Walker Hits The 135 Yard Gong--Again!

[Dave Rosenthal]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that a SAA 1873 was a centerfire gun using cartridges. If not, I'm a little confused and perhaps someone could enlighten me how a SAA uses caps in percussion mode. There might be a type of gun that's a cross-over that I'm just not aware of!

Dave

 

[Rebel]

They make a copy of the '73 that is percussion. You have to use a loading tool to load the cylinder out of the gun.

 

[rebel727]

It's another one of those guns that never was like the 1851 Navy in .44. Some folks have converted them to centerfire but it's a lot of work and more expensive than if you just bought a centerfire model to start with.

 

[faw3]

Tryed that last night letting the kid shoot the Walker a real light show at the back end of the Walker. Ive only seen one chain fire and it was a father son shooting the first time next to me and all 6 balls went off blowing this 1860 Colt apart the father not knowing much was being carefull putting one cap on at a time after loading it at home. The kid was lucky he didnt get hurt, thats 5 loaded up and nothing to stop flame getting in. :shake: Fred :hatsoff:

 

[Zonie]

fw: Glad you got to see the light show! :grin:

If you look at the Colt hammer's face, you will see that it's slotted.
I believe the reason for this slot is to give the escaping flame and gas somewhere to go by directing it down into the hammer area of the frame rather than just allowing it to blow out the sides and forward. If my guess is right, the idea doesn't seem to work very well. It also directs a lot of fouling down into the frame.

The Remington, Whitney and Rodgers&Spencers have a flat hammer face that seems to allow the flame/gas to go in all directions but as near as I can tell they aren't any more prone to suffering from multiple discharges than the Colt.

As for using #11 caps on a #10 nipple by pinching the cap down so it fits tightly and won't come loose, I've been doing that on some of my guns for years without having any problems with chain firing. This got me to look at the Dixie Catalogs back pages where there is a chart showing the sizes of a number of different caps.
Assuming it's not a typographical error, it says the #10 Alcan cap's inside diameter is .167 with a length of .178. The #11 caps shown vary from .168 to .175 with a length of .153 to .206 depending on the brand.
If this data is correct, the biggest difference between the #10 caps diameter and the #11 caps diameter is .008 which would make it a very loose fit (without flattening it) but still when one thinks about it it will make a very torturous path for a flame to have to travel to get inside a neighboring chambers nipple hole. That is, if the cap is fully installed.
If the cap has started to fall off or has completely fallen off the nipple it is almost a straight shot for the flame thru the nipple hole just like a flintlock.

zonie
PS: The Dixie Catalog doesn't mention a #9 cap and in the 37 years I've been shooting muzzleloaders of all kinds I've never heard of one. :hmm:

 

[rebel727]

If you look at the Colt hammer's face, you will see that it's slotted.
I believe the reason for this slot is to give the escaping flame and gas somewhere to go by directing it down into the hammer area of the frame rather than just allowing it to blow out the sides and forward.

The slot in the hammer is to fit over the safety pins between chambers.

 

[roundball454]

maybe i am doing something wrong but my walker won't print(shoot accurately) very well at 25 yds. I noticed the wedge is battered flat on one side also the spring in the slot that is used for retention I believe is smashed together( in the slot/groove) so that the spring will not move. I bought the walker used (and don't know how it was treated to get this way but I can only guess) and have ordered replacement wedges from dixie (twice) and have recieved the size of wedge for a '60 and '51 BUT not a walker( I have both styles so they are not a waste for me to have recieved them). Does anyone know the proper size/ product number for the Walker wedge? I believe that is why the walker i have is not accurate. maybe?
IT IS FFUUNN to shoot, though.

Keep your powder dry. thanks

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Who is the manufacturer of your Walker? Some of the very early repros varied markedly from the real guns and from todays guns. And variations between today's makers are common.

 

[rebel727]

PS: The Dixie Catalog doesn't mention a #9 cap and in the 37 years I've been shooting muzzleloaders of all kinds I've never heard of one. :hmm:

From Shoot magazine. march/April 2006[url] http://www.shootmagazine.com/articles/firearms/percussionrevolv.pdf[/url]

Many revolvers come with nipples that
would probably fit a number nine cap (which used to be available when I
started this percussion game, but is no longer.)

