The Good old Walker

[Desert Scorpion]

I bought a Walker from Cabelas about half a year ago. And I have to say it is a wanderfull gun. Very big, I got use to the size and weight very quick. Packs a punch you would not believe, and I like to shoot 60 grains FFFG powder out of it. It is crazy and blows enough smoke out to make you blind for 30 seconds. I love it and recommend it to any one thinking of getting a black powder pistol. Any questions about it I will answer so ask away.

 

[Plastic Cowboy]

I've got a Uberti Walker from Cabela's too!!!
And yes- it is a monster of a gun. Light off all six chambers in quick succession and you will see smoke and fire like the seventh circle of hell!!!
Ohhh and that deep thunderous roar!!!!

The only thing better is my full size 500 S&W magnum!!!


Big Bore Handguns.....if you have to ask why, then you probably wouldn't understand!!!

 

[Franco2shoot]

Walker?

Isn't it still gonna just take one Pyrodex pellet? I think the one I saw was a .44 bore and the chamber didn't look any bigger than my Colt, or Remington.

I did like the size and weight...

KKKKFL

 

[fineredmist]

I have read articles comparing the Walker to modern handguns and was suprised to find that it ranks with the .44 mag. It was the most powerful handgun until the developement of the .44 mag and that is saying something. The first time I heard one fire I thought is was a rifle, it is truely an impressive firearm and it is on my wish list.

 

[Tommygunn]

The Walker is powerful but I believe it was eclipsed by the .357 magnum not the .44 magnum.
I have a Uberti I got from Dixie Gun Works. Very Nice. I haven't shot it in quite awhile. A lot of the conoidal bullets I molded for it (it lives in a presentation case) have turned white.

 

[AirForceShooter]

no.
It's the 44 mag.
The Walker is a monster.

AFS

 

[.38 Special]

I love the Walker, but let's talk some sense:

140 gr. roundball @ 1300 fps or 220 gr. conical @ 1000 fps.

This is the fastest I've ever been able to drive anything out of a Colt Walker, with charge holes literally stuffed full of Swiss FFFg. The former ends up at 525 foot pounds and the latter at 488.

Compare this to the .357 125/1500 at 624 foot pounds, and the .44 Mag 240/1400 at 1044 foot pounds.

The classic line is that the Walker was the most powerful handgun up until the advent of the .357 Mag. The .44 is a whole 'nother world.

Not that any of it has anything to do with the fact that the Walker is one of the neatest handguns around.

 

[.38 Special]

BTW,

Isn't it still gonna just take one Pyrodex pellet?

Sir, you offend me.

 

[Franco2shoot]

Enlighten me

sorry to offend...

The Range I go to is cramped, and load'n and shooting BP is difficult even on a low turn out day... Its the main reason the I use the pellet approach.. although prepared paper cartridges look like a viable alternative...

So, newbie that I am.. I spin the cylinder dropping a pellet at a time into each chamber.. I have never seen Pyrodex come in anything but one size..(that might be interesting- or do they make hotter charges?)

Enlighten me... cuz I like the big bang and cloud of smoke.. is there a way for me to get more?


Thanks

KKKKFL

 

[.38 Special]

Don't take me too seriously. I think using anything but basic black in a blackpowder gun is liable to offend the gods and lead to warts and crabgrass. Or something.

I can't imagine a range so crowded that I can't manage my powder flask, and for me, finding, fiddling, and orienting the rabbit pellets is more difficult than just pouring in the correct dose of black from the flask. (With apologies to Ross Seyfried for blatently stealing his line.)

My load chain: FFFg from a flask with an appropriate spout. (Usually 50 grains for my Walker.) Invert the flask, place the fingertip over the spout, operate the lever. Return flask to upright, remove finger from spout, pour charge into cylinder. Cover with Wonder Wad. Continue around the cylinder. Then place ball on charge hole, ram fully home, and -- if I'm in the mood -- cover with grease. Continue around the cylinder. Cap, fire, repeat.

HTH!

 

[mec]

I don't know anything about the pellets but here's what Ive gotten with a Uberti Walker:
140 Grain Ball Charge Velocity Extreme Spread {5}
55 Goex FFFg 1001 fps 54
60 Goex FFFg 1115 fps 46
60 Gr./Vol. Pyrodex P 1221 44
60 Gr./Vol. A Pioneer 974 80
60 Gr/Vol Swiss FFF 1278 53
55 FFg 956 46
60 Gr./Vol. PyrodexRS 1045 35
37 Gr./Vol. H 777 1201 72

200 Grain Lee Bullet
40 FFFg 927 40
45 Swiss FFFg 1074 33
45Gr/Vol Pyrodex P 1087 47

170Grain Original Pattern Picket Bullet
40 Grains Swiss FFFg 1031 36
Energy 402 ft/lbs
45 Grains Goex FFFg 1026 84
45 Grains Swiss FFFg 1158 35
506 ft/lbs
45 Gr/vol. Pyrodex P 1035 57

 

[.38 Special]

Intersting to see that our numbers are so close, mec.

 

[Franco2shoot]

my Table

Last week I was sitting at a table and 2 feet away the guy had some sort of cannon that rattled everything including my fillings so badly that I couldn't keep track of which chamber had a pellet. I had the earplugs+headmuffs on thankfully, but the concussion from each shot was like standing on the deck of a battleship with a 16 incher going off, i would flinch each time... I bet you would have been spilling powder all over the deck..

Unfortunately, that's not uncommon on the weekends.. Through the week its not too bad and I would like to give the real dust a shot..

