my walker is binding

[ayetter2003]

by the time i get to the 5th or 6th shot the cylinder needs to be manualy turned as hammer is being cocked, powder fouling is building up on arbor rod(cylinder rod?) what can i do to fix this i have used triple 7 and pyrodex with no difference i have lubed the arbor with SLIP 2000 and tried running it without lube

 

[tpelle]

Two things come to mind:

1. Do you have the wedge pushed in too far? As you push in the wedge you only need to push it in until the end is flush on the opposite side.

2. Stay away from any petroleum-based lubes. Petroleum products react with the black powder fouling to produce a tar-like substance. I use only Ballistol, a mineral oil, on my 1860s,and get several cylinders through them before I notice binding.

 

[boommer]

No petroleum based oils with Gods charcoal and that other fake cra !

 

[Fingers McGee]

Try using Bore Butter on the arbor. Slather it on the arbor and spin the cylinder as you slide it on. It's always worked for me on all my Colt style C&Bs. The use of lubed wads will also help keep the fouling from building up and binding the cyliner.

 

[FreddyKruger]

Mine is pretty easy to disassemble. After every couple if cylinders just pull it apart and give the arbour a spray of lube.

Over ball grease can help a lot tooif you aren't using that.

 

[J-Bar]

Are you putting any lube over the ball, or any lubed wad between the ball and powder? I prefer lube over the ball...beeswax/crisco, although straight Crisco is better than nothing. Lubed wads work for a lot of shooters.

The large powder charge in a Walker will produce lots of crud, so you need lots of lube.

+1 on lots of Bore Butter on the arbor. Lots.

Slip 2000 appears to be petroleum based. Use it on your smokeless powder guns.

 

[Skinny 1950]

This is the reason Colt came up with the Dragoon....this seems to be a common problem with Walkers but I have found the more they are used the less binding on the huge arbour....which reminds me I have to take mine out this weekend.

 

[arcticap]

Which Slip 2000 is being used?
I wasn't sure if SLIP 2000 is an oil or a grease. So I went to the Slip 2000 website and they have a page with black powder products, namely BP Gun Lube and BP Cleaner.

http://www.slip2000.com/slip2000_blackpowder.php

SLIP 2000 also makes "Extreme Weapons Grease" that's synthetic:

http://www.slip2000.com/slip2000_ewg.php

And even their regular Gun Lube is synthetic and claims to be compatible with BP.

http://www.slip2000.com/slip2000_ewg.php

Maybe the EWG grease would make a better arbor lube and would last longer due to it being a much thicker product. The maker also says that it resists powder fouling and holds up to extreme heat.

 

[Smokin'Joe]

The wedge is used to hold the barrel on to the frame. If the gun is set up properly the wedge will not be able to adjust the gap.

 

[Hellgate]

The wedge is not supposed to adjust the gap on the Walkers but it does. That's how Uberti makes them but not how Colt made them. When you reassemble the gun after cleaning you can set the gap at about .007" by placing a folded over piece of typing paper (.0035" generally) between the cylinder and the barrel as you tap in the wedge. The paper acts as a feeler guage. Once the cylinder "bites" the folded paper you are at .007" which is the gap that has worked for me. Remove the paper. I use both over ball (.....and here it comes......ready?.......) AUTOMOTIVE BEARING GREASE(!) and a lube wad under the ball. The barrel stays clean. No tar etc. The grease doesn't melt out in hot weather and doesn't harden in cold weather and easily flows through my curved tip irrigation syringes. I put the same grease on the arbor too and no problems with any of my Colt's revolvers. Basically, your gap is too tight and you need a little space to accommodate some fouling.

 

[scrat]

I like my graphite spray. I have been using it for years nothing sticks to it. Found I can shoot with it all day. Even use it in the internals. When I used regular lube or grease stuff just sticks to it and builds up same with internals with graphitr you can shoot all day then go jome take apart the gun and it will still be clean no black powder goop