Keeping Walker cylinder turning freely

[D Yager]

On these pistols we are so fond of I find several things that contribute to accuracy. A good even crown is absolutely critical, if there is any dings or other damage it ain't gonna shoot accurately. Having the arbor bedded properly on the open tops, same gun each time it's put together, a good smooth forcing cone, consistent loading procedure, no rings cut from the projectile, I have my revolver chambers chamfered so the ball is compressed into the chambers. No weight is removed during loading.If all this isn't enough the most important thing is PRACTICE. Get to know what the gun is capable of and what the shooter is capable of.

 

[Smokerr]

Do you reshape the ram interior to avoid the rings? I need to look at that as I do get the rings.

Have to see what I have for a chamfering tool.

The ASP NMA my wife gave me has tapered or chamfered chambers. Quite nice. No lead shaving but I checked the balls by driving them out and a nice band on them.

 

[D Yager]

I ream the chamber openings with a tapered reamer down to about 1/4 inch.

 

[M. De Land]

I ream the chamber openings with a tapered reamer down to about 1/4 inch.

You want to stay out of the rebated chamber bases for sure with your reamers. The steel over the bolt notches is thin enough already.

 

[M. De Land]

On these pistols we are so fond of I find several things that contribute to accuracy. A good even crown is absolutely critical, if there is any dings or other damage it ain't gonna shoot accurately. Having the arbor bedded properly on the open tops, same gun each time it's put together, a good smooth forcing cone, consistent loading procedure, no rings cut from the projectile, I have my revolver chambers chamfered so the ball is compressed into the chambers. No weight is removed during loading.If all this isn't enough the most important thing is PRACTICE. Get to know what the gun is capable of and what the shooter is capable of.

Which balls and bullets do you suppose are of the most consistent weight, the ones with the cut lead ring or the ones you swage in the chamber mouths ? It might be insightful to check weigh and cross mic them for comparisons sake before and after.
I don't care for excessive chamber mouth shamfer because it encourages gas escapement in the cylinder gap.

 

[Smokerr]

As we are experiencing nutty weather, 40 deg area, I got down to the range for an extended shooting session with the 47 Walker and the ROA. I had quite a bit of unmentionable ammo loaded up.

With the single shim the 47 Walker had great repeatability and one group at 1 7/8. I don't get excited about one small group, they don't usually r3peat but 2.5 - 3 inch groups were nice. 25 yards.

As expected, fixing the short arbor translates into more accurate shooting. I had one pre loaded BP cylinder with a Measured 50 of Goex 4F powder. Phew, I took a look down the barrel and it was like a sewer. I got the cleaning stuff out (carry it in the gun box) and eliminated it . I got one other cylinder shot and one ROA BP and then the rain started. I don't mind shooting in a drizzle but the target paper was falling apart and the tap was not sticking.

Otherwise I would have some more BP shooting. Wind was strong all day but not blowing targets over so that was not an issue.

 

[D Yager]

Which balls and bullets do you suppose are of the most consistent weight, the ones with the cut lead ring or the ones you swage in the chamber mouths ? It might be insightful to check weigh and cross mic them for comparisons sake before and after.
I don't care for excessive chamber mouth shamfer because it encourages gas escapement in the cylinder gap.

Definitely the swaged balls as they are not losing material upon loading. So what is your argument for wanting to cut up your projectiles? With a .002 gap how much gas are you gonna lose, not much. My findings with commercially available round balls is the weight is not consistent with differences as much as 5 grns, diameters were pretty consistent. So why shave lead off when weights are already not consistent? Plus and this is my biggest beef about little lead rings is during the loading process those little rings can and do get hung up between the barrel and cylinder jamming up the works. So my revolvers don't shave lead. I offer chamfering the chamber mouths to my customers as an option. Some like it others do not.

 

[M. De Land]

Definitely the swaged balls as they are not losing material upon loading. So what is your argument for wanting to cut up your projectiles? With a .002 gap how much gas are you gonna lose, not much. My findings with commercially available round balls is the weight is not consistent with differences as much as 5 grns, diameters were pretty consistent. So why shave lead off when weights are already not consistent? Plus and this is my biggest beef about little lead rings is during the loading process those little rings can and do get hung up between the barrel and cylinder jamming up the works. So my revolvers don't shave lead. I offer chamfering the chamber mouths to my customers as an option. Some like it others do not.

I was asking you a question in the hope you might actually have some provable data of your speculations. I've not compared which is the most uniform of weight after seating and would like to know as that would arguably have the most effect on group uniformity and accuracy all else being equal.