My Walker...

[White Walker]

Here are the only three photo's that I have left of the last Walker I put together from a Uberti kit and a Palmeto cylinder, which I liked because of its truer to original profile. Notice the pressure ridge on the cylinder? I reshaped just about every edge and surface of the revolver with file and emery to match the many close up photo's of original Walkers that are available on line. This Walker was created to look like a Civilian Walker. I had to use a file and reshape the cylinder cams of the Palmeto cylinder to work on the Uberti. Notice the reshaping of the loading lever around the toggle hinge. Some of the first Walkers produced by Whitney had this shape. Later production omitted this feature. Wish that I still had this one. I've made three so far. This last one was made over 20 years ago. I think that I'll try to make an identical pair of them soon. Just love them Colt Walkers! Oh, I had to correct the timing myself, which isn't difficult. I re profiled the hammer, altered the back strap, trigger, etc. I guess I put in about 80 hours into this Walker. I even added metal in a specific area to conform to an original walker. Almost too many alterations to mention that I made on it to conform as close as possible to the contours of an original Walker. It was fun though.

 

[snidervolley]

beautiful work whitewalker

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

Nice work. I particularly like that pressure rídge work. I have always heard that the Palmetto and ASM cylinders were closest to the originals, plus some ASMs had Colt barrel roll stamps, which adds to the impression.

 

[White Walker]

Thanks Snidervolley.

Thanks elhombreconnonhombre. Yes, I've noticed too how the Armi San Marco cylinders have the right contours on the shoulders and the rounder cylinder bolt holes. The ASM trigger guards have more of a correct non bevel to their edges too as well as a thicker trigger guard. The Uberti Walkers have a correct German silver or Nickel front sight. The underside of all Italian rammers have a slot through them that is too long. This I filled in some with weld and shaped internally to resemble an original. I slightly shortened the grip strap and then bent the back strap to a more acute angle with the bottom strap after I took some excess metal off of the inside corner to resemble the bent strap look of the originals. Pretty much reshaped every surface and edge where it was needed, and that was everywhere, including on the trigger and hammer. That walker was fun to walk into a big gun show with. Before I'd explain that it was created by me, It would get the pulses of several people (folks who'd never seen a real one) who would think that a real one had just come out of the attic. Fun times back then.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Yap! That's a great looking Walker White Walker!!
Devil's in the details!!! ('bout 80 hrs. worth !!!)

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com

 

[PainlessWolf]

You have done an amazing job and it shows in this beautiful Revolver, capital 'R'. ;o) It and you deserve every accolade. A Walker is definitely in my future. I favor big revolvers and the Walker is the progenitor of them all.
regards,
Painless

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

WW
I recall a post on another Forum from the past where someone had created their own personal Walker keepsake using a Uberti barrel and ASM or Palmetto cylinder and frame. I have since lost that URL reference. That would not perhaps have been you?

What did you do to wear down the cylinder roll marks? Did you fill in and restamp the sn on the cylinder, frame and grip also?

 

[White Walker]

Thank you for the Very generous compliments Painless! Heck, you've kindled a need to go make more now...! That can only be a Good thing.
Yep, with the Slim Jim grips, those Walkers feel good in the hand and their greater weight feels reassuring. A deadly, efficient and elegant weapon!

 

[White Walker]

Hombre, that might've been me.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

Yeah, that post covered how the ASM chambers were undersize in relation to the ASM barrel bore jand that combining the ASM cylinder with the Uberti barrel/lug made for a more accurate shooter, etc. Do you recall where that was posted...perhaps here or over on the coltforum.com?

 

[White Walker]

Hmmm...I don't think I ever touched upon that subject, so Ill bet that it wasn't me that posted it then.
However, I wouldn't install such a cylinder with undersized chambers. I enlarged the opening of each of my chambers to allow an oversized ball to go in, make a good seal and then to be able to fill the bore's grooves completely on the way out the barrel without leaving a gap for the gas to bypass the bullet. THAT makes for a more accurate revolver in my opinion

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

Well I will keep on looking for it and repost it here when I do .

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

A fine example of Craftsmanship and attention to detail. Well Done Sir.

 

[bannockburn]

White Walker

I would definitely be one to tell you that Walker be carried around at a gun show, well it most certainly would get my attention too! Great job of making that Walker come alive again into something that could easily pass for an original one from Samuel Colt.

 

[White Walker]

Thank you Shanghai!
Thank you Bannockburn!
Thank you Mike!
Wow, now I'm Really inspired to make a couple more!

 

[zampilot]

Nice work! How did you get that finish?

