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The Colt Walker, sometimes known as the Walker Colt, is a single-action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six charges of Gunpowder behind six bullets (typically .44 caliber lead balls). It was designed in 1846 by American firearms inventor Samuel Colt to the specifications of Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker.
Samuel Walker carried two of his namesake revolvers in the Mexican–American War. The Handbook of Texas Online The Handbook of Texas Online entry for Samuel Hamilton Walker. Accessed on May 12, 2007. He was killed in battle the same year his famous handgun was invented, 1847, shortly after he had received them. Only 1,100 of these guns were originally made, 1,000 as part of a military contract and an additional 100 for the civilian market, making original Colt Walker revolvers extremely rare and valuable. On October 9, 2008, one specimen that had been handed down from a Mexican War veteran was sold at auction for US$920,000. As reported in America's 1st Freedom magazine in July 2018, a Model 1847 Colt Walker pistol – the only known surviving example complete with its original case – was sold by Rock Island Auction for a record price of $1.84 million, making it the most expensive single firearm ever sold at auction. Al Cali collection of Colts crosses auction block- Military Trader The Handbook of Texas Online
The Republic of Texas had been the major purchaser of the early Colt Paterson, a five shot cal .36 revolver, and Samuel Walker became familiar with it during his service as a Texas Ranger. In 1847, Walker was engaged in the Mexican–American War as a captain in the United States Mounted Rifles. He approached Colt, requesting a large revolver to replace the single-shot Model 1842 Percussion Pistols then in use. The desired .44–.45 caliber revolver would be carried in saddle mounted holsters. The Colt Walker was used in the Mexican–American War and on the Texas frontier.
Medical officer John "Rip" Ford took a special interest in the Walkers when they arrived at Veracruz. He obtained two examples for himself and is the primary source for information about their performance during the war and afterward. His observation that the revolver would carry as far and strike with the same or greater force than the .54 caliber Mississippi Rifle seems to have been based on a single observation of a Mexican soldier hit at a distance of well over one hundred yards. The Walker, unlike most succeeding martial pistols and revolvers, was a practical weapon out to about .
Colt commissioned New York engraver Waterman Ormsby to etch a scene on the cylinder that was based on Walker's description of an 1844 battle.
The Walker had an inadequate loading lever catch that often allowed the loading lever to drop during recoil, preventing fast follow-up shots. Period-correct fixes for this often included placing a rawhide loop around both the barrel and loading lever, to prevent the loading lever from dropping under recoil and locking the action.
The Colt Walker was quite powerful, with modern replicas firing modern FFFg black powder producing energy levels in excess of muzzle-energy with both picket bullets and , round ball bullets. The black powder Colt Walker is regarded as the most powerful commercially manufactured repeating handgun from 1847 until the introduction of the .357 Magnum in 1935, having a muzzle energy nearly exactly the same as a handgun firing a .357 Magnum. Taking into account its muzzle velocity and energy produced, it currently still holds the record for the most powerful handgun ever issued by the US military. The Colt Walker has long maintained a unique position and mystique among handgun users, and its name is often used as a common expression of any overly large generic handgun example.
Important sets of functioning percussion replicas were also made under the Colt label, although not by Colt directly. This was done in two distinct phases, by somewhat different different players, with varying degrees of engagement by Colt.
The first phase was from 1980 to 1982. During this period, 5019 Walker replicas were produced bearing the Colt name. They were part of the second-generation “F” series of Colt replicas marketed as “The Authentic Colt Blackpowder Series.” Barrels, cylinders, and backstops were rough-cast in Italy by Uberti. They were finished at
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Modern replicas have also been made chambered in the .45 Black Powder Magnum wildcat cartridge. These have been offered by Cimarron Firearms, Armi San Marco, and Uberti.
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