Strongest Revolver

[musketman]

In your opinion, who do you think made the strongest (powerful and ruggedness wise) cap and ball revolver?

Is it the Ruger "Old Army" or the Colt Walker?

 

[Rebel]

Ruger Old Army. It is built on the Super Blackhawk frame. It isn't traditional, but it is the strongest, revolver out there in my opinion. :m2c:

 

[Darryl]

Ruger Old Army. Word is Bill Ruger had the prototype successfully tested with Bullseye! DO NOT try this at home.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Now if Ruger would only make a "long cylinder" version of the Old Army revolver, so that it would take 60gr charges!:shocking:

THAT would be the best of both worlds. :imo:

BTW, The Walker is still "The Most Powerful" cap-n-ball revolver ever made!:RO:

Shoot Safely!
WV_Hillbilly

 

[[email protected]]

Even though it is not PC.....I like the Rogers & Spencer.
can be loaded fairly heavy and it has a top strap.....
feels good in the hand.

***** WV SCROUNGER ***

 

[bezoar]

not PC? the rogers and spencer was used in the war of northern agression against the southern states.

But by strongest i assume it is meant, what revolver had the best frame strength. And those were the revolvers with top straps. Such as the:
Spiller and Burr
Rogers and Spencer
Whitney
Adams
Tranter
And there are many more makes of revolvers that are too hard to remember such as the cup and teat fire revelvers.

And last comes in the Colt variety of revolvers. Lack of a top strap really kills the strenth of the gun. Civil War vets saying they would rather have a remington then a colt really tells of the benefits of a remington.

And then the walker. True it is technically the most powerful handgun until the .357 Magnum, But many of the the original walker cylinders blew up in use. Theres an old Wayne film where his sherriff friend kills a guy in a bar who just lost his hand when his walker blew up. excuse of sherriff was "i cant wait around long enough for it(the hand) to grow back".

But the ruger old army is a horrid eyesore.

 

[unspellable]

It has always been my understanding that the Rogers & Spencer was ordered and delivered for the war, but the war ended before any were issued so they never saw actual service.

I think the Ruger Old Army is a nice looking revolver, I don't pretend it looks like anything in the way of a vintage revovler. I don't know what longer chambers would accomplish. I keep hearing that accuracy goes down hill if you put max loads in the present chambers.

The Walker cylinder blow ups were not due to any inherent problem in the design, they just didn't have good enough metal in them. You don't hear of modern Walkers blowing up.

BTW: I'm trying to figure out who made my Rogers & Spencer. It has Italian proof marks but no sign of a maker's name or code mark.

 

[Gary]

Ruger Old Army. Better metallurgy and Ruger is aware that there's idiots like myself who, in my foolhardy younger days, loaded it to the max with 3F. I live to tell about it too. Really. :front:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Since a modern C&B revolver can handle a full load of fffg or fake BP without coming apart, the question of which
one is strongest is essentially irrelevant. They all will get the job done and live to tell the tale.

Perhaps a more relevant question is which is the most powerful C&B revolver? But this one has been asked many times and there is still only one answer. It weighs 4lbs. 9ozs., has a 9" barrel, and Sam Colt and Sam Walker designed
it a long time ago. That 60 grain charge of fffg is hard to beat. It doesn't hurt that it is an elegant old thing to have in your holster.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

I recall that Ruger used to advertise that the Old Army would accrpt a cylinder full of any sporting grade powder on the market. That means a full cylinder of FFFFg under a round ball was OK. They have since backed off of that claim, but to me, that makes it the strongest BP revolver.


Didn't the early Walkers have a habit of blowing up if loaded to capacity? Seems I heard that somewhere, but can't remember the source.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Some of the original Walkers blew up, probably due to poor metallurgy/flaws in the cylinder forgings. But many didn't.
The repros and second generation Walkers do not have this problem.

 

[bezoar]

The walker cylinder was made with a metal that had lots of weakspots in it. some revolvers came thru fine thru the years. But a large number of these cylinders ruptured and mangle many shooting hands.

