Refinishing the 1847 Walker and percussion pistols

[Capnball]

I wanted to start my own thread rather than thread crash the poor soul who've I've been thread crashing regarding Walker pistols! I recently picked this Walker up for a crazy deal that included the pictured vintage Meyer holster. Unlike some of the more talented amoung us I'm not capable of making the kind of holster I wanted ( Slim Jim) and then finishing the leather.
I'm posting to get some hands on feedback. I wanted to take down the bluing of the pistol and have the materials for the job. My question is how to go about it. Rather than removing the bluing entirely I'd like to slowly take it down so traces of faded-blue -turned-brown remain in the recesses.
I havewhite vinegar and EvapoRust on hand, as well as some Birchwood Super Blue paste and Plum brown. I don't want to immerse the pistol but rather use a soft cloth to go more slowly, for gradual vs instant results.
Have any of you done this work on percussion pistols ? By all means please post your experiences and pictures in this thread, looking to gain the knowledge!

Seriously, what's not to like there. I'd be very happy to add that to my Josey Wales kit!

 

[Bob McBride]

Nice job. I like em patina’d as my family wouldn’t have riden with Walker to have been issued a newly minted one nor would they have likely to even have known a single person who had even touched a ‘new’ gun from 1780-1980. Third-hand guns and bare feet in my neck of the woods. If the hogs had an extra litter that year the kids got shoes and momma got curtains for the kitchen window.

 

[jonathan butcher]

Thanks Bob and I totally agree with your assessment. Though every farmer, every planter, every woodsman had a long arm of some kind side arms were comparatively uncommon, not immediately sought after and certainly not treated with today's reverence, 'mint' condition etc.
Collecting some of the modern made reproductions allows me to experience at least some small part of what it must've been like. Asthetically, I generally like those arms to be reflective of the average guys' usage, showing handling wear. Who got it 2nd or 3rd hand.

Nice job. I like em patina’d as my family wouldn’t have riden with Walker to have been issued a newly minted one nor would they have likely to even have known a single person who had even touched a ‘new’ gun from 1780-1980. Third-hand guns and bare feet in my neck of the woods. If the hogs had an extra litter that year the kids got shoes and momma got curtains for the kitchen window.

 

[jonathan butcher]

I think I'm pretty close to done on this one. I removed a bit more finish from the grips, then gave them the Tru Oil treatment, 5 coats. I also took down some of the shine on the cylinder. The effect I was going for on the gun is 'muted', not stripped of finish or abused but simply age worn. Here are the results;

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

That looks very nice. I really like the grips. Good job !

 

[MO_E_W]

Looking good. Good job Sir

Maurice

 

[BBGun]

Thank you for the info.

Yes, I forgot to mention the SN has been removed from the frame too, but not the barrel. That doesn't make sense to me.

I shot this one just yesterday. Interestingly, even with the original front sight (as far as I know) it shoots to point of impact at 20 yards. Windage and elevation are dead on, which is not always the case!

I only use 15 grains of BP in this and my brass framed Spiller & Burr replica, along with a home cast round ball. If I want more power, I'll shoot something else.

BTW, there is a similar manufacturing flaw in the frame cut-out for loading the nipples (whatever the proper name for that is) as there is in the bottom of the grip frame. "It is what it is", as they say...View attachment 42186

QC is lacking with these Reproductions, and this is why I wont buy a brass frame BP revolver. Had to send one back to Taylors for this very reason (Air Bubble) in the trigger guard was a wreck among other QC problems. John the gunsmith was nice enough to go back and hand pick me a replacement and now they have a very satisfied customer. Regardless of the myth Taylors receives duds just like Midway or anyone else! That's a nice looking pistol regardless of the defects.

 

[Pete453]

Jonathan, the Walker is perfect! Nice job!
Both holsters are beauties, but I really like the holster with the second gun. With it's slightly aged finish, it might be a more fitting partner for this gun.
All in all, you have a couple nice rigs there.

 

[Boston Bill]

Here's an update to my original post, I now realize it might've been a little mis-leading; I didn't intend to 'refinish' the Walker as much as to patina it. I'm mostly an old flintlock and percussion rifle shooter with an occasional daliance into percussion pistols. Am not a re-enactor though I respect living history. I have several antique arms and am pretty sure I'll never be able to aquire an original 1847 Colt Walker. Fiddling with this reproduction is more fun than I'd expected.

For me, old guns are never as attractive as when they've seen a bit of robust field use. In my furniture and in my arms collecting, I love old wood and old metal with a little patina.

It's with this in mind that I approached a mild facelift of the Uberti Walker, the pictures below chronicle some of the things I did. I'm still in process on the project with more barrel/ frame attention to come. I have a good start but have decided to mellow it out a bit more.
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#1 Rather than remove the blue at once with a chemical remover I used a Lead Away cloth to gently take the finish down a little where it would've seen holster or carry wear, leaving bright blue in place receiving less wear. Uberti's charcoal blue finish is delicate to begin with so it didn't take much;

#2 I used the white viegar and salt technique to make the brass a more mustard-yellow vs the bright and shiny brass of a new gun, for me an improvement;

#3 I did not chemically remove the varnish from the grips but rather used a fine steel wool to slowly remove the heavy, shiny Italian varnish. This took a long time, hours of steel wooling and cloth polishing and the results for me are mixed. I definitely like them more but stripping the varnish revealed that the grips are not walnut. I lwould prefer real walnut grips to True Oil but haven't had any luck finding a pair so far. These too are a work in progress;

That right side grip panel is just beautiful!!!

 

[dracer]

it looks nice , good job

 

[Hawk54]

QC is lacking with these Reproductions, and this is why I wont buy a brass frame BP revolver. Had to send one back to Taylors for this very reason (Air Bubble) in the trigger guard was a wreck among other QC problems. John the gunsmith was nice enough to go back and hand pick me a replacement and now they have a very satisfied customer. Regardless of the myth Taylors receives duds just like Midway or anyone else! That's a nice looking pistol regardless of the defects.

There is nothing wrong with his pistol. The date code on the barrel is correct for that pistol. They were not always on the frame and they date coded them in one place. Some were coded on the barrel, barrel flat, and on the bottom by the serial number. Some makers like High Standard did not date code or proof their brass frame pistols even though some of the parts came from Italy. Early Navy Arms (1959-1960) brass and steel frame 1851 style pistols had no proofs or date codes on them at all.

 

[Stantheman86]

Using my Walkers and Dragoons in holsters is doing a good enough job of putting character on them

 

[HassoBoxhead]

That is one fine looking Walker! Your attention to detail and the obvious many hours of careful, measured adjustments to each component of the pistol is remarkable. Fine job, congrats!