Howdy
I have no idea how many times I have watched Lonesome Dove, but it is often enough that I have most of the dialog memorized and I drive Mrs. Johnson crazy every time it is on TV saying the lines along with the actors. I read the book quite a few years ago too.
There are only a few times when Gus is shown in the movie actually firing his Walker. One time I can recall is when he rides into Blue Duck's camp in order to free Lorena, whom Blue Duck kidnapped. We see him firing from horseback, but there are no close ups to get a good look at the gun. The other times I can remember him firing his Walker is when he and Pea Eye are out scouting and they are overtaken by a band of Indians.Gus receives two arrows in the leg, and he and Pea Eye hole up for the night in a cave above a creek. A torrential rain storm floods the creek, and Pea Eye attempts to find help, but he is swept away by the raging current and loses his revolver, food, boots, and most of his clothes. Eventually Gus is rescued by Old Hugh who takes him to Miles City where he dies of blood poisoning. (I have left out a few details.)
The actual revolver used by Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove was an Italian replica of the Walker Colt. It was modified by the prop men for the movie to fire 38 Special blanks.
Here are two photos of the revolver on display at San Marcos University in Texas a number of years ago.
Plainly, this is a replica made in Italy. Notice the rear of the cylinder has been modified to accept cartridges. This is not necessarily an authentic way a Walker would have been modified, it is the way the prop men did it for the movie.
By the way, the label on the above photo is incorrect. That is not a Dragoon, it is a Walker. Notice the lack of a latch under the barrel to secure the loading lever, one of the ways to identify a Walker. One of the short comings of the Walker design was the way the loading lever was secured by a latch near the frame. It was common for the latch to let go and the loading lever to rotate down when fired, tying up the gun. This happens with modern replicas too. Some guys wrap a rubber band around the barrel and loading lever to keep it from dropping when fired. Notice the lack of nipples on the rear of the cylinder in this photo of the conversion done by the prop men.
The lack of a latch under the barrel for the loading lever can be clearly seen in this photo, positively identifying Gus's revolver as a Walker.
The Walker Colt was a monster of a revolver. It weighed four pounds nine ounces. (My Single Action Armies weigh about 2 1/2 pounds.) It had a 9 1/2" long barrel, the cylinder was 1 9/16" long, and the chambers were large enough for 60 grains of Black Powder. Colt and Captain Samuel Walker of the Texas Rangers collaborated on the design of the Walker Colt. Colt had no money and no factory after the Paterson Colts had been produced in Paterson New Jersey about 10 years earlier. There were only a grand total of 1100 Walker Colts ever produced. 1000 went to the Army, the other 100 were sold as commercial models. Since Colt had no money, the Walkers were produced in Eli Whitney Jr.'s shop in Connecticut. Eli Whitney Jr. was the son of Eli Whitney Senior, the inventor of the Cotton Gin.
Whether or not the iron used for the cylinders of the Walker was of inferior quality is a moot question. They tended to blow up because the powder charge was so huge. Note that the 45 Colt cartridge originally carried 40 grains of powder, 60 grains was a massive charge for a revolver. Because there were only 1100 Walkers made, and a great many of them were worn out or destroyed, there are very few originals left today. I recall seeing one sold at auction for something in the range of $500,000 a few years ago.
Yes, the cylinders and frames of all the early Colts were iron, not steel. Commonly known as Malleable Iron, the Single Action Army had a frame and cylinder made of Malleable Iron as late as mid 1883. The frames of Smith and Wesson's Schofield revolvers of 1875 were made of iron, not steel. Not until mid 1883 did Colt begin using low/medium carbon steel for frames and cylinders.
I doubt if bluing would have hurt the tensile strength of the Walker cylinders, blueing solutions do not get all that hot. And they most certainly were not heat treated for strength, that technology did not come along until quite a few years later.
In fact, the Walker was just too darn big. After producing 1100 of them, Colt had enough money to build his factory in Hartford, and never made any more Walkers. The Dragoon series came next, and although they were still massive revolvers, the barrels were shorter than the Walker, the latch was added to the barrel to hold the loading lever in place, and the powder capacity of the chambers was reduced.
As shown in the photo above, the Walker used by Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove was modified to shoot 38 Special blanks by the prop men for the movie. With only 1100 original Walkers produced, and many of them being worn out or destroyed, I doubt if any were ever converted to shoot metallic cartridges.
Lonesome Dove was set in the late 1870s. By that time the Colt Single Action cartridge revolver had been produced and thousands were sold to the Army. Larry McMurtry's novel was based on the real lives of Charles Goodnight's and Oliver Loving's historic cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Call and McCrae are portrayed as old codgers set in their ways. Notice they both carry obsolete 1860 Henry Rifles.
Here are a few more photos. The lack of a latch to secure the loading lever on Gus's Walker can be plainly seen in this photo.
In this photo, Gus is attempting to calm down Call after some soldiers try to commandeer Dish's horse.
A couple of photos of Gus with his Uberti replica 1860 Henry.
