Whitneyville Walker or Colt Walker

[Jack Gilbert]

I watched the History Channels special on Magnum handguns and they talked about Eli Whitney, in conjuction with Samuel Walker, and the large 44 caliber revolver they invented that held 60 grains of black powder and was made especially for the Texas Rangers for protection and quelling uprisings. When was this revolver first made--I was thinking about 1847 or thereabouts, when did it become the Colt Walker? Real curious about this because this seemed to be some time after the fall of the Alamo. This was considered to be the first Magnum handgun. Thanks for any info. Just wondering about this.

Jack

[ButlerFord45]

In the mid 1840's Captain William Walker of the Texas Rangers went to Sam Colt with a request for a large revolver. After having designed the pistol, they went to Eli Whitney (the inventor of the technique of "mass production")  The making of interchangeable parts was new to the 19th century and to firearms production.

[Flint]

Butlerford had part of the answer.  Colt failed with the Patterson, and closed the New Jersey facility in about 1842.  When Captain Sam Walker, who had used Pattersons with the Texas Rangers approached Sam Colt about a new revolver, Colt had no manufacturing facilities of his own.  They went to Eli Whitney for the manufacture, with the contract that the tooling made to produce the revolver should then go to Colt.  This produced the 1847 Whitneyville/Walker Colt 1847. When Colt opened shop in Connecticut, with Whitney made tooling, he had redesigned the Walker due to weight and blow-ups, to the 1st model Dragoon of 1848.  The Whitney/Colt Dragoon was made with many left over Walker parts, as can be seen in the shape of the top of the wood grips on the very first Dragoons.  Subsequent 2nd and 3rd Model Dragoons were of new manufacture in the Hartford Colt plant.