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"The Colt Walker 1847: The Most Powerful Sidearm Ever" Topic


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Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP11 Mar 2022 9:54 p.m. PST

… Issued By the US Military


"In 1846 the United States Army brought the Colt Walker 1847 into service – a revolver that is the most powerful sidearm ever issued by the US military. The weapon was named after its inventors, gun-making legend Samuel Colt and Texas Ranger Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker. The Colt Walker was extremely powerful at close range, although it had a tendency to explode in the user's hand.

Walker had so much faith in his design that he carried two Colt Walkers on him in the Mexican–American War. Born in 1815, Walker served as an officer in both the Republic of Texas and the United States when Texas joined the union. As a result, he was involved in many of the American West's conflicts, like the Mexican American War and the Indian Wars…."


picture

More here
link

Armand

14Bore12 Mar 2022 3:10 a.m. PST

Since I was a young kid wanted one, even in replica.
Was a Western movie fan

Stryderg12 Mar 2022 8:12 a.m. PST

The phrase "had a tendency to explode in the user's hand", should make one pause for a moment before considering firing it.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP12 Mar 2022 3:11 p.m. PST

(smile)


Armand

DJCoaltrain12 Mar 2022 4:31 p.m. PST

I only shoot cartridge firearms. Cartridges do not "chain-fire."

42flanker12 Mar 2022 8:26 p.m. PST

"In 1846 the United States Army brought the Colt Walker 1847 into service"

Something about those numbers…

Dn Jackson Supporting Member of TMP13 Mar 2022 8:03 a.m. PST

Kicks like mule.

Oberlindes Sol LIC Supporting Member of TMP13 Mar 2022 12:01 p.m. PST

Something about those numbers…

Then car manufacturers copied it, releasing each model year in the prior year.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP13 Mar 2022 3:21 p.m. PST

Thanks!


Armand

79thPA Supporting Member of TMP15 Mar 2022 12:42 p.m. PST

I had one decades ago. All black powder revolvers are fun to shoot. The character Mattie Ross carried one in "True Grit."

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP15 Mar 2022 3:22 p.m. PST

(smile)


Armand

Personal logo Murphy Sponsoring Member of TMP07 Jun 2022 7:26 p.m. PST

A true "Hawgleg"!!!!

Personal logo 4th Cuirassier Supporting Member of TMP12 Jun 2022 10:37 a.m. PST

Was this the one the Glanton gang use in Blood Meridian?

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP17 Jun 2022 4:36 p.m. PST

It was…


Armand

Choctaw20 Jun 2022 2:28 p.m. PST

I've had a couple throughout the years. They are heavy. H.E.A.V.Y. Heavy.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP23 Jun 2022 4:12 p.m. PST

(smile)

Armand

Pyrate Captain11 Aug 2023 1:44 p.m. PST

A trick I learned from a Civil War reenactor to prevent chain fire is to seal your cylinders with Coffee-Mate. Less expensive than felt wads and still reduces the risk of chain fire.

And, if you're of age and lucky enough to live under the protection of the U.S. Constitution, you can purchase your own Walker Colt here:

link

chironex28 Aug 2023 4:34 a.m. PST

79thPA:
Was clearly shown not to suit her at all, though.

tigrifsgt28 Aug 2023 12:51 p.m. PST

I had mine chain fire at a reenactment. It looked like I had put a smoke bomb in it. Sparks and smoke coming out of the whole thing. Someone yelled at me to throw it, I said no way you know what this thing cost me. We were on a gravel road at the time. BUT, it was my own fault. I had seen the grains of powder in the grease, and thought it was no big deal. So sloppy loading did me in. This is the only issue I have ever had with that gun in over thirty years of reenacting. Also, other members carried Walkers and all models of the Dragoons and none of them ever had any issues with them. If you know any Tigers, big guns and big knives. TIG

pikeman66614 Dec 2023 11:45 a.m. PST

Current pistols don't blow up thanks to modern steel.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP20 Dec 2023 4:21 p.m. PST

Ha!…


Armand

huevans01118 Dec 2024 5:33 p.m. PST

I've had a couple throughout the years. They are heavy. H.E.A.V.Y. Heavy.

Lots of first generation revolvers were massively large.

They were made from iron – not steel – and had to be huge and thick to carry a large charge of black powder and a massive projectile.
Our modern concept of what a revolver looks like comes from steel-made revolvers firing small projectiles at ultra high speed with nitro-based propellant. This is stuff that was developed in the 1860's (steel) and the 1890's (the other stuff).

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP23 Dec 2024 10:40 p.m. PST

Not a gun guy, so forgive me and offer me insight on this point if I have it all wrong:

I'm a little confused by the claims of a gun being "powerful." A gun is a device for containing and directing a chemical explosion in a specific direction with a metal projectile propelled by said explosion. However, neither the chemicals nor the projectile are part of the gun. The gun itself produces no power of any kind. So, presumably, if the same cartridge or gunpowder charge were used in any other gun, that would make the other gun equally powerful, would it not?
So it ain't the gun that's powerful, it's the cartridge, right?

I can see that a cartridge that only works with a specific gun thus arguably makes that gun "more powerful" than weapons which can't use the cartridge. But it's still the cartridge behind it all.

I'm guessing "power" is just a metaphorical term, where no distinction is being made between gun and cartridge.

In the case of a cap and ball revolver, where the powder amount is effectively selected when loading, what insures consistency in the powder load across all chambers? Was it possible to overcharge a chamber with too much powder? I assume the effect of that would be a broken gun (and possibly some fast-moving shards of metal in the vicinity of the shooter… ouch)?

DJCoaltrain28 Dec 2024 3:23 p.m. PST

The .44 Magnum is more powerful. Not sure how many other modern cartridges develop chamber pressures greater than the Walker.

tigrifsgt02 Jan 2025 10:09 a.m. PST

A Walker loaded with 40 grains of 3F behind a .454 round ball will generate power a little less than a modern .357. Conicals generate less power for some reason.

Nine pound round10 Jan 2025 7:49 a.m. PST

Parzival,

Those pistols didn't use cartridges- the ball and powder were (and to tgrifsgt's point, still are in reproduction revolvers) loaded separately. Brass cartridges for revolvers were mostly a post-Civil War phenomenon. Black powder shooters typically use a powder measure to ensure consistency.

The answer to your question about consistency is, "care on the part of the user." I use a flintlock to hunt during the primitive season (did it yesterday, as a matter of fact), and it takes a wholly different level of care and concentration than anything you do with modern firearms, except maybe loading your own cartridges. There is a lot that can go wrong with even the simplest gun, and the penalty for mistakes can be a severe personal injury. It is definitely possible to overload a gun, but there are other types of mistakes that also have severe consequnces- not ramming the ball down atop the powder for example, or using the wrong size powder for your charge (flintlock shooters typically use 4F for the priming pan and 2F, which is coarser and slower-burning, for the charge behind the ball).

I taught myself to shoot black powder, and the pucker factor on that first load was very high- but it's also a lot of fun.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP27 Jan 2025 4:51 p.m. PST

Thanks!

Armand

DJCoaltrain17 Feb 2025 6:44 p.m. PST

NPR – you can also blow-up a modern cartridge by down loading too muchpowder. Best analogy I've heard is the small powder charge acts like a shaped charge. The other problem is a squib, whereby a cartridge lacks enough "steam" to clear the barrel, and blocks the next round which causes a catastrophic event in the barrel.:^)

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