I recently ran across a repro Walker at a local antique mall. I've owned and shot the 1851 Navy, but never seen the Colt Walker in person before. Holy crap it's a huge gun!

Thanks Troy, A viewer sent me a mold for the Picket Ball, the original conical for the Walker. It fits like it's supposed to without alteration. I'll do a video on it this spring. Maybe hold off on Dremeling until you see the video. You might be fine with using the Dragoon bullet for the Dragoon and the Picket Ball for the Walker. Obviously, it's up to you. But I thought I'd share this info. Thanks for watching, Todd

With a little practice, you'll be able to put all 6 on steel! I watched this one fellow,he took his Walker to a gunsmith and had his loading ram latch modified, and it held the ram tight through every shot! Good video, thanks!

A lot of Patersons didn't even have a loading lever. You had to use the arbor to seat the bullet. Apparently Colt added the lever in '39. That was some impressive shooting, looking forward to the next one.

Got my first Walker about 34 years ago, always shot high. That one was stolen a few years ago along with some older Philadelphia derringers, so I went and bought 2, and some 1860's, and the 1858 in stainless. Course the worldwide plague stopped me from getting the '58. Still haven't shot any of them yet. Although I showed my 12 year old son how to get them all into an antique silvery finish. He's the same age I was learning to QuickDraw that monster Walker. (Slight file work to the top of the notch on the spring gets them to where it's a bit of a struggle just to unlock the lever, it's too rounded from Uberti) Love the video, instant subscriber!!

When shooting any gun for the first time at distance, I like to shoot at something on the berm A dirt clod or something i can easily see and have someone spot for me where the bullet hits. That way I can see right away if the gun and load is shooting two feet high and right or whatever. Then I can make adjustments to my hold or sights Without wasting a lot of time and ammo. I have seen people burn up an entire box of ammo trying to get on paper and it's just not necessary Thanks for all you do.

That looks like a good time. I’ll have to give that a try

I've always been a fan of the open top Colts. I thought it kind of strange that they went from the Paterson to the Walker and then on to others instead of working up to the Wallker but I guess Sam Colts finances made him do what was available. I've had a '51 Navy .36 for just over twenty years and just got a Walker and found your video helpful. I believe my next pistol will be a 1st or 2nd model Dragoon. I'm goin to look for some of those eras gone conicals and Dremel out the area so they'll be easier to load than yours were. That was a good group you shot! My Uberti 1866 Winchester rifle in 45 Colt shoots about the same at 100 yds with Winchester cowboy loads. And about half that with handloads. You earned a subscriber with this video. You take care. Troy from South Texas.

Thank you this is fun to watch and thank you for tour hard work. There were only 1,100 walkers made a thousand for the military and 100 for promotional purposes. I had a replica but got rid of it and prefer the 1851 Coly Navy. That way I did not have to get a horse to carry the Walker.

Well I found that very impressive and interesting from the point of view of practicalities. They were such an improvement obviously from a muzzle loading single shot, but there was a lot to be wished for still. Nice piece of history, and well and clearly presented. I guess all of your friends know to ring you up and ask "We just had a new fridge delivered, do you want to drop by, take away the box it came in ?". :)

I had a walker replica that I fired many times. The loading lever fall was a PITA. So I made a sleeve out of thin suede I happened to have that surrounded the lever/barrel & kept the lever in place on firing. It'd slide off for loading & was thin enough to not affect the sights. Worked fine. Found out later that was what the troopers did in the mex-am war.

I think the second group was very good for 100 yds! I use my Walker, (a Colt made Uberti), at 100 yds with round ball, and find I can hit an 8" balloon reasonably consistently, I think your problem here is that the heavier bullet is staying in the barrel for longer, giving a high impact, the Dragoon bullet performs well at closer range, but you have a 6" group on your second try, which is not at all bad at 100 yds, my other Walkers, Ubertis, I have ground out the "arch" to take the conical bullets, but have not used them at 100 yds. There is a very interesting book , The Colt Whitneyville-Walker Pistol, by Lt.Col. Robert Whittington III, which outlines the various problems encountered while making this pistol, historically the loading lever was held in place by a leather "washer" slid over the barrel/lever, for practical purposes an "O" ring could be used today. ( if you forget your ear plugs again, try leaving your hat off, you get less noise). Chris B.

