1847 Walker horse pistol. Range report update.

Skinny 1950

Skinny 1950

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I have been looking for a Walker for some time and this one showed up for sale. Made in 1976 by Armi San Marco never been fired except for proofing, nice factory engraving all over it. This is a BIG gun as compared to the Pocket Colt in the picture. The chambers are huge even compared to an 1851 .44 so they will take a lot of powder.
The fit and finish is not bad but it isn't close to new Pietta's or Uberti's, it has the oval cylinder stops.
It showed up in the mail today so I will have to wait for daylight to get some better pictures of the engraving which is well done.

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1847 Walker Colt

Fired a friend's a few years ago.........did not put enough Crisco over the balls in the cylinders and the first shot detonated THREE cylinders at once.....don't ever stand beside one as lead went everywhere..
 
By weight it will hold 50 grains of Goex FFFG which might be a bit much to start with, I am going to try 35 grains with corn meal filler.
Almost hate too shoot it as it is unfired but it must be shot:D
I had another new gun which I have shot a lot with black powder and it is still in very nice condition..so far no corrosion or pitting. The guns get cleaned within hours of a range session then oiled for storage.
 
If that's the one that came from the auction this weekend? Nice find... Bailing wire around the loading lever and your good to go...
 
Beautiful cannon, I am sure you will have great fun shooting it. I am absolutely in love with mine and it is not nearly as nice as yours. The only thing more fun than the reaction of people watching it fire is the reaction of someone else firing it the first time :) 35 grains is what I use in mine and it seems to work well. One thing I would suggest instead of baling wire on the lever is filing the top of the lever catch just slightly, that should keep everything in place when you fire.
 
I had one for a while, quite a few years ago but eventually traded it off. The one problem I had with it was that the cylinder pin fouled up very easily, even when well greased. It was extremely important to rinse the cylinder in a pot of water after every second cylinder full or the gun would seize up. If that does happen and you can't get the barrel off or the cylinder off, put the gun in a bucket of warm water, muzzle down and up to about the level of the trigger. Wait 5 minutes and it will come apart easily.
I think that I would start with about 30 grains of 3F. At least some guns will shoot loose fairly quickly with heavy charges. Repeated heavy charges can crush the barrel key

cheers mooncoon
 
I have both Uberti and ASM Walkers, they sure are a hoot to shoot! In my opinion the Uberti is far nicer than the ASM... Your ASM looks a heck of a lot better than mine...I have used 55 grs of both 2 and 3 F in them for years... The wedge on the Uberti has required re-swaging once over the years... The ASM has issues with arbor pin fouling a lot sooner than the Uberti (20 rounds vs 40)... I carry a squirt bottle of Balistol and water or windshield washer fluid and a little squirted on the arbor pin at the front of the cylinder frees things up for a few more cylinders full.... I have shot 5 stage cas matches and not had to drive the wedge out and separate the barrel for a full clean and re-lube...
 
Thanks for the shooting tips everyone, the arbor on this gun is huge and I can see why it would gum up after a few shots.
I was just throwing out the box that the gun was shipped in and there at the bottom was the original box from the factory with the serial number and model " Whitneyville Walker 1847 " with the word "incisa" handwritten above the label.
I thought that I would shoot any gun that I own including antiques but damn this is a good looking gun so I have decided to make it a safe Queen and try to find another one to shoot. As soon as I can afford it I will post a WTB on the EE and see if there are any used Walkers for sale.
 
Took the Walker to the range and loaded it up and shot it one chamber at a time with 35 grains of Goex FFFG and some cornmeal. At 7 meters it hit within an inch of centre....turns out to be an accurate gun.
Everything Mooncoon described about his Walker happened with mine and after 12 shots the gun was totally seized up....taking the barrel off proved difficult.
I was using a very thick bee's wax/vegetable shortening mix to cap off the ends of the chambers and this was forced into the arbour by the blast and the cylinder refused to rotate after the last shot.
I am using a .457 inch ball which shaves off a very nice ring of lead when rammed into the chamber so I am thinking of using a drop of gun oil instead of the thick paste to seal off the chamber. I really don't want a chain-fire with this gun but I think the oil will provide a good barrier and I am hoping the much thinner lube will prevent the arbour from binding up.
So much for my safe queen...just had to shoot it.

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I am not convinced that it is extra lube that is being forced along the cylinder pin. I think it is just powder fouling from the flames coming out of the cylinder. I think it is something to do with the design of the cylinder pin. What is strange is that I used to own a italian Colt Navy and currently own a original Colt Navy and neither of them ever seemed to have a problem with the cylinder jamming up. Must be some subtle difference that I don't recognize

cheers mooncoon
 
I don't think the oil is a good idea but....? It will probably just spatter everywhere after the first shot. Maybe wads pre-soaked in lube between the ball and powder charge? I used to use the same lube for sealing the cylinder mouths (bees wax/crisco/canola or...) and apply it to the cylinder arbor but it seems to actually create problems for you! Maybe after a break in period things may get better. Very nice gun by the way.
 
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