Making Colt Walker Cartridges
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ต.ค. 2024
- How the first US Army cartridges for the Colt Walker and Colt Dragoon revolvers were devised and made in the 1850s
Just a quick note to prevent confusion. These cartridges were not combustible as were later Civil War era versions. The ball was removed from the paper and the powder was poured into chamber. The paper was discarded.
Another note: Lt James Benton, mentioned in the video was superintendent of the Springfield Arsenal after the Civil War. He established the museum that is there now.
Maj Lewis Merrill later became the commander of the 2nd MO Cavalry. His regiment was camped at Hick's Station Arkansas after the capture of Little Rock. It is from his camp that I recovered the Johnston & Dow .44 bullet that was copied for my line of bullet molds.
Visit our website at: wwwerasgonebullets.webstarts.com
I had an Uberti Walker once, you don't realize how much fun it is to own until you shoot one of them.
I just got one. I got the Howell conversion cylinder also. Can switch it from black powder to .45 Long Colt. I have it loaded with the bullets right now on my nightstand. I go to my buddies farm and spend the day shooting black powder out there. It's cheap and fun. Like you said, it's fun to shoot. So heavy, there's hardly any recoil.
I have one and I know
Really enjoyed your video on the early history of the paper cartridge and look forward to seeing more of them.
Your seem like a natural at teaching history.
Aww Shucks, Mean Gene. I'm pleased that you enjoyed it.
I like your video making paper cartridges very nice to see your way of making them . I ordered one of those paper cartridge makers like the man had on duelist den video it works great. It's a machined rod with a slight taper and a square block of wood with a tapered hole in it. I use job cigarette papers to roll around the tapered rod then use a round cut piece of cigarette paper treated with potassium perchlorate and use a glue stick around bottom edge of paper rolled on the rod and put my round paper on the end and press it in the hole in the block of wood and pull rod out of paper tube leaveing the round tube in the block measure my powder and pour in the paper tube then I lightly glue the bottom couple of lube rings and press conical bullet in paper tube. These paper cartridges are made to insert in the chamber hole they burn up completely when fired in my 1847 colt 44 . But I'm going to watch your video more and learn the old way of making them because I get a kick of shooting old still guns like Lancaster long rifles and Hawkins man I love old guns a traditional ways . Thanks for the great video. GOD bless and keep up the good work
Reloading this must've been a pain in the ass during outlaw fire fights
They just carried more guns.
I have had several of those flasks as well as others, all the Dragoons and Walkers. That damned flask n e v e r worked correctly. Charging was sketchy at best. It cannot be filled with powder for it then becomes innoperable due to the powder fouling the plunger mechanism. The sling attachments are light to where they work loose causing the flask body to fail.
Very educational programing. You should also talk about plastic tubes for pistol loading of cap and ball revolvers like the NSSA uses. Thanks.
Gordon, I do talk about using plastic vials for powder charges in my video on lubricating .44 Kerr bullets. In fact, that is what I use for NSSA revolver shooting. Thanks
Thanks for another great video and for the historical info you provide too
+Mark Hubbs So, when each cyclinder was loaded, the "tail" was bit off and the back end put in the cylinder? Wished you would have shown just a bit more of exactly how it was used. Thanks !!! :--)
Yes, the tail would be torn off, or the bullet plucked from the end exposing the powder. The powder poured into the chamber and the paper discarded. I mention this in the notes above. I hope to do another video on loading and shooting them in the future. Thanks!
Lion ofJudea Thanks for your comment! I couldn't see how the percussion cap fire would penetrate that paper rapidly! Great point!
@@erasgonehistoricalmolds2400 Just like a musket cartridge, then. That's kind of how I envisioned it, actually. Simple and reliable.
Could you do a video on the walker flasks, I know they are very problematic and weird, but it would be nice to see a video on their use and how they work
Thank you for this video I mainly shoot a 357 Chiapas rhino but I'm interested in shooting black powder revolvers
I still can never imagine how they loaded on horseback & moving!
They were issued in pairs and rarely reloaded on horseback and even more rarely while moving. I can imagine that often ended in a causality.
@easy eevee nah spare cylinders is just a myth, they pulled out another big iron
@easy eevee haha the amount of revolvers would cover your body and make you bulletproof
Cartridges and proper cappers made it multitudes easier. And like Tom said, the guns were paired and rarely reloaded.
They didnt thats what the sword is for
Thank you so much for your interesting channel, I always watch it with interest ........ Udvchi to you!
