Walker Colt
Encyclopedia
The Colt Walker is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six charges of black powder behind six bullets. It was designed in 1846 as a collaboration between Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker and American firearms inventor Samuel Colt
.
(1814–62), building upon the earlier Colt Paterson
design. Walker wanted a handgun that was extremely powerful at close range.
Samuel Walker carried two of his namesake revolvers in the Mexican–American War
. He was killed in battle the same year that his famous handgun was invented, 1847, shortly after he had received them. Only 1100 of these guns were originally made, which makes originals extremely difficult and expensive to obtain. On October 9, 2008, one specimen that had been handed down from a Mexican War veteran sold at auction for US$920,000.
The Republic of Texas had been the major purchaser of the early Paterson Holster Pistol (No. 5 model)
, a five shot cal .36 revolver, and Samuel Walker became familiar with it during his service as a Texas Ranger
. In 1847, Walker was engaged in the Mexican-American War as a captain in the United States Mounted Rifles. He approached Colt, requesting a large revolver to replace the single-shot Aston Johnson holster pistols then in use. The desired .44-.45 caliber revolver would be carried in saddle mounted holsters and would be large enough to dispatch horses as well as enemy soldiers. The Colt Walker was used in the Mexican-American War and on the Texas frontier.
Medical officer John "R.I.P" Ford
took a special interest in the Walkers when they arrived at Vera Cruz
. He obtained two examples for himself and is the primary source for information about their performance during the war and afterward. His observation that the revolver would carry as far and strike with the same or greater force than the .54 caliber Mississippi Rifle
seems to have been based on a single observation of a Mexican soldier hit at a distance of well over one hundred yards. The Walker, unlike most succeeding martial pistols and revolvers, was a practical weapon out to about 100 yards.
holds. It weighs 4½ pounds (2 kg) unloaded, has a 9-inch (229 mm) barrel, and fires a .44 caliber (0.454 in, 11.53 mm diameter) conical and round ball. The initial contract called for 1,000 of the revolvers and accouterments. Colt commissioned Eli Whitney Junior
to fill the contract and produced an extra 100 revolvers for private sales and promotional gifts.
The Walker had an inadequate loading lever catch that often allowed the loading lever to drop during recoil, preventing fast follow-up shots. Period-correct fixes for this often included placing a rawhide loop around both the barrel and loading lever, to prevent the loading lever from dropping under recoil and locking the action.
models that were all based on the Walker Colt, enabling a rapid evolution of the basic revolver design. These improvements included 7+1/2 in barrels, shorter chambers, typically loaded only to 50 grains instead of 60 grains, thereby reducing the occurrence of ruptured cylinders, and the addition of a positive catch at the end of the loading lever to prevent the dropping of the loading lever under recoil.
The Colt Walker was quite powerful, with modern replicas firing modern FFFg black powder producing energy levels in excess of 500 foot pounds with both picket bullets and 0.454 inches (11.5 mm), 141 gr round ball bullets. The black powder Colt Walker is regarded as the most powerful commercially manufactured repeating handgun from 1847 until the introduction of the .357 Magnum
in 1935, and has a muzzle energy
nearly exactly the same as a 4-inch-barreled handgun firing a .357 Magnum. The Colt Walker has long maintained a unique position and mystique among handgun users, and its name is often used as a common expression of any overly large generic handgun example.
Modern replicas have been offered by the Colt Blackpowder shop and Uberti
Firearms.
Samuel Colt
Samuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company , and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E...
.
History
The Colt Walker was the largest and most powerful black powder repeating handgun ever made. It was created in the mid-1840s in a collaboration between Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker (1817–47) and American firearms inventor Samuel ColtSamuel Colt
Samuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company , and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E...
(1814–62), building upon the earlier Colt Paterson
Colt Paterson
A Colt Paterson is a revolver. It was the first commercial repeating firearm employing a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers aligned with a single, stationary barrel. Its design was patented by Samuel Colt on February 25, 1836, in the United States, France, and England, and it derived its...
design. Walker wanted a handgun that was extremely powerful at close range.
Samuel Walker carried two of his namesake revolvers in the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
. He was killed in battle the same year that his famous handgun was invented, 1847, shortly after he had received them. Only 1100 of these guns were originally made, which makes originals extremely difficult and expensive to obtain. On October 9, 2008, one specimen that had been handed down from a Mexican War veteran sold at auction for US$920,000.
The Republic of Texas had been the major purchaser of the early Paterson Holster Pistol (No. 5 model)
Colt Paterson
A Colt Paterson is a revolver. It was the first commercial repeating firearm employing a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers aligned with a single, stationary barrel. Its design was patented by Samuel Colt on February 25, 1836, in the United States, France, and England, and it derived its...