At the time there was a bench cylinder loader. It alleviated the problems with loading conical balls. Guys carried spare cylinders and switched when they needed to do so. Obviously not everyone had one but they were around.

This is superb information. Thank you!

The .50 Smith carbine uses 50 grains of FFg powder and a 350 grain bullet So that Walker load is powerful for a hand gun. No wonder so many cylinders exploded. Thank you doctor for the work you do.

I read a few history works on the Texas Rangers and in one a training officer or Sgt. demonstrated the Walker by shooting a torso sized wood target at 150yds, one handed!

Great video my friend,, I live outside of Billings , always watch your videos THANK you for what you do Frank Marullo.......

I have one of the Walker revolvers and I just learned where it would hit a target and then compensated for the difference in point of aim and the actual impact point of the bullet. The Walker is a formidable revolver and the Uberti one I have is quite accurate. I generally use round balls as opposed to conical bullets. The gun works well with 3F black powder and Triple 7. But it does not like CCI caps. It works best with the Remington #10 and #11 caps. Also, if you polish the face of the hammer where it strikes the cap, you will have fewer issues with the remains of the cap sticking and jamming up the works.

Really good shooting. If my 100 yd shot groups with my Henry rifle were that good I would be happy. My old eyes can't do too well with the buckhorn sights, much less the little sights on that Colt. Good job.

that is actually quite an impressive group for a 100 yard shot with a revolver using open sights, even by modern standards. and the sights on those colt cap and ball revolvers are not exactly easy to see

I wish I had talked to you. On my first attempt with a reproduction, I found the first or lowest sight was fifty yards. The second sight put the shots at one hundred yards. Never tested the highest sight, range limited. The Walker is a powerhouse, believe it.

The colt Walker was never intended to be a long range weapon. The walker was designed for cavalry use to be able to drop a charging horse and rider, the Mexican (and Commanche's) used long lances they would charge into you with 15 foot lances and their horses had a thick leather shirt covering it's chest the Mexican Lancer was very dangerous and the Walker was created as basically a very short easy handled Carbine with multiple chambers that would take out alot of the enemy at close range without reloading.

Nicely done. Glad to know of your site. SASS life member.

Once when I forgot my earplugs outdoors, I used a couple cleaning patches wadded up tight. My ears didn’t ring, even shooting .357 mag. Putting a barrier between those sound waves and your ear drums makes a difference, even an improvised barrier.

2:38 the horse looks like: "He will shoot again without giving me notice! He always does!"

I had an Italian-made replicated Colt Walker, early model. It was absolute crap out of the box. The sight was the wrong height and it shot 20 feet over the target at 100 yards. The barrel wedge slots didn't line up so the barrel was pointing so far left it hit the target of the next shooter to the left. Every time it fired the loading lever fell and hung down. The cylinder didn't index properly either I think. It had to be sent to a gun smith to fix its problems. Thankfully the gun smith was able to fix all the problems and it became my favourite and accurate firearm. Unlike the video, our club's competition rules only allowed single-hand offhand shooting. It was rather heavy in one hand but the weight soaked up all the heavy recoil. Firing it with max powder charge always cleared fellow shooters from the bays either side of you.

FYI. I got an EZE Loader from North East Trade Co. it works for everything from the .31 pocket pistol to the Walker.👍🏻

Great video thank you for sharing.

Very interesting. They said with an 1851 navy colt you could aim spot on at a playing card from 50 yards away and hit it. At 25 yards they hit almost a foot high but they lose so much energy at 50 yards that the ball drops so one can aim spot on. I know with my Uberti 1858 Remington style new model army revolver using my Howell fluted .45 colt cartridge conversion cylinder shooting HSM .45 colt 200 grain cowboy loads at about 12 yards I have to aim slightly low and to the right on a large pumpkin to hit it because my piece hits high and to the left and even then out of 10 shots fired I only hit the pumpkin about 5 or 6 times. The conversion cylinder cowboy loads shot from the cap and ball revolvers do tend to hit higher than the cap and ball and loose black powder loads but I prefer the cartridge conversion cowboy loads

It looked like a star you shot there

Love the video it brought back memorys, when I was young I was not allowed to carry a cartridge revolver I carried a Walker I stopped the handle from dropping by cutting it in half and making it look nice it reduce the weight and the handle did not drop it was a 457 ball 60 grains 3F DuPont shot 120 yards flat uberti made the gun cost at that time $65.00. Lol

