Uberti Walker Load

[John L Venable]

Hi Fellow BP's,

Just pick up an Uberti Walker, reading the enclosed Instructions it recommends a 30 gr Load. Reading the Forums I see people saying up to 60 Gr, average around 45-50. I'll be using Goex 3f... can I get some feedback from some of you?

Thanks in advance.

John

 

[rodwha]

They were designed to hold up to about 60 grns with a ball and something like 50 grns with the Pickett style conical. Typically a max charge isn't nearly as accurate and so you'll find those reduced loads used.

One fellow who hunts hogs with his uses 66 grns of 2F Triple 7. His reasoning was that 2F reduced the pressures of his max load (T7 is more compressible than BP).

You'll likely have the loading lever drop consistently with heavier (~50 grns +) loads. Many people have found filing the lever spring to work for them. Traditionally a length of leather cord was tied around it and the barrel.

What do you intend to shoot from it? And is this just a range toy or a hunting arm?

 

[whughett]

My routine paper punching load, with the Walker is a 40 grain load under a home cut lubed wad and a .454 round ball. (actual 39.8 with the Lee 2.5 cc dipper) When I got the Walker back from Goons I experimented with loads from 30 to 60 grains. The 40 grain load gave me acceptable accuracy and the flash, boom and recoil I'm looking for in a black powder cap gun. The photo is a mere 50 feet , so the group would be considerably larger at 25 yards. The POI is the center of the group.
The Walker is heavy so the further into a shooting session the bigger the group gets. That weight does help with sighting, the front sight just hangs on the target.

BTW. Not sure what Mike does to the lever latch but dropping lever is a thing of the past. Even with the 60 grain charge the lever doesn't drop.

 

[rodwha]

My routine paper punching load, with the Walker is a 40 grain load under a home cut lubed wad and a .454 round ball. (actual 39.8 with the Lee 2.5 cc dipper) When I got the Walker back from Goons I experimented with loads from 30 to 60 grains. The 40 grain load gave me acceptable accuracy and the flash, boom and recoil I'm looking for in a black powder cap gun. The photo is a mere 50 feet , so the group would be considerably larger at 25 yards. The POI is the center of the group.
The Walker is heavy so the further into a shooting session the bigger the group gets. That weight does help with sighting, the front sight just hangs on the target.

BTW. Not sure what Mike does to the lever latch but dropping lever is a thing of the past. Even with the 60 grain charge the lever doesn't drop.

Your statement makes it sound as though this isn't the most accurate load. What is it? And what powder do you use?

 

[Starter52]

40 grains of FFFg , a wonder wad, then a swaged round ball. 40 grains is as heavy as I like to go. Works for me.

 

[Franky50]

I am using 50 grains of FFFg at the moment. I bought it only two months ago and I made paper cartridges. When I finish them I will try the 40 grains load plus semolina. The ball is .454.

By the way, there is an excellent thread here about the Walker but it does not address a drawback I have with my Uberti loaded with 50gr. I cannot shot more than two cylinders without cleaning it. So I bring there a little bottle of water only for the cylinder. It gets so dusty that it cannot rotate as it should. I am curious about your experience with it.

Have you unassembled it already? Mine was and still is very hard to. As I did not want to use its own press against the cylinder I used a piece of wood as a wedge. Enjoy it!

 

[robhof]

I have personally tested the 60 gr load over snow and found unburned powder in the snow, signs that you're wasting powder at 60, as said by others; the most accurate loads will be less, between 36gr and 44 gr., but you will have to experiment as no 2 are exactly alike. I have many B/p pistols and rifles and I've range tested each till I get the best accuracy and all are different, even 2 that are the same caliber and the same maker!

 

[whughett]

My routine paper punching load, with the Walker is a 40 grain load under a home cut lubed wad and a .454 round ball. (actual 39.8 with the Lee 2.5 cc dipper) When I got the Walker back from Goons I experimented with loads from 30 to 60 grains. The 40 grain load gave me acceptable accuracy and the flash, boom and recoil I'm looking for in a black powder cap gun. The photo is a mere 50 feet , so the group would be considerably larger at 25 yards. The POI is the center of the group.
The Walker is heavy so the further into a shooting session the bigger the group gets. That weight does help with sighting, the front sight just hangs on the target.

