Colt Heritage Walker

[Im2bent]

So after tuning my Uberti Dragoon and Pietta Navy in .36 cal. I took a look at my friends Walker since Coffinmaker informed me that it is really just an Uberti with Colts name on it. I purchased this revolver for my friend as a Christmas gift a few years ago thinking it was a real Colt. After finding out Colt basically threw their name on an italian clone just to get in on the cap and ball market I asked my friend for the pistol so I could give it a look see to see how bad I got ripped off. Now keep in mind it does have the Colt name and came in a nice case with a book on the history of Colt and some nice extras. It really is a sweet looking piece. So I went to remove the barrel and received the first shock. It was so wedged on I had to drive a wooden wedge between the cylinder and barrel to get enough  force on it to remove it. When it came off one of the frame pins stayed in the barrel and the other was noticeably crooked. With the barrel off the arbor sprang back to where it wanted to be which is to say pointing slightly up. this meant the frame pins do not line up with the holes in the barrel which is partly why the barrel was jammed on. Also the arbor was much larger than the arbor hole which was a double whammy locking the two pieces together. It gets better. The left grip frame screw started to get hard to back out as I was unscrewing it. This instantly set alarm bells off because this means the screw is galling or already cross threaded. So I carefully worked it back and forth a half turn at a time until it came out. Yep the end of the screw was galled up big time. Why? Oh this is sweet. The hole for the grip screw intersects the hole for the hammer screw. That's right the monkey at the factory drove the grip screw across/through the steel hammer screw. He had to know it was screwed heh heh' get it screwed. But wait there's more. The same screw hole looks like it was drilled a hair too deep and when they tapped it the end of the tap almost pushed into the channel for the hand so where the hand rides there is a bulge of metal from where the tap almost broke though. I honed the arbor hole to get the arbor to not wedge and allow me to install the barrel enough to see the misalignment of the pins in the frame. The pins were exerting enough force on the barrel that the holes in the barrel are slightly deformed. The pins are off by about half a hole. So I am thinking the arbor needs to be lined up. The question is how to get the arbor straight. I have to think the hole the arbor screws into was drilled a hair crooked to cause this? So remove the arbor and shave a hair off the bottom of the arbor shoulder in the hopes that it will force the arbor straight when tightened? On the bright side I only paid a grand for this item........

[Coffinmaker]

 
Ah yes.  The Famous or is it infamous Uberti Colt.  I sometimes thought These guns were never intended to be fired or play'd with.  Just fondled and admired.  "See Spot.  See Spot Run.  See spot grab his Uberti Colt"

You were only ripped off about 600 Bucks.

[Im2bent]

So any clues on re-alignment of the arbor?

[greyhawk]

So any clues on re-alignment of the arbor?

I would leave it alone unless the gun wont function - not an excercise for the faint hearted
Springing the arbour half a hole to get it together dont sound good either though

Maybe Coffinmaker has this one -- go shoot it !

My son's walker had loosened the arbour thread in the frame - they (some anyway) are secured with a sacrificial pin drilled and driven into the threads after the arbour is screwed in place so we had to drill that pin out - then remove the arbour,  clean up the threads, reset the whole thing with a new retainer pin and lots of RED loctite.

I dont remember the detail and had forgot the whole thing until just now - I got it together tight and its held so far - I dont believe I made a new arbour but that is a possibility. Could be I machined the contact shoulder and set the whole thing back a thread ? seems unlikely also.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

I have been less than impressed in general with Uberti percussion Colts as of late.  Yes early Piettas were horrible, but lately (last 10 years or so, maybe a little less), they have been excellent.  I have a 15-20 year old Pietta 1860 basket case, that doesn't even look like it was made by the same company as the 1860 I used for my Kirst Saber River conversion.   It seems since Pietta started making the 1873 SAA Great Westerns for EMF, they got serious about BP pistol quality control.

[Im2bent]

Well thankfully I am not feint of heart  . I am not foolhardy either which is why I am asking for advice. Surely someone has had to do this and there is a method? 45 Dragoon, Coffinmaker? Help?

[RUSS123]

Well thankfully I am not feint of heart  . I am not foolhardy either which is why I am asking for advice. Surely someone has had to do this and there is a method? 45 Dragoon, Coffinmaker? Help?

I thought about what you wrote. Sounds like that Walker had never been taken apart until you just did. It may have been put together with an angled up Arbor due to an out of square miss-cutting of the threads in the frame and then the barrel was forced on. You had to wedge it to pound off the barrel. I can't think of any other reason for it. Maybe the threads on the arbor were miss-cut.