My Colt Walker has an extra cylinder that shoots .45 Colt Long
I also have one of those fancy flask for my Walker and THEY do NOT work well enough to use reliability. Love your instructions will have to try them out for my use also..But my Walker seems to do best with 40 grains..
Thanks John. I hope to take my Walker to the range this weekend to try the new Eras Gone Dragoon bullet in it. There will be a video if all goes as planned.
The Walker was designed to take a robust charge. Also it was originally meant to use a conical bullet and not round ball. With a proper powder charge the Walker would be the most powerful revolver until the invention of the .357 magnum.
I have been told by experienced bp users that you can use a .44 bullet instead of round ball and have a very effective and powerful revolver.
The design of the flask was ingenious. But too complicated given the nature of the powder and the rough use.
I dont own a gun, least such a classic one like a Walker, in fact, in my country guns are banned for civilians, anyway i just want to thank you for sharing this great piece of history, i find everything about the Walker gun, and Colt history at the time completely interesting.
Great job.,
Thanks Harvison! I'm happy you enjoyed the video. Where do you reside?
It Is an antique not a fire arm
lol yeah here in the US the law dosnt even consider these things guns. They are totally unregulated in most of the country.
@tacfoley but no one would know if you shot it ;-) just like having shotgun slugs you can melt down birdshot and make your own slug;-)
@@plaid13 I hope they stay unregulated I know many people whose gun rights are limited to those
Very Interesting. So originally the rifle and pistol cartridges were the same. Bite off the end and pour the powder in and tamp down the bullet... Sheesh...
Thanks for sharing .
Good video, the walker flask indeed sucks, when I first got one I thought maybe it was just a poor quality repo but it appears I'm not the only one to have issues with it. Wound up getting a rifle flask and cutting down a couple of spouts to hold 40 and 50 grains for ball or conical.
Got a video on loading these by any chance?
I plan on that but it may be loading only, no shooting. Life keeps getting in the way of visiting the range!
No problem, I fully understand life getting in the way. Look forward to it, thanks.
It's a mystery to me how the old Calvary ever won having to stop and reload relics all the time you would need 1 to shoot and 1 to reload of course wages back then was far smaller
Its been stated.. loading ones black powder revolver directly from a powder-flask 'could' (under certain conditions) be 'quite explosive'.. if you know what I mean?
Paper cartridges are excellent if one has the time to create them. I prefer the old purchase extra cylinders as one is able to afford and load several @ home and place in cylinder pouches.. a pouch per cylinder. Expensive @ first. But, once acquiring these articles.. you have a sweet rig. Load cylinders @ home.... easy replacement in battle.
I thought you could load up to 60 grains in a walker/dragoon.
You can with loose powder. The max charge is not always the most efficient, however. The Dragoons replaced the Walker in US service and the cartridges produced for them was evidently 30-35 grains with a 250+ grain conical bullet.
Great option for open carry since it not a fire arm in non open carry states
brettduffy19992 some states classify these as firearms and the laws apply.
🤦♂️
Nice job Mark!
Very nice video...but why didn't you load and shoot the Walker to show us how it works with the cartridge??
Pat, in hind sight, I probably should have! But it would have been sometime before I could get to the range for that footage. And, as you have probably noticed, there are scores of folks shooting Colt Walkers on TH-cam. I'm not sure I could have shown anything different except for the actually loading process.
Mark Hubbs The loading and shooting process would’ve been interesting to see considering how long it takes to load a Walker regularly.
Hi, do you have a video of how you load these cartridges? I'm not understanding how the sparks from the percussion caps can penetrate the several folds of paper at the rear of the cartridge. Or is the tail torn off and the loose powder poured into the cylinder followed by the ball which is still wrapped in tissue paper. Thanks.
OK read through all of the notes and comments. Got it now :)
Minimum bullet weight is 200 grains for a Walker 225GRS OGIVÉ IS NICE .....use a round 147grs round ball = overspeed if you exceed 30 grains of FFF ..... .
Thanks so much for this video. It's really a great jumping off point for anyone interested in this!!
Question- the Colt Walker using these cartridges still uses caps to fire, yes?
Yes, same loading procedure, the cartridges just provide a convenient pre measured charge with each bullet.
I find all this fascinsting. How long did it take to invent a bullet like we know today?
It really rather quick. We went from patched round balls in muzzle loaders to fully self contained metalic cartridges in only about 2 generations.
Why didn't you show how to use/load?
