Colt Walker Information!

[HopeToGetRich]

I have come into possesion of a Colt Walker. Serial number 1052. I have had a couple of Colt novice collectors evaluate the gun for authenticity. Both can't prove either way if it is fake or authentic. One collector is of the opinion the grips especially are too new for the rest of the gun. Can anyone out there give me any guidance on my next step to value/authenticate this gun? I can provide photos electronically. Thanks, Kyle.

[diamonback68]

I am curious how it "came into your possesion" because Colt Walkers are not something that you just come upon in a gunshop or at a pawnshop, almost, I say "almost", everyone in existance has been catalog, documented and accounted for and are probably in someones high priced collection. So I would think if you came up with one, you must have already paid super high dollars for it or know someone who did. The serial number dates to 1847. The only way to know for sure would be to have an expert appraisor in very old Colts give it the proper appraisal. I don't think just internet pictures can do it justice and my opinions would be useless.

[COLTDAGUY]

Hi Hope...
The 1000 military Walker Colts were all numbered by Company. There were 100 original authentic civilian Walker Pistols numbered 1001 to 1100 produced by Colt/Whitney that helped Colt get started back in the Firearms business... There are people who have produced copies of the Walkers both military and civilian and there are probably more fakes than originals floating around out there. I had one close to your 1052 that was a fake that was produced in the 60s... It was quite good! And the Good fakes bring in the low four figures in the collectors market. There were several good articles in the Colt Collector's Association magazine over the years and Col Robert Whittington III has written a good book on them that can be found on the web. Post some close up photos of the serial numbers on the gun and the other markings found on the gun and I can probably give you a good idea if is a Fake or not... and where to go to find out more if I can't tell you... Bob Best

[zulu6]

There were 59 Walkers and Colt Whitneyville Dragoons at the Spring 2003 meeting of the Texas Gun Collectors show in Houston. You can visit nearly all of them on the Show Dates page of the TGCA website. These pictures will give you a good idea of what the average Walker looks like, but you will not be able to determine the little details that can help authenticate your example. BTW, #1052 was not on parade that day.

Novice collectors are NOT the folk to asking as to authenticity ~ you need to talk to the known experts such as Bobby Smith, Michael Simens or Bobby Vance. There are others, of course, and either TGCA or Colt Collectors Association should be able to point you in the right direction.