Colt Walker Pistol
date: label: Date made
content: 1846
name: label: maker
content: Whitney Arms Company
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: Colt Walker pistol, known as the United States Model 1847.
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: The Colt Walker was officially designated a pistol as it was the first revolver ever purchased by the Army Ordnance Department. This was a problem in that many men had never seen a revolver, much less used one, resulting in many burst cylinders, the accidental firing of all six chambers.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: The Walker pistols were manufactured during a short production run in 1847. The pistol was named after Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker, a renowned national hero who had fought in the Texas-Mexico wars. Captain Walker approached Samuel Colt, a leading firearms designer, to create a pistol suitable for the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Dragoons. The new weapon was designed by both Colt and Walker, based on the Colt Paterson revolver, but clearly improved. It proved to be a revolver of such size, weight, and heft that Colt was reputed to have said, "It would take a Texan to shoot it." Walker wrote in 1847 that the gun was "as effective as a common rifle at 100 yards and superior to a musket even at 200." Far more powerful than the earlier Patersons, this gun quickly became legendary. For those who could afford it, the Walker Colt was a symbol of strength, authority and great financial means. While the gun was a financial success for Colt, Captain Walker met a tragic end. Fighting at the front in the Mexican War, he was killed by a lance in the Battle of Juamantla in early October 1847. At the time of his death, Walker was carrying a pair of Walker pistols--gifts from Colt which had just arrived a few days before.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Connecticut
label: used in
content: United States: Texas
topic: label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1993.0415.01
label: catalog number
content: 1993.0415.01
label: accession number
content: 1993.0415
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Revolver
label: Other Terms
content: Revolver; Firearms; .44
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall length: 41.5 cm; x 16 5/16 in
label: Measurements
content: barrel length: 22.5 cm; x 8 7/8 in