.44 Colt Walker....

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Problem with my walker

Just got my walker colt for Christmas and have shot it several times. It is a joy to shoot I love the noise and smoke it is a real attention getter. Have not had the problem of the loading lever dropping at all mine is an Uberti. I always use 50 to 55 grains of Black powde a wonder wad and a .454 ball. I was initially surprised at it's almost total lack of felt recoil i guess 4 and 1/2 pounds of steel sort of dampens that. I experienced a problem to day though it is not igniting the caps was an occasional problem at first but continued to get worse until now it wont ignite a cap at all. any one experienced this and if so what is the problem and more to the point the solution. could it be the mainspring? I haven't had any problems with reassemling it except getting the arm into that cavity in the frame I have one heck of time compresing that small spring enough to fit. Anyway if anyone has any suggestions I'd sure appreciate them.
 
Failure to ignite caps is usually due to one of two things: mushrooming nipples or weakening mainspring.

First thing to do is check nipples for mushrooming. Remove the nipples and run your fingernail along the side from the shoulder (where the wrench fits) up to the tip. If the nipple is mushrooming you'll feel a little ridge at or very near the tip. This ridge is preventing the cap from fully seating on the nipple; the combustion material is not resting on the nipple surface when the cap is pressed into place.

You can install new nipples (about $20/gun) or repair the old ones. To repair them, chuck the nipple into a drill motor (use the shoulder, not the threads), preferably one with a variable speed motor. Slowly rotate the nipple with the drill and use a small, fine file or fine sandpaper to smooth the end of the nipple. Stop frequently and check with your fingernail and with a cap to ensure you don't go too far. If you take off too much material, throw the nipple away; it's only $3 plus shipping.

If the caps check out ok, the next thing to check is the mainspring. Without a spring tension gauge there's not much you can do except replace the spring with a new one or put a small wedge under the old spring to increase it's spring rate. A small piece of metal is placed between the spring and the frame to move the fulcrum up the spring from the base, effectively shortening the spring and increasing the spring rate. However, this is a temporary measure, done more to see if the caps will then fire and prove that the mainspring is indeed the problem. If it is, the spring will eventually become used to the new fulcrum and need to be replaced.

I've been assuming the caps are not firing. If the caps are firing but failing to ignite the powder, then the nipples are simply clogged and need to be cleaned out with a nipple pick and some bp solvent. Remove thenipples and soak them in bp solvent (TC No. 13, Hoppe's No. 9 for Black Powder, Butch's Bore Shine, etc.), then use a nipple pick or very small drill bit to clean them out.

If none of the above works, let me know.

Ed: I just reread this post and realized my instruction on the spring wedge wasn't clear. On the Walker, the wedge goes into the 'V' at the base of the spring, between the two arms. It does not need to be shaped to fit, but it does need to be long enough to move the fulcrum from the base of the 'V' about a half inch up the leaf.
 
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Another thing to check is to look where the arch of the hammer meets the frame.

If a cap or other piece of dirt gets in there it will prevent the cap from going off.
 
If the caps won't ignite, there might be a spent cap jamming the innards, a very typical problem with the Walker, or the caps might be too small (I use #11)

This is how the original Walker nipple wrench/mainspring vise was used to compress the mainspring (not easy to use)
S4020004.jpg

This is the mainspring vise I use. You can use a small pair of visegrips and a piece of leather to protect the metal. Over time, the mainspring on mine has weakened to the point that I can slip it on and off by hand.
S4020005-1.gif
 
mykeal Thanks i haveanother set of nipples which I bought right after receiving the gun along with a complete set of screws and other miscelaneous parts. Based on what pohill had to say I am now doubting that it is the mainspring if his still works and is so weak he can slip it on by hand then mine should be fine. I have fired less than 150 rounds through the gun so far but I'll check the nipples I still haven't disassemled it since yesterday at the range so maybe I'll find a spent cap in the works I hope that's the problem. anyway thanks very much for the advice I will definately check out all of the above suggestions.

StrawHat Thank you for the response I hope that that is the problem I'd hate to think that the mainspring gave out after so few rounds.

pohill thanks very much appreciate your help I never new the nipple wrench was intended as a mainsping tool. I am hoping it is just a cap in the works somewhere. I did have some trouble with caps falling into the action yeatyerday so maybe I missed one.

I'll let everyone know what I find now that I have some ideas on where the problem might lie. Thanks again guys for the help. This is a great site for a newcomer to C&B revolvers I'm already thinking about my next one. Maybe a Patterson or a leMatt?
 
