long-range pistol

[wwfeatherston]

I had heard that the Walker Colt was good out to 2oo yards.

So of course I had to try. We have a 1/2 scale steel silhouette of a buffalo at 200 meters, so I let fly at that.

Blow me down if I don't get two hits out of five! I can't do that with my .50 Pedersoli 'Country Hunter'

Now what could a young man's eyes do with that hog-leg?

 

[RickD]

I`ve been wanting a Walker for some time now..Noticed a used one in the for sale on the site here but never did get a reply on it..What loads do you use in a Walker?

 

[wwfeatherston]

55 grains of fffg.

60 gets hard to squeeze that ball in and with 55 the loading leaver stay where it ought!

 

[RickD]

Thanks.

 

[mykeal]

I have two, a Uberti and an Armi San Marco. The Uberti is the better gun fit and finish wise. Both are good shooters. The Walker's long distance capability as a pistol is due to it's ability to hold a 55 grain powder charge and the nine inch barrel. The sights are rudimentary at best, so I'm not so sure a young man's eyes would help a great deal. But with young eyes and target sights, well, it just might be a lot of fun.

I wouldn't exactly call it 'accurate' at 200 yards. It's certainly more accurate at that distance than it's shorter, smaller contemporaries (you can't expect too much from 25 grain loads and a 7 inch barrel at 200 yards). It was intended for bridging the gap in a cavalry charge between rifles and sabres, and it did that nicely, having the ability to bring down either a man or his horse before you had to engage with the long knife.

 

[Sarge]

Great pics, mykeal. The 3rd Dragoon has always been my favorite of the big Colts and I looked at another one yesterday...all I could do to keep the plastic money in the possibles bag

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I've always liked the 2nd Model Dragoon best of the smaller dragoon revolvers. The square back trigger guard looks better to me, but it has the later style cylinder notches and ramps. But the weight savings is only about five ounces and you give up a lot of power, so I think I'd go with the Walker if I was choosing a dragoon style revolver.

 

[wwfeatherston]

"...The Mounted Rifles adjutant and medical officer, John S. Ford, acquired two of the Walkers for himself, and his writings constitute much of the earliest observations on the arm. After seeing a Mexican soldier dispatched at 150 yards, he deemed the revolver capable of shooting harder and farther than the .54 Caliber Mississippi Rifle. Ford also recorded that a young soldier accidentally shot and killed his horse with a single bullet from a Walker (Whittington 1984)..."

 

[renovato]

Shooting 200 yards with any cap and ball revolver is an accomplishment! It's hard enough to hit reliably at that distance with the longer barrel and heavier charge of a rifle. The round ball just ain't made fer distance. Sure a lot of fun to do it anyway though.

 

[wwfeatherston]

And that target was CONSIDERABLY smaller than a barn door!

:grin:

 

[wwfeatherston]

Range picture

The target is the white blob above the blue barrel in the top left corner.

The shot, BTW, is of a 4-bore hand gonne firing. I was about 15 meters further back on the covered firing point (on another day! :wink