When I was a trainee at the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Prototype S1W plant in Arco, Idaho (I was living in Idaho Falls and commuting by bus to the site), one of my roommates had got his hands on a Walker replica. This was in the Spring of '72. One evening, after he had loaded it in his upstairs bedroom, he was practicing his quick draw technique. It didn't go well. He pulled cock on it in the holster and it fired before clearing the leather. The bullet went through his boot, blew off his great toe, continued through 4 inches of old fir subflooring and embedded itself in the kitchen floor. It was an old house built by a doctor in the 1880s and was substantially built. I was in the living room at the time. Sounded like a cannon had gone off. He never made a sound, just hobbled down the stairs and we drove him to the hospital where they treated his now missing digit. Very powerful pistol that. He decided to sell it shortly after, for some reason. He did get to graduate from prototype training, after he was laid up for several months. He was transferred to a later class and went on to the fleet.

Excellent job.

Look forward to a follow up.

Ed McGivern (whose shooting experience ranged from percussion revolvers as a cowboy to modern double-action revolvers as an exhibition shooter) was an advocate of 100 yard shooting revolvers using a reclined-sitting posture with the bent knee as a rest.

That looks fun

I shoot the bullet for the Ruger I'm my walker and it does well. I haven't tried the eras gone bullet for the walker yet, but I do have their 36 and 45 Colt bullets with paper cartridges. Nice video btw.

Enjoyed watching and I subscribed.

Another video said that the practice was to wrap a leather string around the barrel and that loader so it wouldn't drop down with each shot. Sounded good to me.

Thanks for this video nice to see a new target for the video. The guns will do the range and off the bench when I was younger I could hit 5 out 6 shots on a 12" X 12" steel target at 100 yards with a Navy Colt replica. What can I say Hickok did it so I had to try! Lol

Just a couple of thoughts, The way I heard it, was the Colts were regulated to hit a horse at 75 yards. Maybe that was with the lighter ball over the conical. Second, I had / have the Dragoon, and once tried to substitute a 45 cal 285 grain hollow base conical in lieu of a ball. The impact shifted so far up, it was unusable to hunt with. I figured the heavier round had more dwell time in the barrel during the recoil.

I shoot round balls in my Walker clone. Love that thing. As an old artillery guy I figure I could put wheels under it and have a field piece😁. I read about tying a short piece of leather around the barrel to keep the loading lever from dropping. It works well.

Very cool thanks for sharing

Great video! I cant wait to see it dialed in at 100 yds!!

I've got a Colt replica (.36 caliber Navy,) but I'll always prefer my Remington (.45 LC) because I don't have to break it down into 3 pieces to reload it.

Heavy bullets hit higher than the lighter round balls. My ASM drops the lever too. So it should shoot heavy bullets might as well open the port and drop load to 50.

I wonder if shooting that gun single handed from standing position would change the group point of impact or not, but then again 5lbs of gun is a lot for off hand shooting; I am that is how they shot that gun. It might also be sighted with ball loads since the frame is not set up for loading conical.

Have you tried bending the spring that holds the loading lever forward/putting a little more hook in it's shape? Granted you may need to push it backward everytime you want to push the lever back up against the barrel from then on but without having a Walker I can't test it.

I had a 1863? Army pistol, cap n ball black powder, for several years. Even had a spare cylinder for rapid load exchange. At 40 grans w/ .441 ball I could penetrate a mesquite tree at 50 feet, rapid fire (fanning) with good grouping for six shots. But you had to clean and oil after every outing, or residue would seize all working parts

The Texas navy bought the 36 caliber. Army preferred pistols were either 44 or 45. the TN guns were given to the Texas rangers. The improved pistol was from Walkers TR days experience. The loading lever catch was faulty. Ultimately it evolved into the 1860 Army model. The Remington pistol was a huge leap ahead with the solid frame. and you could switch out preloaded cylinders fast.That original bullet was weird.A bigger paper backstop would show where the bullets were going. If they are high,that was good, Balls might be good. Originals were sighted for 75 yards,I think.

