410 Walker Conversion?

W

w.t. anderson

Inactive
Excuse me if these questions have been addressed before, but I wonder if a 2.5 inch 410 shotgun shell will load/fit into a Howell conversion cylinder for the Colt Walker? If not, could a .45 Casull or .460 brass be used to handload a shotload? Will 50 grains of BP fit in a .45 Casull brass? Thanks for any information you can provide.
"Bloody Bill"
 
My first inclination is to ask ..Why?... but I get some strange ideas running through my head frequently as well. First, the conversion cylinder chambers probably have a restricting "throat" that would be problematic since it's measured for a 45lC round vs. a 45 casull. Probably won't chamber a casull. Probably have the same issue with a regular .410 round. Say you ream out the chamber throats, you'll mess up any accuracy for 45LC rounds, and .410's will have a bad donut pattern anyway because of the barrel rifling. You can always load 45lc brass with BP and shot. I've done that, and it works ok as a close up snake load, but that close I could probably hit it with a bullet anyway.

Adding: With a cylinder as long as one for a Walker, you could probably ream the throats to take casull brass, and get a bit more powder in there. I would imagine that could hold nearly 50gr fffg with a little compression. Not sure the conversion cylinder would be safe with that or not. And if you ever put a real 45 Casull round in there, you'd have a pretty nice grenade.
 
I have often contemplated loading a Walker with shot and having a spare barrel bored smooth. I'm not sure how useful it would be for rabbits or squirrels but it does seem like a fun toy.
 
With such a short barreled gun, patterns beyond 15 feet or so would be useless IMHO. If you can get within 15 feet of a squirrel, throw a rock. :D
 
I don't know what "big game" you're going after . .. :D . . . but rather than ream throats on an expensive conversion cylinder, etc. - why don't you just load shot shells using the 45 Colt brass? It's been done many, many times in a wide variety of calibers - 38,44, 45 . . .

For snakes close up they'll work . . . if you're worried about killing snakes (I say snakes since that's why most folks do it) further away . . then you have plenty of space to "back out" and leave 'em be.

Shot shells in brass casings can be loaded in a variety of ways . . . cut your own wads out of the thickness of material you want with a case with the mouth "sharpened" . . I do it with a case mouth chamfer tool. You can also use aluminum or copper gas checks . . . put in powder, seat the lower gas check, fill with shot and press in a gas check on top and add a light crimp. Not the "beefy" shot shells like the .410, etc. but they do work.

Personally . . . the last thing I'd be doing to a expensive conversion cylinder is reaming the thats out just so I could shoot shot . . . and a smooth bore barrel isn't necessary. And, you run in to another problem with a "smooth bore" barely . . . as soon as you ad a conversion cylinder to a BP revolver it becomes a "cartridge handgun" and falls under the same classifications as all cartridge handguns . . . . and the last thing I knew . . . "cartridge handguns" with smooth bores were a "no no" under the Fed. Rules?
 
I wouldn't bother with the conversion cylinder myself, though (magnuman?) has made one that uses special brass for his .45 black powder magnum. If it weren't that I wouldn't mess with it. I kind of like 'em the way they are, and if time is of the essence I enjoy making paper cartridges prior to my shooting day.

I played left field as I could get the ball out there, but wasn't good enough to dot the i to be the pitcher! I did look into jug choking for a 28 ga but it seems no one works on them for anything under a 20 ga. I have read how a heavier shot over powder (volume) tends to help hold a pattern longer. Not sure how that would do from a 9" barrel, but seems fun enough to try. I'd hope for an ok pattern at 15 yds though.

I've seen the Walker carbine on THR and figure that would make one nice little gun with a 16-18" barrel, and just as well with a smooth barrel I'd think. The one I'm talking about seems longer (20+") and has a proper stock. But with the forearm I'd think it too second nature to use it.
 
Not much different than a Taurus Judge. The barrel would be longer than the Judge. Might be interesting with the 2.5" shells and buckshot.

TK
 
yep... I have a custom that uses 460 S&W cases...

couldn't you load the revolver as is, in black powder, with shot, rather than a bullet??? even if you used a plastic ( or paper ) shot capsule...

... as expensive as .410 shells are, your blackpowder shot revolver might be way cheaper to shoot...

... as far as loading cheaper "shotshells" I converted a Contender 44 Hotshot barrel to shoot 444 Marlin cases, & load those like 3" 410... the Hotshot barrel is rifled, but uses a TC straight rifled choke tube that threads into the end of the barrel, to eliminate the dreaded "doughnut" pattern :)
 
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