Ah, ok. Never seen them. And Palmetto is a manufacturer. They were known for their replica of the Whitneyville, Spiller and the Colt side hammer.
The early ASM Walker had tiny flat head trigger/bolt and hammer screws.
Dropped Dragoon?
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The early ASM Walker had tiny flat head trigger/bolt and hammer screws.
Looks like they were trying to make a blunderbuss barrel
My ancient ASM 3rd Dragoon has no barrel crown. They square cut he muzzle and de-burred the edges. Most Colt C&B revolvers were finished like this with a near flat crown instead of the more modern radiused contour. From the picture the barrel looks parallel to the loading lever, an indication that it came through the beating relatively straight. Peering down the bore at the chambers should indicate straightness. I doubt the bore is damaged too far away from the muzzle. You could check this with a plug gauge or any bore sized rod. The edge flares on the muzzle could be removed several ways; filing, saw cutting, or machining in a lathe. How does it shoot? Unless it was spraying lead everywhere it would be tempting to leave it alone and enjoy its battle scars as medals.
IF it was mine I would unscrew the barrel and put it in my lathe and remove about 5/16" to 3/8" of the end then recrown it. The barrel looks like it could use a re-blue also so this is why I suggested my "fix". Since the barrel is in need of rework I would say that the whole gun needs to be reworked also. If you don't have the machinery to do the work find someone that could.
You could try shooting it but I would not until I corrected the issue first.
You could try shooting it but I would not until I corrected the issue first.
Hate to break it to ya, you ain't unscrewing any thing on that barrel. It's all one piece. It could be mounted in a 4 jaw chuck and centered up but would need additional support from a steady rest or something similar. My question would be why was it being beat with a hammer to begin with. All the other issues need to be addressed as well before much shooting happens. And yes I have the stuff to do it.IF it was mine I would unscrew the barrel and put it in my lathe and remove about 5/16" to 3/8" of the end then recrown it. The barrel looks like it could use a re-blue also so this is why I suggested my "fix". Since the barrel is in need of rework I would say that the whole gun needs to be reworked also. If you don't have the machinery to do the work find someone that could.
You could try shooting it but I would not until I corrected the issue first.
According to the OP the gun is from an auction and I doubt it will be telling its story, and no matter why, how or what happened, it doesn’t change what I would be doing. People do stupid stuff to guns and other things all the time.
As I suggested in an earlier post, I would start by using some precision gauge pins to check the bore and understand how deep the damage goes. Pretty difficult to smack a muzzle around like that and only damage/flare the OD without distorting the bore. That reference point in the bore would be my minimum haircut line, once the bore damage was removed, I would then move on to cleaning up the OD and re-crowning, moving the front sight back as/if necessary. But it’s not my gun and it’s up to the OP to decide what they want to do. ‘Probably’ not dangerous to shoot roundballs and standard powder charges, but who knows where or how consistent the POI will be.
CaptainKirk
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Depending on how far back the damage goes...
If it goes past the loading lever catch, you could always shorten the barrel and the loading lever and re-cut the dovetail for the LL latch. Or simply remove the LL and do an "unmentionable" conversion. I've seen plenty of Walkers done up that way.
If it goes past the loading lever catch, you could always shorten the barrel and the loading lever and re-cut the dovetail for the LL latch. Or simply remove the LL and do an "unmentionable" conversion. I've seen plenty of Walkers done up that way.
Was able to remove the barrel as normal. Unsure what caused somebody to ever hammer on. Maybe they thought that's how you get the barrel to come off the frame?
Everything seems to line up fine. Gotta get new batteries for my caliper and take measurements.
Thanks everybody for the points of advice! I'll update y'all on this project as I move forward with it.
D Yager has the right approach. But then he clearly is a gun smith on these guns. That kind of force would damage other parts and it might best be a wall hangar, get a Pietta to shoot. Ie, how much is it worth to get a beat up horrible finish replica safe to shoot?
What it took to mushroom the end is NOT a fall on a rock. I knew a guy was was going to take a grease gun to knock loose a pintle hitch. That kind of stupid is scary and that gun would scare the tar out of me.
What it took to mushroom the end is NOT a fall on a rock. I knew a guy was was going to take a grease gun to knock loose a pintle hitch. That kind of stupid is scary and that gun would scare the tar out of me.
@D Yager:
I was not implying you were. I am! You know what you are doing and how to assess. Stuff I would miss.
But that much damage to the end of a gun would have me send it to you or 45D or more likely a wall hangar. New replica's are low cost enough, better to send you something pretty good to start with and put the money into the fun stuff!
I was not implying you were. I am! You know what you are doing and how to assess. Stuff I would miss.
But that much damage to the end of a gun would have me send it to you or 45D or more likely a wall hangar. New replica's are low cost enough, better to send you something pretty good to start with and put the money into the fun stuff!
Nope, That's not normal at all, never seen anything quite like it. It may be salvaged by cutting a forcing cone and getting rid of a lot of that big gap. Most Walkers and Dragoons have a small chamfer instead of a proper forcing cone. This one is looking more and more like a wall hanger.
That notch looks deliberate. Maybe they were experimenting. That looks like the flash will follow the least path of resistance. Like diverting it? For why I have no idea.
By the way a Walker cylinder will work. The forcing cone can be machined to accommodate it. I seen it done. There's a guy who does it. I have a buddy that used a file to do it.
But the cost to do it is another factor. A do it yourself and all you will need is a Walker cylinder. I seen em come and go on ebay. And you might have to use the Walker bolt. Unless you have the 1st model. It has the oval notches. The bolt is the same. My 1st model cylinder works in my 2nd and 3rd models and they have the rectangular notches.
What's the condition of the cylinder. And of course the rest of the revolver.
By the way a Walker cylinder will work. The forcing cone can be machined to accommodate it. I seen it done. There's a guy who does it. I have a buddy that used a file to do it.
But the cost to do it is another factor. A do it yourself and all you will need is a Walker cylinder. I seen em come and go on ebay. And you might have to use the Walker bolt. Unless you have the 1st model. It has the oval notches. The bolt is the same. My 1st model cylinder works in my 2nd and 3rd models and they have the rectangular notches.
What's the condition of the cylinder. And of course the rest of the revolver.
My challenge days are over (well so I hoped). If something just goes right these days......
There are some guns you sorely wish could tell their story, that one has to be a good one (or horribly depressing so maybe fascinating is better (just went into my Mr. Spock mode)
lo many years ago my folks got a German Shepherd. I suggested Mr. Spock for what was hoped (and came to be) the pointy ears. Or to put it another way, brothers and folks looked askance and then it was (wait for it) he has a point!
The cylinder seems fine aside from minor scratches from use.
In this photo you can see that notch where the breech meets the cylinder.
I still need to give the whole gun a good cleaning.
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Just curious....as I have never owned this type of revolver, but wouldn't that notch divert a flash (burning powder) towards the center of the cylinder where all the other chambers are loaded....waiting to be fired?
I dunno if I would want to be holding that if one of those other cylinders doesn't have a solid no-gap load in it.
I dunno if I would want to be holding that if one of those other cylinders doesn't have a solid no-gap load in it.
