1847 Colt Walker Revolver

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

[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.