New Walker

[Sham66]

Howdy!

Just built a kit Walker from Dixie Gun Works. Been out shooting once, no issues to speak of.

I am using the Dixie recommended load of .454 ball, wonderwad, and 20g Pyrodex P.

Any tips or tricks on max performance from the experts?

Thanks!

James

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I use 55 grains of fffg in my Walkers. I have often loaded 60 grains with no difficulty. I don't think the rammer on any of my guns would seat a ball down on a 20 grain charge, thereby creating a dangerous situation: detonation. This is not good, even with modern steels. My Walkers are accurate when using the full load as Colt intended and I've never felt the need to short load. If you continue to use a 20 grain charge, be certain that the ball is firmly seated on the powder charge.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

I can't recall ever loading (or shooting) less than 40gr charges in the various Walkers that I've had over the years. The last one that I sold off, I used to shoot 50gr charges regularly, as that was best for accuracy in that particular gun.

If you must shoot very low charges in your Walker, please use corn meal filler in the unused space between the powder charge and the ball. Some guns will NOT allow the piston on the loading rammer to seat a ball properly below a certain depth in the chambers.

Any air space between powder and ball, makes the ball into an obstruction when you shoot, which could also cause the revolver to break rather rapidly, and it could injure you as well.

Shoot Safely!
WV_Hillbilly

 

[jdixon]

The same here on the powder charge - I typically use 50 gr. of Pyrodex P in mine - that load is giving me the best performance down range. That 20 gr. load seems awful low - you would have to use a fist full of Wonder Wads to fill the chamber up enough just to be able to properly seat the ball. For overall information - there is an excellent post on Walkers in the Percussion forum titled "Uberti Colt Walker Questions" dated back in February, it has a lot of information on ballistics, loads, and sighting (you didn't say how high that thing was shooting???) Check that post out, most if not everything I could suggest about a Walker is already there. :thumbsup:

 

[jaxenro]

I just ordered the Uberti Walker kit from Dixie. How was yours to put together? Did you get the Uberti or the Dixie kit? How did you finish it?

 

[Sham66]

Howdy!

Thanks for all the great replies. Perhaps the loads Dixie states in the catalogs is for a break-in. I read Fadala's book before shooting and he stressed making sure the ball cleared so the cylinder could rotate. No problem there at 20g! Time to up the dosage!

I bought the Dixie kit (Palmetto). It was assembled, but covered in grease and sealed in a bag. No instructions at all regarding disassembly. Found some on a web site. I finished it myself with the Birchwood Casey products for wood and bluing. This was my first experience at gun finishing and I learned a lot. It looks good to me, but there is some streaking on the cylinder.

The Uberti kit looked really nice. I went with the lower cost Dixie kit. From the time spent, it may have made more sense to spend the money on an assembled piece, but I believe building puts your mark on it.

James

 

[mec]

The instructions packed with all the replicas are extra bad. I've seen flyers included with dragoons and walkers that gave the same loads that they package with the short cylindered Remingtons and Colt armys. Even with the full loads in the responses above, the thing will not kick worth mentioning. Much loud smoke though. If you want sub-velocity loads, American Pioneer is a lot more sedate than black powder or the other replica powders.

I recently tried Swiss fffg in one of these getting velocities in the 1200 fps range with .454 balls and 55 and 60 grains. These were right in line with the faster loads with pyrodex so, I consider pyrodex to be a pretty good equivalent for the best black powders. For some reason, I was getting fairly large variations with the swiss powder and think it might have done better with a .457 ball and these full chamber charges.

this is a uberti kit through Dixie- the first chamber full fired. I believe the point of aim was toward the bottom of the lower shoot'n-see center. The gun came fully assembled, perfectly timed and with an action/trigger pull that left no room for improvement.

 

[jdixon]

I bought mine fully assembled from a local gun shop - can't comment on the kit guns. The Uberti Walker is a very fine replica gun in my estimation. So much like the originals it has many of the same problems, loading arm dropping down, cap fragments jamming up the action, fouling gumming up the cylinder at times. Despite all of this it is a hoot to shoot, very accurate at long ranges for a handgun!

 

[Old Charlie]

I have a new Walker still in the box. UPS droped it off a week or ten days ago. Haven't got around to cleaning it up and shooting it. Been spending all my time with doctors! Will know in a day or two whether I am through with them or just starting. Either way I am going to get this thing to shooting!
Old Charlie

 

[Rat]

Sounds like you are having fun...heck I KNOW you are having a blast.

I didn't know the Walker would take up to 60 grains, for some reason I thought they maxed out at 50...and here I was feeling smug because I could load that much in my Plains Pistol! Do'H!

Ok keep it shooting, those have got to be cool pistols!

Rat

 

[jaxenro]

Mine was waiting for me when I got home yesterday. Damn, this thing is big! They have a original at the museum near me, but holding it is different. Like I said, it's the Uberti kit. I agree on the action, slicker than frog's spit. Looks like some work to clean up the tool marks and finish it, but it looks like fun.

I will be taking lots of pictures and posting them to my site as I go along in case anyone's interested in seeing one in kit form.

