[seabobro46]

While not out of the question...the odds of it being a true Colt Walker are mighty slim. Counterfeits have been presented as genuine for many decades...probably more of them that originals. I understand counterfeits can be traced back to the 1920s so it's not a new phenomena.

Photos are necessary as there are member here who are very good at telling the differences between genuine and imitation.

Still...there's always the chance it could be real.

hello, mr. whiplash; could be a second contract dragoon mistaken for 1847 model, biggest difference is cylinder.

regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

I have owned a Dragoon and this is definitely not a Dragoon.

hello, sir; second contract revolvers,were called fluck model after ther researcher. colt complained to congress he lost money on 1847 contract so was given this contract in compensation. good lawyer, good friends in congress like collins. i had a chance to purchase a very worn pair in yankton, s d in '55 but we thought at the time they were faked so-called 60/40 fake 1847's. they were not.

 

[seabobro46]

100% Correct ^^^^

hi, terry; if findable, i would want more than one "expert's" opinion and a full non destructible test by mass spectrometer to discern if made with pre bessemer best NADER gun iron and gun steel or no deal. robin rapley believed there should be at least one more out there.

jim

 

[seabobro46]

"He wants about $7500 for it which also seems odd. " That is way beneath the price for a genuine Walker Colt. I'd require an expert opinion before I bought it.

there is a slight possibility that the revolver could be the last unknown paterson famco prototypes uncle eller allowed saml. to have made there and the number may have some meaning to colt (like 4-12-44 the first time texas was mentioned in congress) been added for whatever reason.

7 paterson "collins" prototypes were supposed to be fabricated, 6 are known. the missin one would have had the LONDON address on the barrel.

jim

 

[seabobro46]

Here are a few of my reproductions.


View attachment 790418

hi, excellent! you keep them well.
i will hope you find the last collins or one of the 1847's robin was searching for.

jim

 

[seabobro46]

I will find out nut the serial number still seems wrong: 317??

saml. colt was a numerologist. the number could mean somethin to him. i can not find much information on dr, coult of new york, london and bombay.
regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

Great history lesson Jim. Very much appreciate all of your input. 👍👍

thaks again terry, i have been studying the 1847's, the second contracts and the seven collins since 1995 at the same time researching the meaning of the single number stamped on the butt caps of f e thomas bamboo fly rods.

jim

 

[seabobro46]

Welcome to the COLT Forum from the Cradle Of Liberty...Pennsylvania !!

Enjoy Our Community Sir... and I hope your new found "Walker" turns out to be authentic.

.
hello shooter; that would be great, perhaps one we could measure against the numerous fakes which abound.

regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

Unfortunately he has no provenance or anything on the item, very sad.

hello; in dealing with someone
selling an 1847 colt, i actually feel better with him than with one with an arnload of faked paperwork and grandma's memoirs. all can be faked, just like the arms,

I am having deja vu real bad. Didn't this exact scenario just happen a year ago with almost the same price? At the time it was thought that if it was real, the price was unbelievably low and if it was a reproduction it was crazy high? It seems to me, that a seller of something like this is going to do some homework and if real, it's going to be at what other authentic Walkers sold for. I think many buyers think, that if I keep this on the down low, I can swoop in and make a fortune. In reality, it is most likely a defarbed reproduction meant to trick a buyer. Can it not be checked to see if the screw threads are metric or standard? For $7000, surely the seller can check that in front of you.

Here is a thread MRCVS started to help:

Putting to rest the myth that one’s Colt Walker might be...

On various occasions, well meaning individuals post photographs of their Colt Walker revolver and the sentiment ranges from confidence that it’s the genuine article, to hope that it is, to doubts that it is, but, hey, maybe, you never know. Here’s why that one can prove definitively that one’s...

www.coltforum.com

hello; it is very difficult to persuade a person selling an apparent 1847 - colt called it a walker - dragoon to allow a non expert even to hold his property because expensive damage can be incurred. example, the keeper spring at the bottom of the barrel after over 250 years has become unbelievably WEAK and will break, it is a spring, if lucky, an unknowing person might only bend one but most of the springs are today delaminated i observed an employee of the biggest auction house on earth destroy one on a cold, cold december day in manhattan. try to purchase a replacement. parts for 1847's are small, easily misplaced or lost.

remove a screw? greg martin might convince someone to allow him to do so.

i would not even let randolph scott (cue the heavenly music) remove a screw from mine.

regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

hi, terry; if findable, i would want more than one "expert's" opinion and a full non destructible test by mass spectrometer to discern if made with pre bessemer best NADER gun iron and gun steel or no deal. robin rapley believed there should be at least one more out there. jim

colt did specify best naylor, but we are told he bought all available on the east coast and did not have enough; we are not told what steel or iron the substitutes were. the bethlehem steel co. meterorite mine could be a candidate for some. we are not told how much substitutes nor what parts suffered the change. isn't this fun ? i suspect the quiet substitutions may have fueled a lot of the disasters because the first of them off the line were and are excellent and appear to be of the highest grade of crucible steel for making surgical and scientific instruments.

regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

Great history lesson Jim. Very much appreciate all of your input. 👍👍
[/

This is my 3rd Series Signature Edition Colt Walker. Eric Deaton...who wrote "Collecting Modern Colt Blackpowder Revolvers"...said it's the highest serial number he has seen. I guess it's possible it might be the last Colt Walker made...possibly.

