Walker loading lever latch or no?

[nofishbob]

I was looking through the new Colt catalog which has historic Colt products mixed in with the new guns.

On page 10 of the 2011 catalog, they picture a BP revolver with the heading "1847 Walker". The revolver shown has a latch on the end of its loading lever like a Dragoon.

Is this correct? All these years I thought that a significant identifying feature of a Walker was the LACK of the loading lever latch, and all of the "dropping lever" problems that resulted.

So did some real Walkers actually have a Dragoon-style loading lever latch, or did Colt make a mistake with their choice of pictures?

Thanks!

Bob

Edit: the link to Colt's catalog is here: http://www.coltsmfg.com/Catalog.aspx . Choose the link to Colt 2011 catalog near the bottom of the page.

 

[mykeal]

Good eye.

The gun is a Walker (witness the barrel wedge inserted from the right side, and scale the cylinder length and barrel length off the trigger guard & frame), but the loading lever is not. No production Walkers had the front latch, but there's nothing to say that they didn't have some factory prototypes of the Dragoons' design on a Walker body. There are lots of guns in the Colt museum that never saw the production line.

 

[tpelle]

Actually there did turn up a Walker that had a front latch - I just read about it somewhere. They're not sure if it was a factory job, a special request, or something done as a fix by a talented gunsmith back in the day.

Colt was noted for making some oddball combinations as they transitioned from one model to another, either trying out new ideas or just using up stocks of obsolete parts.

 

[FiveStrings]

Google "Parade of Walkers 2003" and check out the pictures of the surviving original Walkers the Texas Gun Collectors Association assembled for display in their 2003 show in Houston. I actually got to see that show. There are a number of specimens that display a loading lever latch. One would assume those were later add-ons done by different gunsmiths. They are all original USMR issued pistols, however. That display was an awesome sight to behold! There are also a few that show an added rear sight installed on the barrel.

 

[nofishbob]

Thanks for your replies!

I guess it is surprising to me that Colt would choose a non-typical example of an iconic revolver to illustrate their catalog.

An analogy would be to show a modified or prototype 1911 pistol and describe it as a standard offering....why?

Bob

 

[Tallship]

Not only that, but check out the ramrod. I've NEVER seen a part like that on a Colt before!

 

[Old Fuff]

I guess it is surprising to me that Colt would choose a non-typical example of an iconic revolver to illustrate their catalog.

Why? Could it be that there's no one left in the advertising/sales department that actually knows the difference?

Case in point: They're reproduction of a 1918 - 1911 World War One pistol sports a high-polish blue, where the original issue pistol made at the time had a flat/dull blue. But then, customers who didn't know this would expect a bright blue, so that's what they got.

 

[Noz]

Found a reference that talks about the transitions from the 1847 Walker to the 1851 Navy through all of the "Dragoon" changes. Through all of this the guns were still refered to as Colt Walker Dragoons, Model 1-2-3. The point here is that a 3rd Model Dragoon could still be reference to as a Colt Walker.
In almost all cases the previous gun was modified to produce the next model.
The gun in question has the frame and cylinder of the Walker but the loading lever of the Dragoons. This is definitely a transition gun because the Walker cylinder was noticeably larger than the Dragoon cylinder. It also has the oval bolt stops of the Walker.

 

[makos_goods]

Noz,
You may have heard of the Fluck Dragoon or U.S. Walker Replacement Dragoon or Pre-First Model Dragoon.. They were actually the Colt’s Second Contract Dragoon according to Colt's and the Colt Collectors Association. There were several versions of them. The "Fluck" Dragoons actually had the 1st model grips while the guns we call the Whitneyville Walkers had the old grips and frame.

There were quite a few Walkers with failed cylinders that Colt's had to replace. I've read numbers as high as 1,000 rebuilt or replacement pistols. Colt's had already figured out the lever catch as it appeared on the Whitneyville Walkers even before the 1st Model. It wouldn't surprise me at some of the 1st repaired pistols even retained the original barrel with a new long cylinder and the new catch. They used everything up, the "conversion" revolvers are a testament to that since most were built as cartridge guns from the factory (according to McDowell) using up the percussion parts they had on hand.

Actually I think we keep calling the pistols by he wrong names. The Walkers were U.S. Model 1847, Holster Pistols and the guns with the shorter cylinders and the wedge from the port side are the U.S. Model 1848 Holster Pistols.

There is something much more interesting about that pistol. Look at the plunger, it is much longer than the standard plunger. It has forward section with long flats on it and you can see the line where it was probably threaded together. The longer plunger would allow them to load the lighter charges you would get with the shorter cylinder that appeared on the Mod. 1848 without having to have a new barrel the Dragoons (1848 models) all had. This was probably a pattern room or engineering pistol they used to develop the shorter cylinder Model 1848. The long plunger allowed them to test the new reduced loads and the lever catch is the newer style you see on some of the later 3rd model 1848 Dragoons and all later percussion pistols beginning with the 1849 Pocket Pistol.

But...If you look at any of the Whitneyville Dragoons they have a Catch that looks like the one in the 2011 Colt catalog or the later 3rd Model 1848 Dragoons. For some reason they went away from the catch we are used to on all models after the 1848 and temporarily did the pivoting style we see on the 1st, 2nd and some 3rd model Dragoons. Go figure...

~Mako