Author Topic: Well, it IS an open-top...  (Read 4449 times)

Offline Tinker Pearce

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Well, it IS an open-top...
« on: September 05, 2017, 04:24:37 PM »
Ever had a brilliant idea, gotten all excited and then found out a bunch' other people had the same idea... before you did? Yep, me too. Some time back it occurred to me that the Walker was a pretty powerful gun, and maybe it deserved something a bit more than a .45 Colt in it's conversion cylinder... I expressed the idea, and folks pretty quickly pointed me to the .45 BPM, .45 Brimstone, .45-60-225... OK, it ain't an original idea, but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea.

Recently a buddy of mine spotted a deal on an ASM Walker and passed it along to me. Since all these other fellas had gone all clever before me I figured I needed to do something different- starting with the barrel-length. It's a bit unwieldy and I seem to find myself pursuing Blacktails into the pucker brush more often than I'd like. 3-1/2" seemed just about right... Gotta say I'm liking it. The gun handles and points well. Needs a lotta work just yet of course- not the least of which is the cylinder conversion and a new set of grips. I dunno if these ones have shrunk over the years, but they purely do not fit well and they need to go.

Anyway we'll see how I get on. Been consulting with some of those clever folks about load development, bullets and suchlike. Whatever else results, it's gonna be a good time! It ain't much to look at yet, but it's early days. I'll keep you posted.

Offline Major 2

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #1 on: September 05, 2017, 05:20:24 PM »
 nihil sub sole novum...
There is nothing new under the sun.

There is nothing truly novel in existence. Every new idea has some sort of precedent or echo from the past.
when planets align...do the deal !

Offline Forty Rod

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2017, 05:25:37 PM »
Just DON'T put Lightning grips on it.  Looks good the way it is.
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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #3 on: Today at 06:41:46 PM »

Offline Tinker Pearce

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2017, 05:29:28 PM »
Just DON'T put Lightning grips on it.  Looks good the way it is.

No danger of that! That grip hangs the gun in my hand real nice.

Offline Coffinmaker

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2017, 09:10:23 PM »

Well.  Well well well.  Heck.  In this particular instance Tinker, you've beaten me too it.  I have been toying with the idea of building a pair of Snubbie Walkers. 

I also thought it could be some kind of something else to build the pair as 45 Brimstone.  At a night soot it would be absolutely AWSOME.  Now I want to follow your progress and start shopping around for a pair of Walkers.  Has to be a pair.  I shoot Gunfighter.  Ah, even built into a Snubbie, the Walker is still one really BIG pistol.

Offline Tinker Pearce

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2017, 10:03:57 PM »
It may be worse than you know Coffinmaker- how does .476 Walker strike you? I've been doing a little math and a 300gr. bullet at 1050fps would be a possibility, and I just happen to know a fella that has just started cast .476 Heel-base bullets... Shorten a .460 S&W to accommodate those... hmmm.

That might be just a wee bit more ambitious than I want try first time out of the gate... maybe too expensive but the idea is intriguing...

Offline G Bulldog Grainisland III

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2017, 01:54:58 AM »
Sorta snub-nosed Walker, absolutely spiffing!!!

-Bulldog

Offline Tornado

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2017, 08:05:12 AM »
Walkers have always looked a little ungainly to me, but shortening them to all the way back to the lug makes it look awesome!  Would you rebore the barrel for .476"?

Offline Tinker Pearce

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2017, 10:36:04 AM »
Walkers have always looked a little ungainly to me, but shortening them to all the way back to the lug makes it look awesome!  Would you rebore the barrel for .476"?

If I go that route- a very big if- I'll bore out and re-line the barrel. No interest in building a rifling jig!  .476 is just a notion that occurred to me. Most likely this one will remain a .45, but who knows what the future may hold?

I thought it probably best to reassure you all at this point that I will be proceeding with caution. After advice and due consideration I have shelved the idea of using Red Dot powder for this cartridge, and will be working up loads with Trail Boss. This is a much more forgiving powder and has yielded good results in my short-barreled .38 S&W. I am doing this for fun, and my definition of that quality does not include detonating things that I hold in my hand!

Regarding the gun I am using- despite it's age the gun was apparently in un-fired condition when I got it. Detail stripping it revealed no residual powder fouling or wear on any of it's components. Owing to my profession I have a fair bit of metallurgical knowledge and have examined the gun carefully. The cylinder appears to be a mild steel, 1018-1020 or it's equivalent. It is quite soft but also very thick, and this material in this condition has high elastic limits. I will be doing chamber castings as I work up to more powerful loads and at the first sign of stretching or other issues I will shelve this cylinder and go different route. The arbor tests at around HRc40, indicating that it is tempered steel of an appropriate hardness. The frame exhibits qualities similar to half-hard spring steel; I have my doubts that it is actually case-hardened. If I don't go nuts it ought to be up to the job, but again at the first sign of issues it's over.

My reason for basing this conversion on the ASM cylinder is simple- I've got it and rather than turn it into paper-weight why not try it? At very least I'll learn something, and I can always toss it and go a different route if it isn't working out (or I screw it up.) My original plan was to use a Kirst cylinder, and I will revert to that plan in a heartbeat at the first sign of trouble. Alternatively I might buy some 4140 round stock and attempt a scratch-built cylinder. I've never done this, but it should be within the limits of my skills and equipment and I will almost certainly try it eventually, if not for this project then another down the road.

Anyway I just wanted to reassure you all that I am actually thinking about this and trying to exercise due diligence.

Offline Professor Marvel

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2017, 03:30:44 PM »
Greetings My Dear TInker -

it's good to hear read  that, we do occasionally get the odd youngster that decides that he cannot continue to exist until
he turns his .31 C&B pocket pistol into a .577 Nitro Express  LOL .....

It could prove educational to know what year the ASM was made - If you still have the factory markings on the ASM, you sjhould be able to find the 2 letter date code, which can be deciphered as below. That could tell us when your ASM was made, and thus help us determine if it is one of the "good ones" or was built during the "sad years".

 One fellow loaded up his ASM Walker with 3F BP and a heavy conical and got the below (unfortunately photos are gone)

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/burst-walker-cylinder.751807/

One can find the date code by going here
https://bluebookofgunvalues.com/Info/PDF/POWDER/MBPProofmarks.pdf
or here if that is broken
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,60025.0.html

yhs
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Offline Tinker Pearce

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2017, 03:39:28 PM »
Thanks Professor! According to the information provided this gun was produced in 1991. Don't know if that was a 'good' or 'sad' year, but it's nice to know when it was made.

Offline Tinker Pearce

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Re: Well, it IS an open-top...
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2017, 08:37:03 PM »
After reading about oversized bores on some ASMs I slugged mine this afternoon- .452! This is helpful. Measured the throats of the cylinder and got .445. That's OK as they will be reamed out for the cartridge.

 

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