• 

well, you haven't scarred it up it much playing with it . that is handsome. i can not get accustomed to 1847's blued and case hardened.
regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

Does he seem to have any clue what he MIGHT have? His asking price would indicate he does not. However he somehow established his asking price, based on what?
Hope it’s the real deal in spite of the odds. Good luck. Jonl51

Out of the 1,000 original Colt Walkers built, only about 5,000 exist today.

hello, and probably approximately 39 of them are real but may never been in mexico.

regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

i would not even let randolph scott (cue the heavenly music) remove a screw from mine.

cue heavenly chorus
regards,

 

[seabobro46]

Armi San Marcos made in 1987. They were known for their forged frames. EMF holster…you do not many Walker holsters, “Big Iron” on the hip.

View attachment 790652

i do miss marty.

 

[seabobro46]

Hello All,
I found what appears to be a Walker Colt in a presentation case with all of the extras in it. At face value it seems to be the real thing and it is rather well used and worn. The presentation case has a brass plate with a name engraved on it but it is well polished and almost unreadable. I have a few concerns: for such a "worn" revolver there is absolutely no play on the mechanisms and all it tight, smooth and firm...possible but unlikely. My biggest concern is the serial number (that matches on all of the parts): 317. This is not the number for a Walker series but an Army revolver. This one is definitely a Walker. How can I make sure it is a genuine Walker and not a copy or reproduction that has been made to look old?

hello, use a non destructive mass spectrometer to analyze the metals. have him remove the walnut handle and look for pencil serial number under the backstrap. i am tossing in my cards, that one is too hard to call by long distance, needs hands on. good luck, you never know till you have all the facts. if you read his own story saml colt's record of producing the 1847, yhere was a discussion about the numbers. there was a change, the dies were returned to the die maker but we are not told what was being used before the dies returned. i do not believe for a new york minute that colt sat on his hands, waiting.
regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

Hello All,hello
I found what appears to be a Walker Colt in a presentation case with all of the extras in it. At face value it seems to be the real thing and it is rather well used and worn. The presentation case has a brass plate with a name engraved on it but it is well polished and almost unreadable. I have a few concerns: for such a "worn" revolver there is absolutely no play on the mechanisms and all it tight, smooth and firm...possible but unlikely. My biggest concern is the serial number (that matches on all of the parts): 317. This is not the number for a Walker series but an Army revolver. This one is definitely a Walker. How can I make sure it is a genuine Walker and not a copy or reproduction that has been made to look old?

hello, also, speak to tom del mar, the premier authority in europe.
regards, bro

 

[seabobro46]

both the barrel and the cylinder display the "snowflakes" associated with the naylor steel which appear to be found on arms not recently cleaned.also, the cylinder shows oval stops (but there are examples out there with round and oval, so take your pick). the barrel address is at least halfway decent
,


regards, brol

 

[seabobro46]

He says it was a part exchange for an old rifle. That's all he knows. I'll try to find out where he got it and follow up with that

And that’s your first clue that this example is very likely a fake.

When an individual other than a close friend or relative—and, usually, unfortunately, a close friend or relative—presents a Colt Walker for $7500, odds are overwhelmingly in favor of the Colt Walker not being genuine and well overpriced as a reproduction at $7500.

it does not appear to be a production whitneyville 1847 colt. that has been my perception. however, there are other models to consider. colt had the pattern room at famco turning out, regularly, experimentals. we are not told what experimental if any, were produced at whitneyville. tradition has it that blunt and syms produced at least one prototype of the 1847 nmodel but they were colt's agents and more likely the prototypes all came from paterson.
i do believe this is a colt, or one of the early copies.colt screamed of forgers and patent infringements, but it is my opinion that was showmanship with little substance.

regards, bro

no.1 son says it's not a real corvette if it does not have chrome bumpers.

 

[seabobro46]

Almost everyone has access to the internet. Unless the seller's been living on a deserted island he has to have some idea about the value of a Walker. The 7500.00 tag is a dead giveaway and he's claiming ignorance therefore deniability when you send it out for authentication and find it's an aged back reproduction. There are some pretty convincing repros from the 50's still around, maybe this is one but I think more recent. And, let's face it, virtually ALL the genuine survivors are well documented.
BTW, the 50's repros go for 4K+.
Good Luck, hope it's real!

hello, yes, and i havent seen a pedersen reproduction in years.

regards, nro

 

[seabobro46]

Wouldn’t the repros from the 50s etc.,be made from so called modern steel? Was an authentic Walker made from iron? If that is correct, big difference, but is there a sure-fire non- destructive way to tell the difference? Thanks. Jonl51

hello, actually the contract called for best naylor gun iron and best naylor gun steel. the best steel was crucible steel pre-bessemer process. sadly, some copies were made from 1840's railroad rails. hard to tell. the fakers know their business. thatis how they survive.

regards, bro