The legendary Colt Walker revolvers were manufactured at Eli Whitney Jr.'s Whitneyville, Connecticut, factory for Samuel Colt's to fulfill a U.S. contract for 1,000 revolvers. The revolvers were serial numbered A-D Company 1-220 and E Company 1-120. Although purchased to arm the Mounted Rifle Regiment, the first 394 A, B, and C Company revolvers were issued to the 1st Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers commanded by Colonel Jack Hays at Vera Cruz, Mexico, on October 26, 1847. When the Texas Mounted Volunteers mustered out of service on May 8, 1848, they turned in 191 Walker revolvers; 202 pistols were lost in service or retained by the Texans. The remaining 600 Walker revolvers were issued to the Mounted Rifle Regiment in Mexico or the 1st Dragoon Regiment on the Texas/New Mexico frontier following the Mexican War. The Walker revolvers saw hard service. In 1984 Lt. Col. Robert Whittington III identified 150 surviving A, B,C, D, and E Company marked revolvers in his book "The Colt Whitneyville-Walker Pistol." Twenty-seven B Company marked revolvers are listed in his book including this revolver, serial number 175. This revolver was also listed in the well-known list of Wilbur Quick as owned by Kimball Arms Co. in Woburn, Mass. in 1940 and in the Texas Gun Collector June 1953 issue of "Names and Addresses of Whitneyville-Walker Owners." It was also featured in the article on the famous 2003 "Parade of Walkers" in "The Gun Report." The Texas Gun Collectors Association certificate for Dale and Eileen Strong for displaying this Walker as part of the "Parade of Walkers" at the Texas Gun Collectors Association in the Spring of 2003 is included. This massive 4 lb. 9 oz. revolver has a 9 inch barrel with a German silver blade front sight, period added dovetailed notch rear sight, modified loading lever with a Dragoon style loading lever latch, "ADDRESS. SAML COLT NEW-YORK CITY" barrel address on top reading from the breech towards the muzzle, "B COMPANY No 175" on the left above the wedge, and "US/1847" and a large "G" on the right. The frame has "JG" on the right and "B COMPANY No 175" on the left. The brass squareback trigger guard has "B COMY No 175" ahead of the bow, and the butt of the iron backs trap is marked "B COMPANY No 175." "175" is marked on the bottom of the wedge and arbor pin, on the front of the frame between the pins, on the left side of the front gripstrap, and in the mortise of the "Slim Jim" grip at the toe. The massive six-shot cylinder has a very faint markings and has the distinctive oval stops and single safety pin. R.L. Wilson believed the markings include the number "12." What remains is may actually be traces of "17" from "175." Tom Seymour in his analysis of the revolver in 2001 also considered the latter to be a possibility. Colt expert Herb Glass in his March 1, 2023, letter indicated that he believed the markings to be "12" and possibly an "E." It would have originally had the Texas Ranger and Indian fight scene and the two-line inscription "U.S.M.R./COLTS PATENT." There are faint "P" inspection marks on the trigger guard and rear gripstrap. A large framed photograph of the revolver laying on the included R.L. Wilson research letter is also included. In the letter, Wilson indicates "Walker Colt No. B Company 175 is an authentic Walker revolver, far more complete and original than the vast majority of specimens, and is a splendid example of a revolver which served its due on the Western frontier, and has survived remarkably complete, fully deserving of a distinguished private collector or museum." The document binder accompanying the revolver also tracts its provenance from the time it was sold by Kimball Arms Co. in 1953 to the present, including analysis of the revolver by multiple Colt experts. Dale Strong, for example, states, "it is the opinion of Bobby Vance, Bobby Smith, John Gangel and myself that B Company 175 may have been one of the 17 Whitneyville conversions sent to Colt-Eli Whitney for modification. 