I hope they solved this problem for the repros. Bet firing a round from an original would solve any case of constipation.

 

[big bore 75]

the last comment was funny, i had a walker shoot five rounds off at the same time ,real interesting moment too say the least the only cylindr not to go off was the bottom cylinder after close examination it was the only cylinder to have a cap on its nipple and it had one @@#%%@% of a recoil to boot and yes all cylinders were sealed off with grease (gun grease)

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Greasing the chamber mouths does keep fouling soft, but it isn't what prevents chain fires. Assuming the proper size ball is used. Making sure the caps are firmly seated on the cones will prevent cook-offs. Haven't had a chain fire in all the time I've been shooting C&B revolvers, but I
tend to be a very careful loader. And I've never had a cap fall off.

We did an experiment years ago and found that not greasing the chamber mouths made no difference, but loose caps would allow a chain fire most every time.

 

[jdixon]

Russ, full agreement here. I have thrown a bunch of lead out of a Colt Walker by Uberti, a.k.a. The Hand Howitzer. and never had a single chain fire incident. RWS 1075 caps seem to work the best, I was having CCI #11's come loose on recoil at first, quickly changed over to the RWS caps. What is an issue, that dang loading lever falling down every now and then. For hunting, I over tightening the hinge screws on the loading arm and it stays in place just fine. Got to loosen the screw to get the arm to move for a reload however.

 

[unspellable]

I had a chain fire many years ago with some sort of repro. Forget what. We had plenty of grease on the balls, so I am inclined to go along with the theory that most chain fires start at the back end.

An interesting point here. I have a double barreled rifle. When firing the left barrel the cap/nipple will spit on the tender part of my wrist. Soon learned to wear long sleeves and a glove. The point being this makes it pretty obvious that the cap/nipple spits hot manure.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Light off a cap in the dark. You'll be surprised at the brightness of the flash.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

What is an issue, that dang loading lever falling down every now and then. For hunting, I over tightening the hinge screws on the loading arm and it stays in place just fine. Got to loosen the screw to get the arm to move for a reload however.

Though the following procedure would negate the originality of the replica, it does make it a lot less bothersome.:m2c:

I saw a Walker a few years back that the owner had taken the loading lever latch parts from a Dragoon(?), or perhaps an 1860(?), anyway I'm not sure of which one he scavenged for the parts... but he modified the Walker's loading lever to have an "updated latch". It did NOT flop downward on recoil like the original loading lever on the Walker had been doing.:huh:

I don't think it would be too difficult to modify; if you had a dremel tool, proper bits, and the appropriate parts to complete the process. AND of course, I hope NO ONE would ever do this to an original Walker!!!

I just might have to get me another Walker and install a latch on it and fire some of those ".45cal rifle charges in a pistol" (50-55gr of FFFg), like I did many years ago (when I used to own a Walker)

NOTE: I sold it off because of the "floppy" loading lever problem. Unfortunately, I had not seen that modified Walker until AFTER I sold mine... :cry:

Now... what am I going to sell/trade to get some money to buy me that Walker...???

Shoot Safely!
WV_Hillbilly :hmm:

 

[budcatoe]

I have a Uberti Walker and I came up with a simple solution to the "Dropping Lever" problem. On the front of the loading lever spring there is a little "knob" that slips under the rear of the loading lever to hold it in place. I filed the upper portion if the "knob" flat so that it slips a little farther under the rear of the lever and locks it in place. Be careful and file just enough off to barely slip under the lever or the lever will be loose. The good thing is that the spring can be replaced if necessary. The only problem with this is that you will no longer be able to just pull the lever down. You will have to use something to push on the little knob, where it has slipped under the lever, to release the lever for loading. I use the screwdriver tip of my Walker nipple wrench.

Buddy

 

Walker? Old Army? Me, I'm fond of my reproduction .44 Colt style Third Model Dragoon.

Just :m2c: