Loading lever clip

[user 30283]

Does anyone know where I can buy a Colt Walker loading lever clip ? Thanks, Mike

 

[necchi]

Dixie Gun Works or VTI

 

[user 30283]

Neither Dixie nor VTI has them.

 

[necchi]

Maybe it's not called a clip? https://www.dixiegunworks.com/inde...+Spring+for+reproduction+Colt+Walker+Revolver

 

[hawkeye2]

Are you looking for a replacement loading lever catch or an aftermarket clip to hold the lever up while shooting?

 

[user 30283]

After market clip

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Cut a finger off of an old pair of leather gloves, then cut the tip off of that finger so the muzzle and loading lever will slip through. Costs nothing and looks more period than any modern widget that probably won't work for you anyways.

 

[azmntman]

:hmm: ........ :hatsoff:

 

[user 30283]

SUPER GREAT idea !! Thanks !!

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Glad I could help.

I bet if Cutfingers started making some leather sleeves that fit nicely and used a thin enough stock of leather to not obscure the sights too badly that they would sell like hotcakes. :hmm:

 

[Gene L]

Back in the day, I've read somewhere, they used to tie a strip around the barrel/lever.

 

[drobs]

Here you go: https://www.shapeways.com/product/4PQXFU8EB/colt-walker-clip

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Yeah, I've heard they wrapped a strip of leather or rawhide around the barrel and lever but I don't have any information to verify or deny the claim. I also heard that the Texas Rangers (?) who were initially issued the Walker carried multiple cylinders preloaded in a pouch and would knock the wedge loose on their saddle to perform reloads in battle so that once everything was prepared ahead of time there was no need for the loading lever and they could tie it down?

I've also heard that it was short lived, tended to blow up, and the fit was exceptionally better on originals which made the loading lever either not a problem or the least of them?

 

[Zonie]

The loading lever problem was identified early in the use of the Walker and a redesign was quickly coming.

Although all of the original Walker's used the hanging spring method of keeping the loading lever up, there was a second version of the pistol which is now called the "Colt Whitneyville Hartford Dragoon".

This version was made in late 1847 and it had several differences.
The grip/frame area was changed, the cylinder was slightly shorter and the loading lever had a spring loaded latch on the front of it which mated with a corresponding lug hanging off of the bottom of the barrel, much like the later Colt pistols.

I think Flayderman, author of :Flayderman's Guide..." must have never fired a Walker or a modern Walker reproduction.

He talks about the grip and cylinder but makes no mention of the loading lever latch even though the two Whitneyville Hartford Dragoons shown in the "Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms...and their values" both have the revised loading lever.

Had he ever fired a Walker, that new latch would have been one of the first things he mentioned. :rotf:

There were only about 240 of these Whitneyville Hartford Dragoons made so they are rarer than the Walker. If you find a nice one, expect to pay well over $60,000.00 for it. :grin:

 

[hawkeye2]

Even if not used for reloading the lever would have to be used to jack the barrel off the arbor specially if the gun had been fired.

There is little or no documentation of extra cylinders being sold, issued or carried for any of the Colt arms (except the revolving long arms). I believe most of that came from Clint Eastwood movies.

 

[drobs]

Obi-wan,

The Colt Paterson Revolver (used by Texas Rangers) was the only percussion revolver issued with multiple cylinders.

The loading lever on the Walker ended the need for multiple cylinders.

Changing out cylinders, historically, outside of the Paterson is modern Hollywood creation.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

I'm not so sure it was entirely Hollywood, I'm not in a position to debate it with you or drobs because you guys are probably more read up on it than myself, but this article sites a number of historians who back up the spare cylinder lore as well as providing a picture of a fancy boxed pair of 1858's with extra cylinders:
https://truewestmagazine.com/got-a-spare/

I just found the article a minute ago out of curiosity so it wasn't a "gotcha moment" that I've been saving up but it is amusing in that it proves the old black powder law that as soon as somebody says they never did or had this that a picture or book shows up that says otherwise.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

They used em just like we use clips today. Maybe not as common but it was certainly done, just like how the Preacher did.

 

[drobs]

Those look to be cartridge conversion cylinders in the true west article. Note the lack of the cutout where the nipples would be.

 

[SAJones]

Decades ago I read that the addition of a loading lever latch, as on the later models of Colts, was not unknown at the time. So I put one on my San Marco Walker, and it solved the dropping lever problem. Kept my 3rd Gen Colt Walker as is, but use a string to tie up the lever.