I shoot several BP rifles, all flinters, with the largest being a .61 smoothbore from Track of the Wolf that can throw shot (20 ga.), patched round ball or buck-n'-ball. Never had a hankerin for BP hand cannons.
Love the smell of Goex in the morning. :thumbsup:

 

Oooooooollllldddd news but, I'm an ooooolllllldddd BP shooter. Still kinda fun to read the impressions from someone just learning what you learned 40 years ago.

Can't imagine why you wouldn't shoot a modern repro. On the originals, yes, some cylinders did explode. A metallurgical or heat treating issue corrected in the next model. Never happens on modern repro's. Yes, with full house loads the rammer fell, tying up the cylinder. As the writer mentioned, it still does. I didn't see if the writer mentioned that they were issued in pairs with pommel holsters. For a revolver they define "horse pistol". They don't ride in a belt holster worth spit, despite "Gus" in Lonesome Dove.

I had a Walker back in the late 70's/early 80's and yes sir they are heavy. Mine was never carried in the field and was restricted to shooting at the range because of its weight which is why it eventually went down the road. Recoil, even with full house loads was mild. One thing the writer fails to mention is that a 44 cal. ball only weighs about 130 grains. Projectile weight is a significant factor in recoil as is weight of powder charge. Mine was quite accurate with charges from 45 to all 60 grs.

 

Colt corrected the problems of the Walker with the Dragoon models, a better loading lever catch and the cylinders were shortened to only hold 50 grains of powder. Rumor has it that part of the problem of exploding cylinders was the Pickett style bullets the Walker molds threw, they were easier to load backwards as loading them forwards they were hard to keep from tipping sideways when ramming them. Can't say for certain that this was true or not, I'm not old enough to have fired an original back in the 1840's, almost but not quite.

 

Thanks for the comments guys. Actually, I think if someone handed me a Walker, (safely of course), at the range or a BP Meet, I'd be happy to try it.