Will the flask have problems in dry climates/ would you recommend it for areas that aren’t prone to humidity caused corrosion?
The issues with the flask go beyond humidity. As the powder in the flask is used up, there is less weight of powder to flow into the little vents on internal charging mechanism. That was the biggest problem I found in keeping consistent powder charges.
I live in Colorado where it is very dry. Had the same problem with this flask. Corrodes very badly
can you change out the problematic walker spout for a regular 10-1mm threaded flask spout?
The plunger mechanism is wider and has a different thread than the standard spout, so no it unfortunately can't be changed
Seems like a lot of work for something you’re going to rip open later, especially compared to a combustible paper cartridge that you can shove in at once with no need to unwrap. 30gr seems awful light for a Walker.
Absolutely, but the soldiers didn't have to worry about making them. Also combustable cartridges replaced these in later years exactly for the reasons you suggest.
Could you do a video on how to make this style of cartridge in .36? I can’t find the dimensions to make them in .36 anywhere or the proper charge for them in .36
Chedder, I will consider doing that. it might be a while before I get to it. The US government charge for 36 conicals was 17 grains.
Also instead of using a 0.460 dowel rod, could you use a 1/2” dowel rod, in case you don’t have access to a lathe
You could, but the bullet would be very loose in the tube. Another option would be to use a 3/8 rod and increase its diameter with masking or duct tape to match your bullet diameter.
Mark, I was watching this again. I was wondering if you know when they stopped using the clinical that was the mold supplied with the Walker?
Doug, I didn't find any mention of those bullets in the resources I have. I suspect they fell from use soon after the War with Mexico. Even during their day, they were evidently not too successful. The shape made them hard to load properly.
Mark Hubbs , thanks. I would agree but I was curious if your vast reference library held any facts. Thanks again
Mark the conical bullet fell out of favor because of ignorance. Many people loaded the bullet backwards. Hence, poor performance. If loade properly the conical bullet worked better than simple round ball
,what was the point of leaving the long tail on the catridge?
These were not loaded whole like later combustable cartridges. These early cartridges were like miniature musket cartridges. The tail was torn off and the powder poured into the chamber followed by the ball, the paper was discarded.
@@erasgonehistoricalmolds2400 👍
I can see why they came up with the combustibles ones........
Combustible paper cartridges are far better!
@@MuskratOutdoors Indeed they are... use them all the time in my Remingtons... :-)
Mark, can you tell me the reference you read from and those letters? I would live to see these letters. Thanks
Doug, these all come from the research of Dean Thomas presented in Roundball to Rimfire Vol III.
@@erasgonehistoricalmolds2400 Thanks, I have that one, just didnt remember seeing those letters. Thanks
How much powder were these cartridges charged with?
I think the very early ones were about 40 grains for the Walkers and early Dragoons. The Walkers did not stay in service very long. The first Ordnance manual that lists .44 revolver cartridges (1860 Manual) shows 35 grains with a conical bullet, I'm sure that was for Dragoons. The original cartridges during the War for the Model 1860 Army used an average of 25 grains with a 216 grain conical.
How many grams of powder have this cartridge ?
These are about 40 grains of powder
Could a combustible cartridge be made for a colt walker?
It could be, but the Walker was not designed for them. The loading port might be too small and the barrel wedge, which is inserted from the loading side on a Walker, might get in the way. They would shoot them fine, the issue would be loading them.
Was that ball .451 or .454 ?
These are .457. They seem to work best in my Uberti Walker.
I just bought a Colt-made Walker replica, manufactured in the late 70s, same year I was born - it is unfired in the box. I plan to change that. Sorry Walker collectors, but most of you will be dead before me anyway, and that will be the next time it is for sale. Circa the year 2070 hopefully.
If you bought it to shoot, you can't do it if it stays in the box!
@@erasgonehistoricalmolds2400 Yep, totally agree, And really, there isn't much point on a replica anyway - that's the *reason* they were built. Slapping a "collector" label on a thing, probably makes it the *least* collectable. Mountains of John Wayne plates, Beenie Babies, Hummel and Precious Moments figures, along with all manner of bizarre things Elvis, can attest to that! 😄
Haven't gotten my life to the point quite yet where I can devote the time I like to put into learning new things, to get it out to the range. Too many other distractions, at the moment.
The blackpowder culture is pretty prevalent where I am at, near Tombstone - so... everywhere. 🤣 Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it all!
Stay safe out there everyone!