker steadily for 5+ years now and last time I brought it out the mainspring went bust on me

I checked out a few different sites and am a bit surprised at how much that spring costs... unfortunately my beloved '47 Walker is out of commission until I feel I have the $20-$30 for the spring and shipping. I see my Walker staring back at me every day and can't wait to have it back in action



PS: funny part was I had one chamber still loaded when that happened. I used the closest thing to a hammer I could find to whack the actual gun's hammer against the cap, didn't even scuff the finish and it definitely went bang

I shot the Walker for the first time today. I went to the range mainly to shoot my Shiloh Sharps but brought the Walker and Navy Colts along too. I shot at a paper silhouette target at 25 yards and every shot hit the torso. The barrel started to bind the cylinder after the third shot though so I only fired the six loads and then switched to my 1951 Navy Colt (25 gr. FFFg and round ball). It shot high but still hit the target as well.

The Walker was impressive with 50 gr. FFFg and a round ball. It doesn't kick much but the noise and smoke sure got attention. The shooting range has a tin cover over the shooting benches and it rattled with each shot. It was a lot of fun to shoot and I hope to go back to the range again soon.

im a bit of a sadist... i like to load my walker right up when the range next to me is trying to shoot precision.

Freddy,
That is downright FUNNY!