 

[Zonie]

rebel727: Will gollllllllly. Ye larn sumptin evary dai arond hir. :grin:

Yup, I read the article and rather than just taking the authors word for it, I checked out one of the Bibles of Cap Locks. That would be Ned H. Roberts THE MUZZLE-LOADING CAP LOCK RIFLE Bonanza Books 1940,1944, 1947. 1952 which must be a good old source because right on the first page it says, "An NRA Library Book indicates a book recommended as a standard work on the subject by the National Rifle Association of America.

Anyway, on page 85 it lists as manufactured by Winchester: F.L.No.9, F.L.No.10, F.L.No.11, F.L.No.12, F.L.No.13 and a "Split Musket No. 4".
On page 86 it lists as manufactured by Remington "9F.C. & 9 Hicks F.L., 10 F.C. & 10 Hicks F.L., F.L. & 11 Hicks F.L., 12 F.C. & 12 Hicks, F.L. & 13 Hicks F.L., Musket & Hicks F.L..
It also says the ELEY BROS made No.10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 24 and No.26.
It gives the dimensions for all of these. :shocked2: Who woudda thunk?

zonie

 

[rebel727]

You have more sources than I do. I knew they made them but I couldn't find much mention of them anywhere. I ran across a site that had them listed the other day but I was looking for something else at the time and now I can't find it again.

 

[Parzifal]

Thats amazing...I dont think I could do that with my bess "it even has a 46" barell...I guess thats why they replaced the old smoothbore carbines with the walker "and further variants"

Cool stuff

 

[John Taylor]

It's been a few years but I have hit the 175 yard and 200 yard sillywets with a ROA using a full chamber of 2F, round ball and no wad. Had to hold about 3' over the target.

 

[rebel727]

Don't hold over the target. Use as much of the barrel for a front sight as you need. Takes the guesswork out of it.

 

[faw3]

I know Deer Creek has the right one... :rotf: what can I say I'm ruff on them. :shake: Oh ya do ck the fit of barrel to frame make sure its even and tight. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Rebel & rebel727:

Thanks guys, I just learned something tonight! I'm just glad I have friends that will help me fill-in my blank spots of knowledge :haha:

Dave

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Although I don't ride horseback and I only shoot my Walker at the range, I have laid the hammer to rest at the "in-between" setting in the notch between the nipples, but only with an empty gun. I wonder if anyone used to carry these beamoths with all six chambers of the cylinder fully loaded and capped, and the notch setting in use?

Dave

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

You have have to order the correct wedge for your Walker by maker. A Uberti wedge won't fit a Pietta and a Palmetto wedge won't fit a Armi San Marco and so on. VTI Gun Parts carries some parts, but you will need to know the manufacturer first and in some cases the vintage of the revolver.

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

I've been lucky I guess to never need to replace my wedge. When I first shot the gun it was very tight and sometimes the cylinder woudn't turn after I put it back together after a thorough cleaning & greasing. A thousand balls later and it's in it's prime...tight enough to shoot straight, but not as tight as new so that it hangs-up on me.

As to your wedge problem, I hope that you told Dixie the manufacturer of your Walker, so that they could sell you the right part for it. In terms of POI vs. POA, mine is exactly 6.5 inches high at 25 yards, but straight as an arrow left to right, so I just aim 6.5 inches low and the balls hit the 10-X ring if I do my part! I like overcoming obstacles as they are presented to me with the available sights at time of production. I'm not into changing sights, I merely adjust my point of aim to the gun itself. Now if I was shooting entirely off of the paper, I would probably change my tune! I know where the shot is going to strike by the way the pistol points. That's one of the reasons why I like the Colts, they're natural pointers!

Good luck with your Walker, and remember to aim low...the gun was sighted in for 75 yards! All the best,

Dave

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

Thanks for the Kudos! I'm thinking of bringing it to one of the club's I belong to to try the over-the-log shoot. The prizes are different cuts of meat. Trouble is that these guys are fantastic rifle shots offhand. I don't know if they can hit anything in the prone position. For that matter, I don't know if I can hit anything with a BP revolver in the prone position. But I do know that I can use a wheelgun in the prone position during PPC matches at another club that I belong to.

Any of you guys know the usual yardage for a "meat shoot"?

Dave