Colt Walker Question?

[jimeast]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and shooting. Just picked up a new Uberti Colt Walker. I'm having trouble pulling the barrel off. I removed the wedge with no problem. But, the barrel will not separate from the main casting. My understanding is it should be loose and slide off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Jim

 

[72coupe]

Turn the cylinder to line up the space in between chambers and use the loading lever to apply pressure to remove the barrel.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

Jim, follow 72coupe's advice but you may want to protect the cylinder from any possible harm by putting a protective barrier between the rammer and the cylinder. A metal shim works well. One could be made from a soda can. And welcome to the group.

 

[jimeast]

Barrel Removal

Thanks for the tips, I tried this (with a piece of cardboard protecting the finished surfaces) and I used about as much force as I was comfortable using. It did not budge. Any other thoughts?

 

[1KPerDay]

First make sure the wedge is far enough out. To be safe for the first time you may want to remove it completely.

Second, if it still won't budge after putting it on half cock, putting the space between chambers under the loading ram (with shim if desired) and giving it a good bit of force, try some penetrating oil on the frame/barrel joint at the bottom under the loading ram. Let it sit for a day and try again. PB blaster etc.

 

[Fingers McGee]

find a third hand and tap the side of the barrel lug with a plastic faced hammer while putting pressure on the loading lever. Once you get it apart, use a little gun oil and 0000 steel wool to clean and polish the arbor .

 

[swathdiver]

Put the gun on half cock and make sure the wedge is pulled out. Spray some oil like PB Blaster or Kroil in the stuck area and wait a bit. Then stick a piece of leather under the rammer and use the loading lever to push the barrel assembly off.

 

[45 Dragoon]

If you're in a hurry or under attack, pull the wedge completely, load and fire!! One chamber should be enough!!! Lol

Think several folks got it . . . . . . (fingers is cheating, he's done this before).


Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram

 

[LonesomePigeon]

Another way is, after removing the wedge stick a wooden dowel down the bore(make sure the dowel lands on the cylinder face between the cylinder chambers and not inside a chamber) and tap the dowel with a rubber mallet. Do it over something soft like a bed, couch, folded towel, panda bear, etc.

That is what I had to do and it turned out it was because the two little frame pins were set out of allignment with the two little holes in the barrel assembly. This was with a brand new Uberti Walker from Cabela's.

If it turns out the frame pins on yours are set wrong I would try to return the gun. If it's just because the arbor is too fat you can probably just sand it down yourself(go slow, be patient and check for fit often). 800 grit is what I have used for this purpose and it seemed to work fine.

 

[delrom418]

find a third hand and tap the side of the barrel lug with a plastic faced hammer while putting pressure on the loading lever. Once you get it apart, use a little gun oil and 0000 steel wool to clean and polish the arbor .

+1, Mine had a "fat" arbor too and I had a heck of a time getting the barrel off. After attending to the arbor it works fine now.

 

[jimeast]

The wooden dowel worked like a charm! Thanks for the suggestion. The pins seem tight but OK.

 

[alexander45]

I just bought one and had the same problem the uberti assembly gorillas got that thing on there good but after a half hour of yanking on it with my hands it popped off and now goes on and off just fine no tools needed, I still can't figure out how it wasn't budging a single thousands of a inch then pooped off and no more problems

 

[jimeast]

Colt Walker Update

I took the Walker apart to clean all the oil/grease from manufacture and shipping. I polished the arbor a little with 800 grit sandpaper (just where it fits the barrel). As I got it back together, the arbor is still tight and it's easy to force it on too far with the wedge and jam the action and cylinder.

I'm planning on extending the arbor (I have an article somewhere in my favorites) and see if I can get the fit exact after I shoot it a bit so the arbor/barrel fit and wedge will not jamb when assembled.

I'm also plan to pick up a few small ceramic stones and see if I can smooth a few areas where parts are moving against each other.

It's a really nice revolver and I can see having lots of fun with it.

 

[45 Dragoon]

I would suggest using steel shims (in the form of washers, use epoxy to keep them there) to bring up the bottom of the too long hole. This will leave the possibility of a future barrel swap (if you wanted a short barrel for instance). In your scenario, the arbor would almost surely not fit. If you "fit " the barrel to the arbor, you can have as many as you want (and fitted perfectly!!).
I would also suggest "fixing" the problem before shooting the Walker. You're not breaking it in, just breaking it. Taking it apart and putting back together will be the best "fitting" of the two assys. (Barrel assy and the main assy).

You might consider files instead of stones, stones change shape with every pass, files won't. You've already mentioned sand paper. You can do many things with 320 grit paper on a flat surface (I use a 1/4" sheet of glass with different papers on it).
The Jerry Kuhnhausen book " The Colt S.A. Revolvers " will be a great place to learn how to set up a S.A. (even our opentops which is mostly what I work on).

You said your Walker is a nice one, this will make it MUCH nicer and keep another one from beating itself to an early junk pile! Thank you.

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

 

[jimeast]

Adjusting Arbor Length

Using shims is a great idea. The article I have suggests drilling a hole in the arbor and gluing in a button of some type that is machined down to fit. Your suggestion excludes any machining and allows tweaking without potentially removing too much material and starting over.

From my first attempt to get the barrel back on, my suspicion is the tolerance on this needs to be pretty accurate, I think I can get this within .002 or .003, maybe .001 with some trial and error with the shims. I found .002 thick shims pretty quickly, hopefully I can find appropriate thicknesses in an acceptable OD. Comparatively this will be an expensive solution, but makes a lot of sense

 

[45 Dragoon]

You will find it will take a couple of washers before you get to the "fine tuning" of the barrel/cylinder clearance. The ability of the wedge to cause lockdown will be the key. Most of the time, you will run out of room for the wedge (wedge bottoms out) and the easiest/best thing to do is the install a 1/4" set screw in the end of the arbor (where you were going to put the button). This will give you an adjustable bearing for the wedge and will allow your wedge to remain in service as long as the revolver lasts.

Mike
Awww.goonsgunworks. com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

 

[44 Dave]

If you can come up with aircraft washers, with out going through Home Land Security, They come in different thicknesses. I am lucky enough to have acquired some from aircraft home builder friends so that I didn't have to try to grind a hardware store washer to 1/2 thickness.

 

[45 Dragoon]

When you get close , you can use feeler gauge leafs to cut up. If you're a few thousandths long (arbor) you can dress the end of the arbor a few thou. to achieve the desired bbl/cyl clearance.
I use a couple of old cylinders as dressing fixtures so I can stand the arbor in it (while on the sand paper and glass sheet) which keeps it square and dress the arbor until I'm happy!!

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks

 

[LonesomePigeon]

What kind of epoxy would be used to set the shims in the bottom of the arbor hole? Would JB Weld work?

 

[45 Dragoon]

Yes.


Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks