Blasting with the Walker

[Peter M. Eick]

Shot a 108 rounds out of my Walker yesterday. I figured I would pass on a few observations.

1) I could get around 4 to 5 cylinders before it bound up pretty good with pyrodex. I had to break it down and relube then it was fine.

2) Tried (for grins) grease for the cylinder axle instead of some organic lube. Bad mistake. Pyrodex and axle grease is a bad mess.

3) Accuracy is good with speer .454's but with Hornady's it is better.

4) Lubed wads (wonder wads) are a lot nicer and cleaner then cards and lube at the range.

5) Priming is much easier from the top then from the side.

6) 60 grns of pyrodex seems to rumble on the range. It raised eyebrows with every round.

7) Just taking it easy I could get off 18 to 24 shots every 30 minutes.

8) It was a lot of fun!

Take care and keep blasting!

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

6) 60 grns of pyrodex seems to rumble on the range. It raised eyebrows with every round.

Take care and keep blasting!

I don't want to sound bossy, or deem you as unsafe, and it is YOUR gun. I hope you receive my comments in the spirit of friendship that it was intended.

60gr of Pyrodex is a VERY potent dose of propellant. While the Walker is a strong gun and originally meant to take a full chamber of powder with the ball just being able to be seated--I find that the gun will last MUCH longer if I back off to around 45 to 50gr of Black Powder. It's not that I refuse to shoot Pyrodex in a cap-n-ball gun, but I am more cautious about continuous use of full powder loads with it.

I looasened up a Navy Arms Walker about some 22yrs ago with shooting full up every shot (FFFg Black Powder was the propellant at the time). So a gun can wear out to the point of being unsafe. The gunsmith I took it to couldn't not fix the looseness, so I basically overshot my gun's life away (It was fun though!) I just want you to be able to enjoy your Walker for a very long time and not have any unfortunate issues from the "full house loads".

Regards, and have fun shooting that big gun safely!
WV_Hillbilly

 

[mec]

Those are useful observations. I've found mine binds up very quicly because of fouling on the arbor and the bottom of the frame just under the front of the cylinder. I'm going to try loading the arbor with more bore butter, crisco or similar.

Dixie has this bullet mould that cases the original picket ball. it doesn't look like an accurate revolver bullet but it is. I deep coned the walker seating stem and with a little bit of wiggling around can get them started straight in the chambers. The pedersoli replica flask throws .45 grains/and equivalent at full extension of the powder chamber. This combination is a full load.

The velocities would be lower with goex or any other black powder. I've been finding that 65-90 year old black powder generally produces 50 fps less velocity than goex in several different (lighter than walker ) loads. Dont know if powder deterioration is a factor but suspect that it is a minor one next to variations in production and purity of components.

 

[willtill]

5) Priming is much easier from the top then from the side.

You know, come to think about that, you're right! I will try to prime my Walker from the top next time that I take it out. Plus, if the cap did indeed go off while priming, at least the cylinder is aligned with the bore.

Thanks for the observation.

\
Kindest Regards,

-Will in Maryland

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Thanks for the advice. I sort of figure if I shoot this one apart then I will deserve another. Right now it is just fun to blast with and at the rate I get to shoot it, it will take my years to get a few thousand rounds off.

Considering how cheap they are (when compared to my pre-war S&W N frame collection) I kind of view my Uberti as sacrificable. I can always just buy another one if I wear this one out.

Just the thought of wearing it out brings a smile to my face.

 

[mikelange]

Another piece of friendly advice, not intended to sound critical or superior....

Though it probably had more to do with the iffy heat treating of the original guns, and perhaps the uneven quality of the gunpowder, than with the actual amount of propellant, it might be worth remembering that (quoting from memory, here, so I might be off in my numbers) between 5 and 10 percent of the original Walkers "failed" (by which I assume Flayderman's means blew up) in service. Being as how this was the first truly big-bore revolver in somewhat common use, it could be that those 3" long holes in the cylinder actually held a tad bit more powder than is safe for the amount of steel surrounding them. Colt scaled back the length of the cylinders on the Dragoons that were the Walker's successors, and maybe not entirely due to the weight of the guns. Your modern replica is made of better steel than the originals, of course, but....

Your Uberti is replacable. Not so the hand holding it or the person attached to the hand.

 

[mec]

The modern ones blow up occasionally but according to a very experienced living history authority- Only When Somebody Loads Them With Smokeless Powder.
According to Lt Col. Robert Whitting III, The Colt Whitneyville-Walker Pistol, the frequently repeated legend that 300 of the pistols burst in service was based on a couple of things. About that many revolvers did not pass inspection before they were Ever delivered to the USMR. They were repaired in factory and then issued. A certain number did blow up and Adj John S. Ford who was on the spot said that they almost invariable blew up when soldiers loaded the picket bullets Point First into the chambers. Chain fires may also have blown some of the cylinders.

At the end of the conflict some revolvers were turned in unserviceable. Causes included damaged barrels, burst cylinders and other use-related issues.
According to Whitting, the number of burst cylinders was much smaller than generally supposed.

 

[mikelange]

Thanks for the info. I was quoting (well, paraphrasing) Flayderman's. I have no doubt that some of the info in his book is incorrect, as is the case with almost any reference work attempting to cover the amount of ground he does.

 

[mec]

.."as is the case with almost any reference work attempting to cover the amount of ground he does.
"

He ain't alone. It is just about impossible to pin down the "TRUTH" about any of this percussion revolver lore. The Hickock-Tutt duel was out in several different versions before Tutt achieved room temperature.We still don't know if Tutt was croaked with a 51 navy, a Dragoon or a 60 army or which gun Hickock really had when he was killed in Deadwood. Collectors made up a bunch of stuff that is still out there. The 49 pocket model and the 51 navy both came out in 1850 but it's to late to change things now. The 1853 Pocket Navy actually came out in 1861-62 and people have pretty much figured that one out.
The 300 blown up Walkers is still the most commonly seen version will probably remain so.

 

[ichabod]

I had read somewhere, that one of the reasons for blown cylinders back then on the Walkers, was because: There were still a lot of flintlocks in use everywhere at that early stage-and some very bright individuals in the mounted companies figured they could get more power with the 4ffff priming (pan) powder in abundance.
At full loads, with the iron cylinders, this could blow them occasionally.
Or, just my guess also. Can't remember where I read it though.