 

[Sham66]

Hi!

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!

Tried 50g Pyrodex in the Walker and had a fun time at the range! No misfires at all. Not too bad a kick and the only issue was the loading arm falling down after taking a shot.

James

 

[mec]

Disgusting as it is, I've decided not to even regard the lever falling down as a problem. Happened with the orignals so, it just makes it more authentic

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Disgusting as it is, I've decided not to even regard the lever falling down as a problem. Happened with the orignals so, it just makes it more authentic

I've never had nor ever seen an unmodified Walker that didn't drop the loading lever with normal or heavy loads. Sometimes with light loads it can stay in place... but then, if I wanted to only shoot 20gr loads, I'll shoot a .36 Navy instead.

Mentioned this before, but I once saw a Walker that someone had modified by adding the latch and catch from a later model Colt. Good idea, but it just doesn't seem "right" to look at. Colt obviously recognized the problem with the lever, which he corrected on his modified Walkers, the various Dragoons, et cetera.

A Walker is a blast to have at an old junkyard. Just loves tearing up old refrigerators, freezers, stoves, etc. Closest thing to a hand held rifle from that era. They are a little slow to draw from a holster though.

All this talk is making me want another one. Did someone say that Dixie Gun Works has an Uberti Walker Kit?

What was the price?... from anyone who recently bought a Walker, Kit or Finished Model.

Thanks,
WV_Hillbilly

 

[jaxenro]

Walker Uberti kit from Dixie is $250. Timing and action are perfect. I will be posting pictures to my site soon (when I get time to take them) and will post a link so you can look it over.

 

[mec]

like the gun in the next post said, the Uberti kit is available from Dixie. the only things left to do is finish shaping of the grip, polish and finish. The action on our 2003-4 model is perfect.

The first transition models that were more Walker than Dragoon, had latches added to the loading lever assembly. My third dragoon has a vertical latch. It tends to unlatch when i fire anything like a normal load. From time to time, I've thought that I had corrected this by deepening and re-angling the barrel mounted catch but it still drops down a bit less than an inch every time I shoot it. It doesnt get in the way though because I carefuly penched the front of the frame where the loading assembly enters. This tightened it up enough to keep it from dropping down and tying up the revolver.

 

[tumbleweeds13]

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents. Theirs a fairly simple fix for the loading lever dropping down, that dosn't compromise the look of the Walker. If you look at the spring, at the bottom, where it holds the lever, is a semi-circle of metal with the semi-circle facing the muzzle. By very carefully grinding or filing the top of this semi circle to create a slight flat spot where it pops under the back of the loading lever, it will eliminate the problem entirely. I shoot full loads in my Walker and have no problem whatsoever since I did this modification. I actually took a tiny bit too much off, and to disengage the lever, I have to push the semi-circle where it protrudes slightly. I use a piece of small wood dowel to do this. I find this less annoying than pushing the lever up every shot. If you're just a bit more careful than I was, you should be able to get it to the point that It'll stay up, and still come down when you pull on the end of the lever. The spring is dovetailed into the underside of the barrel, so if you mess it up, it can always be replaced. It works for me anyhow. I think I have a picture of the process somewhere, so if you're interested, I could try and find it and e-mail it out. I have never figured out how to post a pic.
Happy trails.

 

[Sham66]

Thanks! I would love to see the process pics.

Please send to: [email protected]

James

 

[Peter M. Eick]

If you are going to mail out some pictures, I would love a set also.

[email protected]

Thanks!

Pete

 

[Jbar4Ranch]

I just picked up a very nice Pedersoli Walker at a local pawn shop yesterday, and have been giving it good workout. The chambers hold around 60 grains level full, but Goex 3F is about impossible to compress enough at that level to get the ball into the chamber. Fifty five grains works well. Using American Pioneer, sixty grains is no problem at all. Just for the hell of it, I even compressed the AP in two stages and could still easily seat a round ball with 65 grains. I'm not so sure that 70 grains is out of the question, but I'm quite sure that combustion efficiency vs. velocity gain at these levels probably isn't worth the extra effort. Compared to Goex 3F, American Pioneer gives me noticably less BOOM, the same or even more smoke, and virtually no fouling. I put sixty shots through it this morning with 55 grains AP and the cylinder still turned as well on shot #60 as on shot #1. I found that Pyrodex P had a noticable ignition delay, even when using CCI #11 magnum caps. With all three powders, either flavor of CCI caps could be counted on to not go bang on two out of four chambers on the first hammer strike, and not the same two every time either (Yes, they are definitely #11's). Harder/thicker caps? Oversize/peened nipples? I dunno, but when I switched to Remington #11's, there were no more problems.

Recoil is negligible, kind of like light Bullseye .38 spl target loads, and accuracy is great. My first six shots consisted of 55 grains of Pyrodex P fired at a 3" square Post-It note at 25 yards with a 6 o'clock hold. Upon inspection, I found 5 holes in the square and the sixth only a quarter inch off the left side. Most groups with all three powders have been 2 1/2" or less, center to center, for six shots. I like it!