[Doc Hoy]

The Dragoon represents an improvement over the Walker in one area.

The Walker loading lever had a holding catch which did not work on originals and does not work on replicas. The effect is that when you fire the revolver with a heavy charge, the loading lever drops and in some cases it goes so far that the ram engages the chamber on the cylinder and you have to raise the lever before you can cock the revolver and advance the cylinder.

The problem was so significant that shooters came up with ways to hold the lever in place. None of them would have been workable in battle. (Wrap a piece of leather around the barrel and lever, Tape, reshape the catch with a file.) I developed a little clip that works real well.

The latch on the Dragoon is Colt's attempt to correct the problem. It is an interesting solution and not the final design but it works well. The Second Dragoon and subsequent Colt revolvers had a latch which was easier to use.