, a five shot cal .36 revolver, and Samuel Walker became familiar with it during his service as a Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
. In 1847, Walker was engaged in the Mexican-American War as a captain in the United States Mounted Rifles. He approached Colt, requesting a large revolver to replace the single-shot Aston Johnson holster pistols then in use. The desired .44-.45 caliber revolver would be carried in saddle mounted holsters and would be large enough to dispatch horses as well as enemy soldiers. The Colt Walker was used in the Mexican-American War and on the Texas frontier.
Medical officer John "R.I.P" Ford
John Salmon Ford
John Salmon Ford , better known as "Rip" Ford, was a member of the Republic of Texas Congress and later of the State Senate, and mayor of Brownsville, Texas. He was also a Texas Ranger, a Confederate colonel, and a journalist...
took a special interest in the Walkers when they arrived at Vera Cruz
Veracruz, Veracruz
Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...
. He obtained two examples for himself and is the primary source for information about their performance during the war and afterward. His observation that the revolver would carry as far and strike with the same or greater force than the .54 caliber Mississippi Rifle
M1841 Mississippi Rifle
The M1841 Mississippi Rifle is a muzzle loading percussion rifle used in the Mexican–American War & the American Civil War.-History:When Eli Whitney Blake took over management of the Harpers Ferry Armory in 1842, he set about tooling up under his new contract from the U.S. government for making the...
seems to have been based on a single observation of a Mexican soldier hit at a distance of well over one hundred yards. The Walker, unlike most succeeding martial pistols and revolvers, was a practical weapon out to about 100 yards.
Specifications
The Colt Walker holds a powder charge of 60 grains (3.9 g) in each chamber, more than twice what a typical black powder revolverRevolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
holds. It weighs 4½ pounds (2 kg) unloaded, has a 9-inch (229 mm) barrel, and fires a .44 caliber (0.454 in, 11.53 mm diameter) conical and round ball. The initial contract called for 1,000 of the revolvers and accouterments. Colt commissioned Eli Whitney Junior
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South...
to fill the contract and produced an extra 100 revolvers for private sales and promotional gifts.
Problems
In addition to its large size and weight, problems with the Walker included ruptured cylinders after firing. This has been attributed to primitive metallurgy, soldiers allowing powder to spill across the mouths of the chambers, and even loading the original conical bullets backwards into the chambers. Under 300 of the original 1,000 were returned for repair due to a ruptured cylinder. Lard was loaded into the mouths of the cylinders on top of each bullet after loading to prevent the spark from igniting all chambers at once, a practice which continues to this day among blackpowder revolver shooters and although each chamber held 60 grains of Powder, Colt recommended no more than 50 grains in each.The Walker had an inadequate loading lever catch that often allowed the loading lever to drop during recoil, preventing fast follow-up shots. Period-correct fixes for this often included placing a rawhide loop around both the barrel and loading lever, to prevent the loading lever from dropping under recoil and locking the action.
Legacy
The Whitneyville-Hartford Dragoon is known as the first transitional model from the Walker to the Dragoon series, as it was largely built from leftover Walker parts. Subsequent contracts beginning in 1848 followed, for what is today known among collectors as the 1st Dragoon, 2nd Dragoon, and 3rd Colt Dragoon RevolverColt Dragoon Revolver
The Colt Model 1848 Percussion Army Revolver is a .44 caliber revolver designed by Samuel Colt for the U.S. Army's Mounted Rifles, also known as "Dragoons". This revolver was designed as a solution to numerous problems encountered with the Walker Colt...
models that were all based on the Walker Colt, enabling a rapid evolution of the basic revolver design. These improvements included 7+1/2 in barrels, shorter chambers, typically loaded only to 50 grains instead of 60 grains, thereby reducing the occurrence of ruptured cylinders, and the addition of a positive catch at the end of the loading lever to prevent the dropping of the loading lever under recoil.
The Colt Walker was quite powerful, with modern replicas firing modern FFFg black powder producing energy levels in excess of 500 foot pounds with both picket bullets and 0.454 inches (11.5 mm), 141 gr round ball bullets. The black powder Colt Walker is regarded as the most powerful commercially manufactured repeating handgun from 1847 until the introduction of the .357 Magnum
.357 Magnum
The .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
in 1935, and has a muzzle energy
Muzzle energy
Muzzle energy is the kinetic energy of a bullet as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm. It is often used as a rough indication of the destructive potential of a given firearm or load...
nearly exactly the same as a 4-inch-barreled handgun firing a .357 Magnum. The Colt Walker has long maintained a unique position and mystique among handgun users, and its name is often used as a common expression of any overly large generic handgun example.
Modern replicas have been offered by the Colt Blackpowder shop and Uberti
Uberti
A. Uberti, Srl. is an Italian manufacturer of replica American firearms.Uberti produces high quality replicas of American percussion revolvers, cartridge revolvers, single-shot, and lever-action rifles....
Firearms.