1847 Walker vs. 1848 Dragoon

***RWBlue*** · 10-02-2012, 22:01

Why did they stop making the Walked in favor of the Dragoon?

method · 10-03-2012, 02:09

It was seen as an improvement over the Walker. (Slightly) more packable by virtue of being lighter and shorter, gained a latch to keep the loading lever in place. It was nearly as powerful, giving up just 10 grains of powder to a max loaded Walker.

1gewehr · 10-03-2012, 08:36

The Walker is VERY heavy and large!! (4.5lbs and 16" long) The Dragoon shaved half a pound off of that. Also, the long cylinders on the Walker allowed over-charging, and several burst from that.

The .451 260gr bullet from a Dragoon will get close to 1000fps. For it's day, that was as powerful as many carbines.

Bruce M · 10-03-2012, 08:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by method

It was seen as an improvement over the Walker. (Slightly) more packable by virtue of being lighter and shorter, gained a latch to keep the loading lever in place. It was nearly as powerful, giving up just 10 grains of powder to a max loaded Walker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1gewehr

The Walker is VERY heavy and large!! (4.5lbs and 16" long) The Dragoon shaved half a pound off of that. Also, the long cylinders on the Walker allowed over-charging, and several burst from that.

The .451 260gr bullet from a Dragoon will get close to 1000fps. For it's day, that was as powerful as many carbines.

Well there is all that stuff but my guess is the real reason was because someone agreed that "Dragoon" just plain sounded cooler

method · 10-03-2012, 16:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1gewehr

The .451 260gr bullet from a Dragoon will get close to 1000fps. For it's day, that was as powerful as many carbines.

.451 lead balls only weigh about 140 grains. Conicals may go a little heavier, but I doubt it's another 120 grains.

***RWBlue*** · 10-03-2012, 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce M

Well there is all that stuff but my guess is the real reason was because someone agreed that "Dragoon" just plain sounded cooler

I assume that is why it got a TV show named after it....Oh Wait, that was Walker Texas Ranger. Never mind.

***RWBlue*** · 10-03-2012, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by method

It was seen as an improvement over the Walker. (Slightly) more packable by virtue of being lighter and shorter, gained a latch to keep the loading lever in place. It was nearly as powerful, giving up just 10 grains of powder to a max loaded Walker.

That sounds like a good answer.

How much zip did it lose with 10grs less powder?

But I wish they had kept those large cylinders. I have a 1858 and I keep thinking it would be a beast with the larger cylinder.

bac1023 · 10-03-2012, 17:15

It was definitely an improvement.

fnfalman · 10-03-2012, 19:38

I think that until the advent of the .357 Magnum round, there were no other handgun load that would match either the Walker or Dragoon load.

1gewehr · 10-04-2012, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by method

.451 lead balls only weigh about 140 grains. Conicals may go a little heavier, but I doubt it's another 120 grains.

The mold DGW sells makes a 200gr conical bullet. My original Colt mold is a bit deeper, but is for the Dragoon. I have not actually used it, so I don't know how heavy the bullet will be. The early Walker 'Picket' bullet was only 170gr, but reached nearly 1200fps. The 'Picket' bullet is almost all point and very little base.
I have a pair of original .44 Dragoon bullets that are battlefield pickups from near Harper's Ferry. One is 254gr, the other is 262gr. But that may be due to the lead oxide.

I would love to hear an authoritative source on this issue.

Highspeedlane · 10-04-2012, 15:06

I've had an Uberti 1st Model Dragoon since sometime in the mid-90's. It's been quite a while since I shot it, but it is by far the most powerful percussion revolver I've ever owned.

I wanted one of the Dragoon repro's for the longest time especially since reading a dog eared copy of Guns & Ammo's "Guns of the Gunfighters" from the 1970's and the exploits of Mexican outlaw Joaquin Murietta. His band of highwaymen were fond of the Dragoon series, carrying multiple revolvers each in saddle pommel's and waistbands.

Though the Dragoon was still massive, it was a bit lighter and slightly (and I do mean slightly) more compact than their predecessor, the Walker model, while packing all the punch.