Very interesting, thanks

Sorry, I did not read all comments, so maybe already said. Elevation and windage are modified by filing the rear notch deeper to lower POI and by filing the side of notch to move windage (left for left and right for right. Don't mess with the tiny front blade.

Hi, the issue you are having with the bullets is because the Dragoon had a shorter cylinder than the Walker so that, even if it basically used the same frame (the first Dragoon, the Whitneyville, actually used the Walker's frame) there was room to load the heeled bullet. With the full length cylinder of the Walker, you can't fit it in. The Picket ball was shorter (and caused the tilted bullet issue when loading). Uberti's Walker is as per spec. If you don't believe me, lacking an actual original waker to measure it, you can compare a side image of a vintage Walker with one of the replica and see with your own eyes. That's basically why the heeled Dragoon bullet won't load in the Walker without disassemblying the gun. ;) As for the dropping loading lever, the customary workaround of the time was using a length of leather string looped around barrel and lever with a bead to snug it up, to prevent the lever from dropping. You can easily make one using a length of leather shoe string or similar, and a decorative bead or a bit of thick copper or brass wire to create a ring to snug up the loop against the lever. Hope this helps. PS: great shooting there!

I know it’s a pain to do but I take the loading lever off when I shoot mine. It’s distracting to have to re secure the loading lever after each shot. I’ve also had issues with the recoil causing the caps to dislodge and jam up the cylinder.

Thank you, liked that video, keep being real man...

Great job👌👌👍👍

Man that thing really Barks!

with my repeoduction walker, round ball, was able to use 50 3f without problem but the 60 grain made the lever drop

My Walker shoots point of aim at close range with a 60 grain fff charge and a round ball stuffed on top.

Good information about thank you.

Lee makes a REAL type 45 cal double cavity mold in 200 grain. That might work well in this application. It is more of a wad cutter type bullet and would be shorter than the regular connical bullets that will not load while cylinder is still in the frame. The bands around the bullet are graduated from bottom to top so should center properly and cut for a perfect fit.

in the 90's i saw a walker in a museum in the south somewhere that had a bit of leather thong tied neatly behind the front sight with a loop that slipped over the ram lever , i guess to stop it dropping or maybe the spring had long since broken , it was behind glass so i could only guess , cheers big ears from down under

Paint the target with flat white spray appliance paint. A common worn out harrow blade works well. The axle hole makes a good aiming point. Shot a lot using 230 FMJ’s at 25, 50 and 100 yds. Good luck!

I have hit a 24cm diameter steel gong at 100m with my Colt Trooper mark 111 (1972), six inch barrel. I was super stoked :)

That was cool 😎 👍👍

I am surprised that the group would be a pentagram; that was great.

I like the video! Are you able to push your wedge all the way through the frame without issue? The cylinder is free if the wedge is flush on the left hand side (although it sticks out quite a bit) But if i tap it in any further, the cylinder won't turn.

I’m really quite surprised that this old gun can muster any sort of grouping at 100 yards. Fascinating!

Question on your orange/ yellow safety glasses. Looks like is had a rigth side peep site or magnifier? I am interested as i am in my 60's and when using iron sights it hard to see that far out. Thank you.

Try some Kaido bullets - they may work and of course, you can get a loading tool - so you can load all six cylinders in one go... also, I used to have a Uberty Walker and I was able to solve the dropping loading lever by just making the latch more angular if you will to make it more sticky. It worked like a charm.

There are videos available on how to solve the problem with the loading lever as well as making paper or skin cartridges. Have fun!

This was a impressive shoot a little history too awesome

I was getting into it so good and it went away and I had to start it all over just to make my comment that's what happens when I start getting into something. yeah those are big guns could you imagine trying to carry one on your hip your legs would probably end up being as big as elephant legs. great video enjoyed every bit of it thanks and don't forget, keep ye powder dry

Use the charging lever as hand hold to help steady the barrel?

I own and shoot a 3rd model Colt Dragoon . I shoot 50 grains and shoot round ball. How long did you practice to pull off that amazing shot ?

You don’t need to apologize doc’. All these factors are real life and it’s good to know you are just as human as the rest of us. Tom KC3QAC

Good video…maybe get the camera over your shoulder a bit more…used to love shooting the repro colts and Remingtons. Keep ‘em coming sir

I could not hit the cardboard with a 22. low recoil LR. I am very interested in doing the percussion cap and black powder loading

I wish Uberti had attachable buttstocks for the Walker and the Dragoons. I have one for my 1860 Army and it really makes a difference as far as stability and accuracy is concerned. I can shoot it @50yds. with 20 grains of 3F using round balls and be on target with the original front sight.