 

[White Walker]

Well the metal was in the white to begin with because it was in a kit form when I got it. I of course had to reshape everything which meant that all surfaces were carefully filed and stoned to create a smooth finished surface. The Palmetto cylinder originally came blued and so knowing that all original Walkers had cylinders that were In The White, I first dissolved the bluing on it with Rust Stain Remover that one can find in any laundry isle in a store. It is in a copper colored plastic bottle. This stuff will also remove any and all color case hardening and leave a weathered appearance to all metal. It is an acid. Don't forget. Wipe the solution onto the blued steel with a cue tip or cotton ball, let it sit a few seconds and then wash it off again with water. Buff down with #0000 steel wool. This stuff is actually some type of corrosive acid and if you don't wear thick rubber gloves to protect your hands, the stuff will soak into your skin and will cause severe nerve damage and extreme pain in your finger tips. Very much like having all of your finger tips smashed with a ten pound sledge hammer. It will hurt for days with every beat of your heart. Believe me on this, I know. I then created the Pressure Ridge on it that all original Walkers originally had and then wore it and the rolled engraving down a bit (actually they're not rolled any more). Having reshaped all edges and surfaces and after opening up and correctly reshaping the loading port to accept an actual conical bullet, I washed each piece with hot soapy water followed by a hot rinse. The metal being hot, I then quickly applied a solution of Cold Blue to the steel. Again, use gloves as your skin will absorb this and it isn't good for you. I took the blued parts and rinsed them in Cold water to lock in the blue to the steel a bit and followed this up with an application of oil with a soft cloth. WD40 is great at this stage instead of oil because it will also displace the water still clinging to the metal. By the way, WD40 stands for Water Displacement that the researchers finally got right on their 40th try. Gently wipe down the oiled surface and a bit of blue will come off too which is great. The remaining blue will have a worn aged look to it. This appearance can be modified to whatever degree one wants. I made my own small Whitneyville sized number stamps ( 1/32" or so tall) and applied them to the areas that an original Civilian Walker would have.
Metal, like clay or wood, can be easily worked. Hope this helps!

Fred

 

[swathdiver]

If memory serves, ASM was the first to make the Walker repros and altered them purposely in certain places from the originals to deter thieves.

My ASM walker has .448 chambers and a .447 groove diameter and shoots quite accurately with 50 grains of 2F powder. The loading lever has NEVER dropped either.

They sure are fun to shoot and put smiles on all those around.

 

[White Walker]

Yes swathdiver, it appears that each company that puts out the Walker has deviated from the original design a bit in some areas to avoid making their product too accurate. I just can't imagine though that anyone knowledgeable on the subject could be fooled by any reproduction. There are just too many references around of what an original Walker should look like, inside and out. You'd think that a person who had the 100,000 to 200,000 dollars to throw down on an original would also have the knowledge and ability to know what in the heck they were buying. None of the three Walkers that I've made up could ever fool any Walker collector for a moment. Mine are just made to appear original from afar to the casual observer, which was only me for the most part.
There was some well known fellow who once made up some Walkers really well that are sought after by collectors. He's famous for his Walkers. One thing that he left out caught my eye though. The top barrel address on his pistols didn't have a - stamped between the words NEW YORK, as in NEW-YORK. They also didn't have a pressure ridge on the cylinders. Other than that, his Walkers look like mint revolvers right out of the Whitneyville arms factory. I've seen one of these for sale long ago for just a few thousand dollars. It was a collectable work of art and sold as such.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

WW
Were the Walkers you refer to made byTom Haas and Sr. Acevedo. I saw one at a Cabelas Gun Library. It was a work of art. I think all of the 30 or so Walkers they made were stamped as C Co. Walkers AFAIK.

 

[White Walker]

Yes, he's the guy! The one that I saw was beautiful. If I was a Gazillionaire, I would've bought it and added the two missing features to it. Then again...if I were a Gazillionaire, I guess I'd be buying every decent original Walker I could get my hands on until my wife told me to stop.
Do you remember what that Walker you saw finally went for?

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

As recall they were asking $3500.

 

[White Walker]

Thanks.

 

[elhombreconnonombre]

I had read that a few of the Haas/Acevedo Walkers had been presented by their owners at the 2003 Parade of Walkers and had been rejected by the panel of experts as being genuine items. I have not been able to determine which manufacturers these revolvers were based upon and when these were made.

 

[White Walker]

Holy Smoke, you mean that these Walker replicas were trying to be passed off as original Walkers by their owners? Very stupid and very crooked if they did.