Helpful Hints

The trick to using the nipple wrench/vice combo is:

1) Cock the hammer first then place wrench over spring and grip frame then release the tension by pulling the trigger.

2) Leave the mainspring attached to the grip frame and clean it with a toothbrush.

3) Remove the nipples before you remove the grip frame.:banghead:

For those who don't like the "dropping loading lever" this is a link to another thread that shows a pretty good looking fix. Look at post #15.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=215047&highlight=walker+lever+fix
 
whosyrdaddy Thanks I'll try that next time
I disassemble it. That sounds a lot easiar than removing the mainspring. Just finished the disassembly and it's soaking in hot soapy water. I did find the problem a small piece of cap was stuck to the hammer not allowing the hammer to come all the way forward. I am relieved. I thought i might have had some major problem LOL. Actually i should have seen it at the range and could easily have removed it. I'll pop a few caps when I finish cleaning and assembling it just to make sure but I do believe that that will be the problem.
 
OK guys since you had such great insights to my last problem let me ask you another question if you don't mind. I have trouble keeping the the caps in place while shooting, I mean before firing, I have tried pinching them into an oval shape and that seems to help some but some still fall off before i can fire them could my caps be too big I am using #11 remington caps which seems to be what most folks reccomend. Is there a trick I should know about?
 
bigbadgun I'll do that seems like everyone i have read said they used #11s on their walkers also, but these caps falling aoff is getting to be a real pain. what brand of caps do you use and could that make any difference?
 
I use #11 caps (Remington works better than CCI for me), pinched, and sometimes I use the screwdriver tip of the Walker nipple wrench to pry the cap further on. After I place the caps on, I rotate the cylinder and slip the screwdriver tip between the cap and the frame (below the cutout in the frame) and pry slowly upwards, then rotate and pry the next cap on. I'm not crazy about this method simply because I don't know for sure if it will ignite the cap or not, but so far I haven't had any problems. Also, the tip of that nipple wrench is useful in depressing the wedge spring and pushing out the wedge.
 
pohill thanks I'll give that a try. That nipple wrench is a lot more useful than i ever Imagined.
 
Rifle and single-shot bp shooters use a device called a short starter to start the patched round ball into the muzzle. It consists of a tennis ball sized round ball with a short dowel attached. The dowel works very nicely to seat caps on bp revolvers.

The nipple wrench used as a pry bar is unlikely to cause cap ignition. The explosive material in the cap reacts to shock loads, not long period pushing like when you pry on the cap to seat it.
 
WOW this is some good information. i need to either print this stuff or save it to a file. keep it coming.
 
I went shooting today i took my three black powder handguns and my 30-30. Then i started to shoot at the range of course. Well about 3 hours later a guys comes next to me. Looks pretty excited to see a black powder handgun on the rear bench. it was my 1860 army. He then pulls out his Ruger stainless old army (remington top strap clone). Ask me how heavy it was and then proceeds to show me his Ruger and hand it too me. i looked at him and asked what 3 1/2 lbs. He said yep "as big as they get". In front of his girl friend. I said "WELL I DONT THINK SO HARDLY". So i get my 1860 return to the forward bench. Set it down. Put the percussion Caps in my walker and Fire it off. Then i fired off my 1860 and the 1851. I then returned to the rear bench. looked at him. Set down my Walker and said " THIS IS THE BIGGEST GUN THEY MADE". Well his eyes lit up he asked what it was i told him. Then he asked about all my bp hand guns. i told him. Then he took his girl friend up to the forward bench to shoot. Then he returned to the rear bench and started to ask me all sorts of questions. THEN i see him trying to pour bp from the goex container into his powder measure. While he is doing this i fill up my powder measure with my flask and continue to load my revolvers. He then took his handgun to the forward bench. I took mine. We both capped them off. He started to shoot his ROA and i started to shoot my walker. After that i fired the other two. Then returned to the rear bench. I then started the process again. AS he continued to ask me a million questions. At that time the RO called for a sieze fire and he took down his target and left.


So if there is someone here by the name of Paul. I am sorry my walker is bigger than your ROA.
 
called for a sieze fire and he took
Click to expand...

I may be wrong and all but I believe it is called CEASE fire.

sieze - to take possession of by force or at will

cease - to put a stop or end to; discontinue

I am not the spelling or grammar police but if it was me I would want to know.
I hope you take no offense, I intend none.
 
I have been reading this thread and note that Gentleman Of Charcol's entries are //// and yet it seems the others making entries are understanding the ////. What do the forward slashes mean? Thanks,Byron
 
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