I looked on the Taylor's web site under there accessories/parts for the Uberti Walker that they sell. The parts diagram on the Walker shows the frame as #1 and the Arbor, they label as "cylinder pin" part #21. The Arbor is $20 but the frame is not listed with a price. I guess you can't buy a new frame but you can order a new Arbor and pin, assuming it would be the same by specification! Right, what specification! If might be worth 20 bucks to try a new arbor. I wish I had the answer for you. Good luck!

[Coffinmaker]

Put it back together.

Put it back in the box.

Hand it back.

[Bunk]

the reason my last four guns have been Pietta. A pair of Capt. Schaeffer replicas, and a pair of DLX Marshall.
Why pairs? I have two hands and when I fill my hands I fill 'em full.
Makes more smoke
Yr' Obt' Svt'
Bunk

[greyhawk]

the reason my last four guns have been Pietta. A pair of Capt. Schaeffer replicas, and a pair of DLX Marshall.
Why pairs? I have two hands and when I fill my hands I fill 'em full.
Makes more smoke
Yr' Obt' Svt'
Bunk

Is it just me ??

Fills his hands with Captain Schaeffer Colts
then signs "Your Obedient Servant"
somebody gonna argue ? no sir...........

[Kent Shootwell]

2111 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
The sign I have in my shop.

[greyhawk]

2111 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
The sign I have in my shop.

ok  ok !! I'll wait........................

wasnt really in that big of a hurry

[Im2bent]

Well I called Mike (45 Dragoon) to see if he could provide some insight and boy did he. First off let me say Mike is a true gentleman. How so you say? Because he freely and generously gives advice even though I am not only not a paying customer but by giving this advice he is giving away hard earned knowledge in his craft. There are a lot of people that are not only not willing to do so but get very confrontational if you ask them how to do something that they do for a living. And that is not just gunsmithing, its everything from appliance repair to automotive work. You want to get in a fight? Call  an auto repair place tell em you are trying to fix your own car and you want to know how to do it.....hoo boy. So anyway I had a very pleasant conversation with him and proceeded to straighten out the Walker. I drilled out the lock pin for the arbor and removed it. I then removed a shade of material from one side of the arbor shoulder and peened the opposing side to get the arbor to kick over when tightened. I did this in stages until I got things to line up the way I wanted them too. I then drifted in a new locking pin. She has been tuned, the action is slick as snot, I set endshake at .004" timing is good trigger pull is about 2 pounds and she is sporting a new set of slixshots. Oh and she says Colt on the side so that has to be worth say oh 600 bucks on its own what say you Coffinmaker?

[greyhawk]

Well I called Mike (45 Dragoon) to see if he could provide some insight and boy did he. First off let me say Mike is a true gentleman. How so you say? Because he freely and generously gives advice even though I am not only not a paying customer but by giving this advice he is giving away hard earned knowledge in his craft. There are a lot of people that are not only not willing to do so but get very confrontational if you ask them how to do something that they do for a living. And that is not just gunsmithing, its everything from appliance repair to automotive work. You want to get in a fight? Call  an auto repair place tell em you are trying to fix your own car and you want to know how to do it.....hoo boy. So anyway I had a very pleasant conversation with him and proceeded to straighten out the Walker. I drilled out the lock pin for the arbor and removed it. I then removed a shade of material from one side of the arbor shoulder and peened the opposing side to get the arbor to kick over when tightened. I did this in stages until I got things to line up the way I wanted them too. I then drifted in a new locking pin. She has been tuned, the action is slick as snot, I set endshake at .004" timing is good trigger pull is about 2 pounds and she is sporting a new set of slixshots. Oh and she says Colt on the side so that has to be worth say oh 600 bucks on its own what say you Coffinmaker?

Good job ---didnt take you long either!
I would be curious to know what bore/groove and cylinder dimensions that walker has ?

Re the auto repairers try this - take your vehicle into the shop and tell the guy theres a rattle/funny noise you want gone and its in the drivers side front -----he will commence operations at the passenger side rear bumper and will dismantle most of your car before he looks where you told him you thought it was - in the end you get a huge bill - still got the rattle though!

[Coffinmaker]

I think you done good Im2.  You now have a working expensive Uberti.  Now get out there and shoot it!!   

[Im2bent]

Well thank you CM . You mean slug the barrel for groove sizes? I gave it back to my friend but when I get my hands on it again I will give that a try. You just basically drive a ball through the bore correct? Just tap it through with a small hammer and a long drift?

[Oldgold]

Glad you got it fixed. Did your friend ever shoot it?

[Im2bent]

Hah fat chance with the corona panic everything in Cali is shutdown including shooting ranges. Lol he just ordered a lemat that will be interesting.