Has the Walker Colt Ever Been Made Again
Although the people inside a military's ranks make upward its power and potential, and then too do the weapons the soldiers carry. With the right armaments, a nation tin defeat its enemies, repel invaders, and go along the peace. Some weapons, of course, are more awe-inspiring than others.
With technological advances and military growth, weapons get fifty-fifty more impressive, fifty-fifty more fearsome and frightening. Despite all the incredible weapons that the world has today, ane of the almost powerful e'er used past the military was in a century long past; the Colt Walker of 1847.
Although information technology is no longer seen within the ranks of the United States Military, the Colt Walker of the mid-nineteenth century is the well-nigh powerful and near effective handgun ever used by soldiers. The Americans who wielded the Colt Walker were mortiferous, and here is what made this simple weapon such a powerhouse.
Two Weapon Greats Come up Together
Smashing minds cannot always act lone; sometimes, combining expertise creates incredible results. That is what happened when Texas Ranger Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker and Samuel Colt first joined forces in the 1840s. Walker, an experienced military man, wanted to develop his very own handgun – only he wanted that gun to be incredibly powerful at close range.
Samuel Colt was the perfect man for the job as an American firearms inventor who had been in the concern of building handguns for years. These two men came together to execute Walker'south dreams, basing their initial designs on the Colt Paterson, an earlier Colt model.
Together, Walker and Colt created the 1847 Colt Walker unmarried-action revolver and forever altered history. Everything Walker hoped for was present in this incredible new handgun. At 4.five pounds (unloaded) in weight, the Colt Walker featured a 9-inch barrel that fired a .44 caliber bullet. It could finer shoot projectiles 100 yards with the same muzzle energy as a .357 magnum.
The revolving cylinder that held the handgun's ammunition could pack half dozen charges of blackness powder. One accuse for each of the six bullets and more than double what a typical 1800s blackness powder revolver could contain. The Colt Walker, dissimilar today's bullets, used .44 quotient atomic number 82 balls.
Colt and Walker did non know that their new handgun would get a popular option for soldiers and gun owners. Instead, they began with a elementary goal: create a gun that could supersede the inefficient single-shot pistols that dominated during the 1800s.
The Mexican-American War waged on in the southern U.S. Battles grew both increasingly important and unsafe. Walker and Colt constitute that their new weapon made for more than wins on the battlefield.
Texas Takes on The Powerful Colt
In the months earlier the invention of the 1847 Filly Walker, the Republic of Texas was embroiled in the depths of the Mexican-American War, fighting for territories and ownership against a challenging opponent.
When the state of war began, Texas and its soldiers relied on the Paterson Holster Pistol, a 5-shot revolver that fired .36 caliber projectiles. Walker, as a captain for the Republic of Texas forces, rapidly recognized that the Paterson was not efficient.
Some soldiers relied on the single-shot Aston Johnson handgun instead, finding it easier to holster and fire in the heat of boxing. These, however, took far too long to reload before firing additional shots. Walker knew that the Texas forces needed an hands accessible, lightweight, and powerful weapon – exactly what he and Colt created.
So, as soon as the Colt Walker was ready for action, the Texas military ordered one,000 of them to be used in the ongoing war.
Of course, Walker and Colt needed a manufacturer who could turn their cosmos into a mass-produced product. The men joined forces with Eli Whitney, Jr. He filled the Republic of Texas club and even produced an boosted 100 handguns as promotional gifts for Walker and Colt to hand out or sell at their discretion.
Once produced, they were sent off to Veracruz and into the hands of soldiers ready to wield the most powerful weapon in American history.
The Colt Walker Faces Growing Pains
Every bit shortly equally the 1847 Filly Walker hitting soldiers' easily, it was as efficient and effective as Walker and Colt promised. However, the ii men had not really field-tested their weapon – created in haste in the midst of state of war. Every last kink and potential problem had not entirely been ironed out.
Soldiers institute the Filly Walker cumbersome and difficult to wield due to its big size. More than importantly, the six cylinders that gave the handgun its impressive speed ruptured hands.
Years after, this was attributed to soldiers' own errors. Not every Filly Walker owner was properly taught to keep powder from spilling out of the gun'south chambers, or how to load the bullets correctly. As many every bit 300 of the original 1,000 handguns were sent dorsum to Eli Whitney, Jr.'south manufacturing heart for ruptured cylinders.
At that place was another quite unexpected problem. If the gun's user overfilled the chambers with pulverization, the Colt Walker would explode in his hands. Also as this mortiferous issue, the handgun as well proved slower than Colt and Walker intended. The loading lever catch frequently dropped during the gun's recoil, slowing down the user'southward ability to quickly fire off follow-upwardly shots in mere seconds.
The 2 men tried to correct these problems, just luckily the weapon proved so powerful and effective that these issues did not detract from the Colt Walker'due south overall success.
As years passed and the Filly Walker saw increasing action, it grew into 1 of the nigh popular weapons ever used in America. It was certainly the most powerful weapon – and handgun – always employed by the armed services, and information technology earned even greater popularity in the years after the Mexican-American State of war.
The original 1,100 guns produced are at present extremely rare collector's items, virtually incommunicable to find and incredibly expensive. In 2008, one original Filly Walker owned by a Mexican-American War veteran sold for $920,000 at auction. Sadly, the weapon'southward creators did non live long and missed seeing its heightened popularity.
Samuel Walker was killed in the war, carrying his very own Colt Walker in the same year it was released. Samuel Filly died virtually a decade later in 1862 after suffering from gout.
The two live on through the power and history of their handgun, the one that truly made American history.
Source: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/guns/1847-colt-walker-powerful-weapon.html
Post a Comment for "Has the Walker Colt Ever Been Made Again"