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Jolly_Roger · February 25, 2008, 12:12 PM

Long time lurker, first time poster. I just bought a Walker replica in the "Bargain Cave" at my local Cabela's. They said it was in the cave because it had been a display model, but the sale was "as is". It didn't appear to have any obvious mechanical problems, but it did have a significant turn line on the cylinder.

When I got it home and began to take it apart for the initial cleaning, I discovered why it had the turn line. It seems that when the hammer is first pulled back, the bolt retracts just like it's supposed to. However, when the hammer reaches half cock, the bolt snaps back into place against the cylinder. So from that point on, the bolt is dragging against the cylinder until it locks into the recess in the cylinder. So if you have the hammer at half cock and turn the cylinder to line up with the plunger, (as you would while loading) the bolt is dragging on the cylinder and making it hard to turn.

I took the gun completely apart, and I understand (I think) how it operates. I found no broken parts, but I did break the mainspring when trying to reassemble it (I guess my vice grips were a compressing the spring a little too much). Sometimes if I very slowly and carefully pull the hammer back, I can get it to half cock with the bolt still retracted. But if you pull the hammer back in a normal manner, the bolt pops out when the hammer gets to half cock. I thought about filing the hammer to shorten the half cock notch, but I'm not sure that would help. My thinking was that if the hammer reached half cock "earlier" in its rotation, the hammer end of the bolt would still be in the cam, and holding the bolt down. My other thought was that maybe I should try to build up the cam a little (maybe with JB Weld?) and then file it as necessary so the bolt stays on it a little longer.

Any suggestions anyone might have would be appreciated. Also, since I have to order a mainspring any way, I would like to order any other parts I might need at the same time. I thought about getting a new hammer and bolt, but a new hammer is about $40, and I hate to spend that amount without being sure that would fix the problem. I tried loosening the bolt/trigger spring, but really couldn't tell any difference as far as the bolt staying down like it's supposed to.

Anyway, thanks for reading this long winded post and thanks for all the useful information in this forum. I've learned a lot by reading the various posts, and they convinced me to give BP a try.

February 25, 2008, 12:12 PM	#1
Jolly_Roger Junior Member Join Date: February 25, 2008 Posts: 6	New Walker...with a problem Long time lurker, first time poster. I just bought a Walker replica in the "Bargain Cave" at my local Cabela's. They said it was in the cave because it had been a display model, but the sale was "as is". It didn't appear to have any obvious mechanical problems, but it did have a significant turn line on the cylinder. When I got it home and began to take it apart for the initial cleaning, I discovered why it had the turn line. It seems that when the hammer is first pulled back, the bolt retracts just like it's supposed to. However, when the hammer reaches half cock, the bolt snaps back into place against the cylinder. So from that point on, the bolt is dragging against the cylinder until it locks into the recess in the cylinder. So if you have the hammer at half cock and turn the cylinder to line up with the plunger, (as you would while loading) the bolt is dragging on the cylinder and making it hard to turn. I took the gun completely apart, and I understand (I think) how it operates. I found no broken parts, but I did break the mainspring when trying to reassemble it (I guess my vice grips were a compressing the spring a little too much). Sometimes if I very slowly and carefully pull the hammer back, I can get it to half cock with the bolt still retracted. But if you pull the hammer back in a normal manner, the bolt pops out when the hammer gets to half cock. I thought about filing the hammer to shorten the half cock notch, but I'm not sure that would help. My thinking was that if the hammer reached half cock "earlier" in its rotation, the hammer end of the bolt would still be in the cam, and holding the bolt down. My other thought was that maybe I should try to build up the cam a little (maybe with JB Weld?) and then file it as necessary so the bolt stays on it a little longer. Any suggestions anyone might have would be appreciated. Also, since I have to order a mainspring any way, I would like to order any other parts I might need at the same time. I thought about getting a new hammer and bolt, but a new hammer is about $40, and I hate to spend that amount without being sure that would fix the problem. I tried loosening the bolt/trigger spring, but really couldn't tell any difference as far as the bolt staying down like it's supposed to. Anyway, thanks for reading this long winded post and thanks for all the useful information in this forum. I've learned a lot by reading the various posts, and they convinced me to give BP a try.