KKKKFL

 

[mec]

"Intersting to see that our numbers are so close, mec."
Noticed that myself.

 

[.38 Special]

I had the earplugs+headmuffs on thankfully, but the concussion from each shot was like standing on the deck of a battleship with a 16 incher going off, i would flinch each time... I bet you would have been spilling powder all over the deck..

Nawp. I've played with my BP guns next to my buddy with his .50 BMG knocking things off the bench, and next to four and eight bore BP guns that actually vibrate yer eyeballs when they go off.

The only trouble I ever had was loosing count of which cchambers had powder and which didn't. That's why I took to stopping after each powder pour and placing the wad on the chamber. Now it's impossible to screw it up.

But hey, if you're happy with the way you do things, gooodonya. No, there is no advantage with a Walker over a '60 Army -- or whatever -- if you're using pellets. Calibers are the same, and the cylinder isn't twice as long, so you're stuck with the single pellet. One more argument against pellets, IMO: they really limit your versatility. Kind of like being stuck with factory ammo in a world full of handloaders.

 

[Franco2shoot]

With ya now

Yea that is just what was happening to me... losing count of what was where, and you are exactly right in that changing to totally load each was the only reliable method...

I need to take some mid-week time and practice with the black stuff when it is less crowded and I can think the process through several times until it becomes a little more rote cuz I like the notion of building my own charge.

KKKKFL

 

[.38 Special]

Whoohoo!

The gods are pleased with me today!

 

[Desert Scorpion]

When I got my uberti Walker from Cabelas I loved it to death and shot it a lot. However within only a week the gun was loosing it's bluing from me holding it by the barrel while I watched Clint Eastwood movies for a week. So I had a multi colored gun. So I decided to make it all gray. After all most in the old west most were not blued, so I took all the bluing of the gun. know it looks aged and a kick ass gun to put on a wall hanger and mount in my room.


O and about it being compared to a 44 Magnum that it not at all true:banghead: . I know on the history channel they said that but it is not true.The muzzle velocity is way lower in the walker. However it is comparable to a 357magnum. If you load it properly. You know what is interesting is that my friend bought one from cabelas to. His is diffrent from mine, his sight is shaped totally diffrent, and his grip slant's forward more and the wood of his grip is way shaped diffrent from mine. It may seem no two are alike.

 

[Desert Scorpion]

O Yeah and if any of you decide to get a Walker remember that the loading lever is way different and has no catch on the front to hold it in place. With the recoil of the gun it causes the lever to 60% of the time to fall after every shot:banghead: however this was adherent in the original models as well and was fixed with the scaled down dragoon models and later models. You can fix it to some degree I bent my loading lever catch forward just a tad and it will still fall, but only with pyrodex and nearly not as much as before. Just to give you an idea look at MEC post and look at the picture you will see the gun’s loading lever is falling away from the barrel.

 

[J.T. Gerrity]

Cut down on the powder charge and the loading lever won't drop. Original cartridges for the Walker were made up with the 200 gr elongated bullet (based on design specs of 32 to the pound) and 40 grs of rifle powder, even though the cylinder would hold 57 grs with the round ball. Colt was so concerned about burst cylinders (and dropped levers) that he specifically redesigned the cylinder to hold no more than 40 grs of powder (tho' there are some who will stuff 50 grs of FFF into a Dragoon, the second incarnation of the Walker. See attached photos for comparison of Walker and Dragoon cylinders).

I use 45 grs FFF with 15 grs of instant grits when making up cartridges for use with the round ball in the Walker, and after several hundred rounds thru the pistol have never had the lever jerk it's way loose. I have to grimace when I see levers flying in the photos of folks firing their Walkers. 60 grs will certainly make a loud BOOM, but cuts down on accuracy, wastes powder, and sure puts some major strain on the rest of the gun, not to mention that the subsequent ball velocities are out of the official SASS range. Don't get me wrong, I've got no quarrel with folks who want to try out a full load for the thrill of it; I just wonder if a constant diet of high capacity loads isn't detrimental to the health of the pistol? I guess the real question is: do you want to learn how to use that hogleg, or just make noise with it?

 

[pohill]

I use no more than 45 grs of black powder in my Walker and the lever drops just about every time (with 45 grs the gun is very accurate). I fired 35 grs in my Pietta 1860 .44 today and the lever never dropped. Yep, gotta say the Walker lever latch was a design flaw. Colt knew it, we know it, but it's like the wedge...gotta love it.

 

[J.T. Gerrity]

Nearly always drops with 45 grains?!? Sounds like it's about time you replaced that spring! As indicated above, it doesn't have to happen... or maybe I just lucked out and got a good one?

 

[pohill]

My Walker is not that old, and the lever has dropped right from the start. Given the history of the gun, and comments from current users, I'd say you lucked out. I'm sure that if I spent some time working on it, I could get it to stay where it belongs, but I don't want to alter the gun in any way, or make it worse (always a possibility when I start bending and shaping anything metal). A simple fix is a rawhide tie-up...

 

[Yankee John]

You can also slightly modify the latch spring so that the lever NEVER falls; Takes about 5 minutes with a file. Caution: Just file a little at a time!

Here is a pic below.

There is also close-up pic of the modified spring in this thread too:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=215047

John

 

[Desert Scorpion]

I have to say that some get lucky with there walkers and others dont. My loading lever drops a lot. My friend saw me buy one so he bought one,and his as never ever ever fallen once. Even when he loaded 60 Grains Pyrodex. His sight is curved diffrent to. Same company made it though. So it seems to me none are made alike.