'V' notch sights were a favorite of many Texas Rangers using both Walkers and Dragoons." Glass's letter posits that the "G" and "JG" markings on the revolver are "probably for the gunsmith who installed the rear sight and modified the lever to a Dragoon latch. However, in his included write-up, Glenn Klein also concluded that this revolver was a Whitneyville conversion and investigated the revolver's early history and found the potential significance of the "JG" marking. Colonel John Coffee Hay's men of the First Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers were issued 214 "C Company" Walkers on October 19, 1847, and then received another 180 revolvers from the "A Company" and/or "B Company" lots that arrived on October 22, 1847. He also notes that 500 Walkers were still in the New York Ordnance Depot, including 220 marked "B Company." Lt. Thomas Clairborne of C Company received the last 100 Walkers from the first order which were a mix of late "A Company" and early "B Company" marked revolvers. Meanwhile the 500 noted before remained unissued in New York. In 1848 and 1849, federalized Texas Rangers were mustered in to respond to Indian attacks on the frontier. They were led by Captains John J. Grumbles, John S. Ford, and J.B. McCown, and Klein indicates these men were issued part of the 500 remaining Walkers which were issued from the Baton Rouge Arsenal. These 500 revolvers are identified as sn. 61-220 marked "B COMPANY," 1-220 marked "D COMPANY," and 1-120 marked "E COMPANY." When the Texas Rangers left the federal service, they were not required to turn in their revolvers, and Klein indicates "there is no record of any of the 'Colt Six Shooters' being returned to the Arsenal." He also indicates that the "JG" marking on this revolver may be fore Captain John Grumbles or Private James Gardner of McCown's Company. He found little on Gardner aside from that he was from Massachusetts where the revolver later turned up in the late 1930s at Kimball Arms Co. Grumbles, however, lived in the Austin, Texas, areas and was well-known on the frontier and served in the Texas Rangers along with his brothers. Klein concluded that the revolver was likely owned by Grumbles and indicated that he would have had the connections to have the conversion done and to have the cylinder replaced through the Baton Rouge Arsenal. Captain John James Grumbles (c.1805-February 25, 1858) was originally from South Carolina but came to the Republic of Texas in 1837 from Tennessee and settled at Fort Wilbarger and then moved to Webber's Prairie in Travis County in 1840. In 1845, he purchased the home and mill of William Barton at Barton Springs outside of Austin. During the Mexican-American War, Grumbles was a private in Company K of the 3rd regiment of Texas Volunteers under Captain Samuel Highsmith and Colonel William C. Young. Just two days after mustering out of federal service, he was elected captain of a company of Texas Rangers in Major Thomas J. Smith's battalion and served on the Texas and northern Mexico frontier until September 23, 1847. In 1849, he was the commander of a company of Texas Rangers on the Nueces River north of Corpus Christi. His gravestone indicates he was killed at San Saba in Central Texas on February 25, 1858, but does not list a cause. The Southern Intelligencer in Austin, Texas, however on March 3, 1858, indicates that he was killed by Sennett/Sinnett Mussett with whom he had "an old quarrel." Mussett shot Grumbles with a "six shooter" in the local saloon, possible with a Walker given Mussett had also served as a Texas Ranger. Mussett was wanted but appears to have remained a free man. He died on December 23, 1894, in Austin. Provenance: Kimball Arms Co.; The B.J. Thompson Collection; The Phil Cornett Collection; The Dale and Eileen Strong Collection; The Glenn & Maria Klein Collection

Very good. The revolver displays primarily smooth gray patina overall and has some mild pitting and general moderate wear indicative of real period use. The brass front gripstrap has attractive aged patina. The rear of the barrel lug, forcing cone, and arbor pin were modified/filed to tighten up the barrels fit to the frame. The cylinder has a fracture in the wall separating one chamber and the arbor pin hole, and two of the distinctive oval cylinder stops have small holes worn through. Wilson indicated the crack is "the only instance the author has on record of a Walker cylinder which is complete, and on the verge of bursting." The markings are mostly distinct with the exception of the cylinder as discussed above. The very good original grip is undersized and has a thin crack on the upper left, small chips at the heel and toe, and mild overall wear. A removable foil shim is currently fitted in the back strap mortise, and there are splices visible at the toe sections that may be from the period of use. Mechanically fine. This is both a very solid original and attractive B Company Colt Walker revolver. Even most advanced Colt collections lack a Colt Walker, let along one this fine. Do not miss you opportunity to get your hands on this rare documented example!