BTW. Not sure what Mike does to the lever latch but dropping lever is a thing of the past. Even with the 60 grain charge the lever doesn't drop.

All my shooting is done with Graf and Sons 3F powder. If memory serves me I started with the Lee 1.9cc dipper, 30.3 grains 3f and went up thru the 3.70CC dipper, 58.9 grains. Can't honestly say what load did what, the 40 grain just shot and printed well so settled on that. The previous photo was one of those bright August mornings when everything seem to mesh and the rounds seem to find there own way. Believe me when I say not all days are like that and I only photo the better targets.

 

[Crawdad1]

That feller on your target Whughett felt every one of those shots.

Good shooting with that beast of yours!!!

 

[rodwha]

I am using 50 grains of FFFg at the moment. I bought it only two months ago and I made paper cartridges. When I finish them I will try the 40 grains load plus semolina. The ball is .454.

By the way, there is an excellent thread here about the Walker but it does not address a drawback I have with my Uberti loaded with 50gr. I cannot shot more than two cylinders without cleaning it. So I bring there a little bottle of water only for the cylinder. It gets so dusty that it cannot rotate as it should. I am curious about your experience with it.

Have you unassembled it already? Mine was and still is very hard to. As I did not want to use its own press against the cylinder I used a piece of wood as a wedge. Enjoy it!

The way I'm understanding your statement is that after two cylinders of shooting it's binding up or dragging a bit. Many people use some sort of oil or grease on the base pin/arbor. I use Ballistol on my Remington NMA, which are notorious for binding quickly.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Do not confuse maximum load with most accurate load. Know your pistol. Experiment with different amounts of powder. Remember, you're not in a life or death situation and don't need maximum loads. Because I'm cheap, I'd start with 20 grains FF and vary it every five grains. Work yourself up to 60 and see what it groups best under. Then go half (say if it's 30 and 35, see if 32 or 33 grains works better). That's half the fun of black powder.

 

[whughett]

Do not confuse maximum load with most accurate load. Know your pistol. Experiment with different amounts of powder. Remember, you're not in a life or death situation and don't need maximum loads. Because I'm cheap, I'd start with 20 grains FF and vary it every five grains. Work yourself up to 60 and see what it groups best under. Then go half (say if it's 30 and 35, see if 32 or 33 grains works better). That's half the fun of black powder.

Mr. Moderator never would I presume to question your wisdom, but why oh why would one buy A Walker to shoot, or one of the Dragoons, for that matter, only to shoot a miscue load of 20 grains. My tack drivers, for my ability any way are the 36's or even the Rogers and Spencer, Big Cap guns equal boom, thunder, fire, and smoke head turners at the firing line.
All in good fun sir, point taken.

 

[whughett]

That feller on your target Whughett felt every one of those shots.

Good shooting with that beast of yours!!!

Shh, a secret, the more shots on a target the better it looks. If we were scoring five shots I'd still be running Look close you'll see a few lapses in concentration, or pushing a shot.

 

[rodwha]

Mr. Moderator never would I presume to question your wisdom, but why oh why would one buy A Walker to shoot, or one of the Dragoons, for that matter, only to shoot a miscue load of 20 grains. My tack drivers, for my ability any way are the 36's or even the Rogers and Spencer, Big Cap guns equal boom, thunder, fire, and smoke head turners at the firing line.
All in good fun sir, point taken.

My thoughts exactly. It's a part of the allure of having a Walker. Otherwise I'd just use my NMA or ROA.

 

[Franky50]

The way I'm understanding your statement is that after two cylinders of shooting it's binding up or dragging a bit. Many people use some sort of oil or grease on the base pin/arbor. I use Ballistol on my Remington NMA, which are notorious for binding quickly.

Thanks for your reply rodwha. Yes I oil a bit the arbor. I have tried different oils always with the same result. In my case it is related to the amount of dust on the outer part of the cylinder after several shots. The Walker's gap between the cylinder and the frame is a very thin one. Spraying a bit of water there and cleaning the cylinder without unmounting it made the difference for me

Oh, I forgot to add that I expect to shoot three cylinders with lower BP loads!

 

[Franky50]

but why oh why would one buy A Walker to shoot, or one of the Dragoons, for that matter, only to shoot a miscue load of 20 grains.

You summarized very nicely in a few words what is the feeling Walker users are looking for: KABOOOOM!

