maillemaker
New member
Looking at sources seemingly reliable most do not mention the design for use against horses as well, though I did find one so far.
http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/...t-dragoon.html
Unfortunately, that's not a source. That's just an internet article re-stating the "shooting horses" line without any citation.
I also know that Steve is hung up on the fact that there is no documentation proving that the Colt Walker was designed for killing horses. At the same time he loves them and shoots them regularly. It is my personal belief documentation or not, the Walker was indeed designed to kill horses. I believe Walker wanted a pistol to shoot the horses out from underneath the Indians. If you get them on the ground, they are not riding all around you slinging arrows at you. Why on earth would Walker want such a powerful pistol simply to shoot Indians and not horses?
Unfortunately, that's not evidence. I consider myself a somewhat serious history buff, having done living history type things for going on 20 years now. In researching historical stuff for re-creation, the gold standard is primary documentation. That is, original artifacts that have not been altered in any way, including documents written by contemporaries. Following that, we have secondary sources, which are built up from primary sources.
I have not located nor been presented with any primary nor secondary sources with citations that indicate a design intent by either Colt nor Walker to be able to shoot horses.
Now granted, I cannot say my research on this was exhaustive. I bought and through inter-library loan read several books on the topic, including Sam Colt's Own Record 1847 which includes all the known correspondence surrounding the development of the Walker.
Full previous discussion on this topic can be found in this thread:
thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539837
Anyway, to date, I have found no citation indicating a desire from either Walker, Colt, nor Whitney about the expected firepower or use of the Walker, other than to indicate the caliber and charge.
If it was a standard tactic of the day to de-horse adversaries then it's possible there is documentation to support that outside of the context of the Walker revolver. I have not researched that.
What Walker himself stated of the Walker revolver was that it was as good as a rifle and better than a musket at 100 yards. That is what I think Colt was aiming for.
I am of course quite open to evidence which supports the idea that shooting horses was a design requirement.
Steve