Good job 👍

I’ve been out of the black powder business for at least 30 years and haven’t lived in the States for a ¼ of a century so bear with me if I’m out of date. But I noticed a couple of things that bare correcting. True, it is said that the pistol was sighted in to hit a man at 100 yd. And your shooting appears to show that true. What you are overlooking is the aiming point. The man was supposed to be set on the sight. I am not sure if torso only or to include the legs. Just guessing, I’d say that was about a 24” disc and you used a 6 o’clock hold. That was an impressive group, but could have been tighter with a better rest. The pistol appeared not to cock smoothly. I had several Colts and all had the same issue, the spent cap frequently fell into the works. The Remington repro also, but to a far lesser degree. I solved the problem by inverting the pistol prior to cocking and the cap fell to the ground. I fooled with black powder off and on for several decades. This was before the Internet and information travelled slowly back then. I solved the problem of misfires due to being loaded for more than a day or two. I could go for two weeks and the pistol would fire reliably. I never tested beyond that time. I recently discovered some British documentation involving BP revolvers. Bless their soles, the Brits document everything. They experienced much of what I had experienced; revolvers jamming, mostly due to caps falling into the works, but occasionally a bullet would slip forward due to recoil preventing cylinder rotation. Misfires were frequent getting only 2 or 3 shots off then click. I read once where someone managed to get all of his .36s off only to be hacked down. They proved what I had already suspected, and that was the .36 lacked the stopping power. I know, Hickok got good results with his, but as a civilian and I’m talking battlefield conditions, not the same. The Brits had a love affair with Colts at first. So much so that Colt built a factory in London. But the affair was short lived and the factory died. FWIW, I’m now 84 and came along as the old-timers were leaving. They didn’t share PB information with me but did with Colt revolvers in general. I had a M1873 chambered for .38-40 and to the man when they saw me top it up with 6 rounds I’d get a lecture. After a while it sunk in. I nearly forgot; ball vs conical. I started with ball. On visiting museums containing a civil war display I paid special attention. I do not remember seeing a pistol ball but many times I would see a conicals, sometime displayed in a paper cartridge. I also remember seeing a box or more of paper cartridges. The boxes always had 5 cartridges. With this in mind I experimented with conicals in my .44 Remington. I think that I cast 3 types, could have been 4 types. None performed satisfactorily, which was disappointing as I theorized the extra weight had better stopping power. Years later in my research I found the Brits did the same thing in the field under combat conditions and favoured the ball. It was more accurate and it was easier to load.

I shot 55 grains FFFG with a round ball in my Colt Walkers. I also tapped & threaded the loading handle that secured onto the barrel so as to Not come down when shooting. Most just use a rubber band. Clean frequently without fail or your gun will.

Being bred on Italian Westerns I miss the heavy artillery soundtrack when shooting

I never got so ambitious to try to shoot 100 yards with my 1851 Colt Navy and 1858 Remington new Army .44's. But my powder loads were never more than 30gr behind a round ball. The best I managed was 70 yards, and even then I did not have consistent accuracy. I found the Colt to be more on target than the Remington, which consistently shot about 40 inches low at 70 yards. I miss my cap 'n ball revolvers, they both went to my son, now I'll gladly have them back, but he won't let go..

Most black powder pistols were sighted in from the maker, at 75 yards. That’s why most modern shooters think the weak loading , or the weapon shoot low

I used to know a guy that had a six-cavity gang mold.

having just got into cap and ball revolvers, I just want to know where you are getting your caps lol

Nice pistola, would you recommend a stainless steel version of the colt walker?

I guess the Colt Walker was inadvertently made with a built in automatic safety.