 

[John L Venable]

They were designed to hold up to about 60 grns with a ball and something like 50 grns with the Pickett style conical. Typically a max charge isn't nearly as accurate and so you'll find those reduced loads used.

One fellow who hunts hogs with his uses 66 grns of 2F Triple 7. His reasoning was that 2F reduced the pressures of his max load (T7 is more compressible than BP).

You'll likely have the loading lever drop consistently with heavier (~50 grns +) loads. Many people have found filing the lever spring to work for them. Traditionally a length of leather cord was tied around it and the barrel.

What do you intend to shoot from it? And is this just a range toy or a hunting arm?

Thanks for that reply.... Strictly a Range Fun Gun and collector piece. I realize that the manufactures will always recommend a lighter load, the Lawyer thing.

 

[Crawdad1]

Check out the group of this Pedersoli Remington with such a light loading of Swiss powder. Most competitive shooters use very light loads for best accuracy out of these revolvers. The last group starts at 11:50. The Remington also has a big chamber and a filler of some sort needs to be used.

 

[drobs]

Open top Uberti Colt's are known to have short arbors. Wonder if the binding after a few cylinders is being caused by that.

Imagine these articles on tuning Uberti's would be beneficial to a Walker:

.http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_1.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_2.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_3.pdf

http://www.theopenrange.net/articles/Tuning_the_Uberti_Open_Top_Revolvers_Part_4.pdf

 

[LonesomePigeon]

Regarding the original question, many people shoot Walker's with more than 30 grains. If the arbor is too short and/or the cylinder gap is too large the gun will beat itself up with heavy loads.

There is one case of a Walker cylinder exploding and another case of the wedge spitting out and allowing the entire barrel assembly to fly off. I think the exploding cylinder involved using a heavy bullet in an old Armi San Marco brand Walker and the flying barrel I suspect was due to a poor fitting and/or deformed wedge.

 

[whughett]

IN relation to arbor binding on the Colts after a few shots. Some may have noticed on guns coming back from Goons, a black grease like substance on the arbors. Recently the color changed to red. Red, the color of Mobile One Synthetic Grease. Not only is the arbor coated, the entire innards of the guns is packed.
I recently ran a one session test with an 1860 Army, with the greased arbor . Eight full cylinders, 48 shots of 30 grain loads, with no lube or lubed wads. Accuracy went to crap after 24 shots, but at the 48th the cylinder still turned, albeit with a bit of thumb and finger assistance.

Disassembly after. The first quarter inch of the arbor was black, crusty and dry, the rest still showed its red color. The grease not only retained its lubricity it resisted the inclusion of smoke and fire residue. The bore of course was pretty well plated with carbon. My go to overall gun lube is Ballistol but the arbors or base pins get a coat of Mobile One.

 

[rodwha]

Regarding the original question, many people shoot Walker's with more than 30 grains. If the arbor is too short and/or the cylinder gap is too large the gun will beat itself up with heavy loads.

There is one case of a Walker cylinder exploding and another case of the wedge spitting out and allowing the entire barrel assembly to fly off. I think the exploding cylinder involved using a heavy bullet in an old Armi San Marco brand Walker and the flying barrel I suspect was due to a poor fitting and/or deformed wedge.

Yes. He used my 285 grn WFN bullet designed for the ROA that has very wide driving hands to increase pressure as this bullet would take up a lot of powder capacity and the Ruger being built as it is can certainly accept those pressures. And he used 52 grns of Pyrodex P. It burst his cylinder.

 

[John L Venable]

They were designed to hold up to about 60 grns with a ball and something like 50 grns with the Pickett style conical. Typically a max charge isn't nearly as accurate and so you'll find those reduced loads used.

One fellow who hunts hogs with his uses 66 grns of 2F Triple 7. His reasoning was that 2F reduced the pressures of his max load (T7 is more compressible than BP).

You'll likely have the loading lever drop consistently with heavier (~50 grns +) loads. Many people have found filing the lever spring to work for them. Traditionally a length of leather cord was tied around it and the barrel.

What do you intend to shoot from it? And is this just a range toy or a hunting arm?

Ahh, Thought I'd replied.... Just a Range gun and Collectible.

 

[John L Venable]

Deleted Post....My Bad, wrong Thread