1847 Colt Walker Revolver

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 1/7/2019 | F Ian

[w1n1]

The iconic Colt 1847 Walker Revolver was the game changer of the old west.
Only about 1100 of the guns were ever made in total, 1,000 of which were for the military, only 100 was for the public.
The Walker Colt saw use in the Mexican-American War and on the Texas frontier. Samuel Walker was carrying two of the revolvers that bore his name when he was killed in battle during the Mexican-American War in 1847. This revolver best known today as Clint Eastwood's weapon in "The Outlaw Josey Wales."

Did you know that this massive cap-and-ball revolver was the most powerful revolver until the modern .357 Magnum cartridge was invented? That truth is certainly quite impressive.

At the time, the Colt 1847 Walker Revolver would have been unlike anything ever experienced before. The massive .44 caliber revolver was meant for taking out mounted opponents on horseback, or the horse itself. These revolvers were hard used, broken, and exploded by soldiers untrained to load them correctly. Not many of these old beastly revolvers survive in great condition. Read the rest of 1847 Colt Walker.

[schurmann]

“...But what I think I have is a replica of a Confederate made 1851 with a fictitious bore.” [central_va, post 40]

Apologies for tardy response: moving snow, and vehicle malfunctions soak up hours in a day.

Is your cylinder rebated? I all my research, I’ve never run across an original Confederate revolver with a cylinder that was anything except straight-sided. So the odds are that yours isn’t an exact replica.

No matter: The industry has turned out a number of guns that have no exact historical example. And all along, the gunmakers have been careful to avoid making perfect copies, to minimize chances of fakery. Most differences apply to stuff like thread pitch on screws, pin sizes, hole diameters etc.

The rebated cylinder was a design innovation introduced by Colt’s with their 1860 Army model. Allowed a small(and lighter) frame while using the larger, supposedly more effective bore Thus the 1860 Army was a 44 but the frame was closer in size to that of the 1851 Navy, making for a much lighter, handier sidearm. The same innovation was applied to the 1862 Pocket Navy and 1862 Police, both of which had a 36 cal bore but used the diminutive grip and frame of the 1849 Old Model Pocket, a 31 cal.

Colt’s 1861 Navy was a 36 cal and had a straight-sided unrebated cylinder. Very sleek handgun indeed.

Please shoot safe.