I own a Patterson .36 reproduction (Uberti I think) "the Shootist's Pistola" and a Walker Colt's (an Italian reproduction, but I'm not certain who's) "Hoss Pistol". I cast a Lee conical (more of a "round nose", but with an ogive) from pure lead that drops at about 230 grains on top of 60 grains (measure equivalent) of Pyrodex P and lubed with real pure lard. Muzzle velocity is typically 970+ FPS, so equal to a .44 Magnum lead bullet load. At 75 METERS, I can put 6 shots into 8 inches every cylinder full, from a sitting position, and 70 with post-stroke "shakes". The Army (and Marines) Cavalrymen usually carried their revolvers in their nearly knee-high boot legs. The US Army changed the design of their saddles so the 160 pound MAXIMUM troopers (and gear AND saddle) could slide the Walker into the new "pommel" on their saddles to steady it. It was quickly found that shooting the opponents HORSE was more effective than the man, and THEN using a saber on the hapless new "foot-soldier". Sam Colt delivered the new revolver with a SPARE CYLINDER to be pre-loaded and carried in a belt pouch (on horseback, in battle, troopers drove out the barrel retaining wedge with a small brass mallet, and changed cylinders!) to give US Cavalrymen unprecedented firepower of 11 shots without reloading. You ALWAYS carry a percussion revolver on an EMPTY CHAMBER for safety!!! I have a GENUINE Colt's Third Model Dragoon I can load the Lee bullet and 45 grains of FFFg or Pyrodex for about 800 FPS muzzle velocity, or .44/40 ballistics. The Colt's firearm is far more accurate than any of my 9 reproduction revolvers-but since it cost MUCH more than the other 9 put together, I guess it should be. Your Walker repro has a typical Italian/Spanish issue. You need to drive out the wedged loading ram's spring retainer and bend it forward to prevent the loading ram from dropping with recoil. I favor Pyrodex for more consistent velocities (and better accuracy) than all but the $28-35 a half-kilo English Black Powders, since DuPont stopped making black powders in the 1980's.

Did they make the rear sight a part of the hammer?

small black zip tie will keep the lever from dropping.. slide it forward to load.. back to hold the rammer when firing.

Recently picked up a Walker. Gotta get out to the range and try this myself.👍🏻

It seems like Walkers shoot consistently high and right. I usually shoot around 25 yards, and it is absurd how low and left I have to aim to hit my target. The easy fix for correcting elevation would be to replace the front sight with a higher sight, but I haven't seen one video online where someone has done this. Correcting the windage would be a tad bit more complex depending if you altered the front or rear sight. I would just like to have a Walker that shoots to point of aim at the distances I most commonly shoot. Maybe you could be the first to tackle this problem and post a video!

Mine shoots so high it's a danger to airplanes

Did you put lube over the front of the bullet? That might help with the accuracy.

A huge number of original Walkers were Returned to the manufacturer: due to blown cylinders. Wonder how many owners were injured?

The Walker was basically an antitank weapon and the opposition's horse was the tank. a .36 cap and ball could stop a man but it took the .45 to reliably put down a horse at 100 yards. 45-70 was developed for the same reason. 30-06 followed the same philosophy (big and powerful enough to kill a horse) and the .308 was developed after WWII since the Calvary Horse was no longer used on the battlefield and it was more important to carry more ammo when shooting mere men with full auto machine guns and semi autos. 5.56 were thought to be better yet as a wounded man took another 2 or 3 soldiers out of the fight.

This pistol requires modifications and tinkering. If you want something to pull from a box, load, and shoot without fuss, get a Colt Navy or Colt Army for a lot less fuss. The Remington 1858 model can be argued as a potentially better selection. I would suggest only owning and using a Colt Walker if you're the kind of person who takes everything apart or likes to rebuild your retro motorcycle's carburetor on the weekend. The Walker has a comparable number of parts to the carb on my 70's Honda trail. Open that port up. Mark and tape off of the loading cutaway. The tape will mitigate scratching the surface where your not wanting to scratch. Use some needle files to knock it back until the conical fits without scraping. Using wet/dry sand paper buff out the file marks until polished smooth. Get some steel blue and re-blue. I have two uberti's. One finished and one kit. Both have their ports opened up. You're only reshaping the opened facing of the port which depending on area isn't more than 2mm to be removed. Does not impact strength or integrity. There are several modifications needed on a Walker if you want it to be a good shooter. From the first shot in this video it appears none were performed.

I bet you ears still ringing to this day 🤣 Seriously how did that charge and bullet feel in term of kick/recoil compared to smokeless of those days ?! Thx for the video we never get enough from Walkers