By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
At only 16 ounces, the new Walker is Charter Arms’ pound of protection, a compact 8 shot .22 with a 2-inch barrel that fits easily into a pocket with no hammer to snag when you need it quick.
Its aluminum frame keeps the weight down while its 6.25-inch long by 4.25-inch high by 1.3-inch width at the cylinder dimensions and compact rubber grips with nothing to snag on a pocket liner make it a very pocket friendly pocket pistol.
Available in both .22LR and .22 Magnum I had them send a .22LR version to Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia where I could pick it up for review.
I found it had a 11 ½-pound trigger pull as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gage from Brownells Gunsmithing Supplies. The gun lived up to Charter Arms’ usual high standards of materials and workmanship. The frame is machined from a billet of 7075 aircraft grade aluminum, while the trigger guard is polymer for weight reduction and drop resistance. It won’t bend if dropped on a hard surface. The rest of the gun is 416 stainless steel.
This is an American made gun with most of the suppliers to Charter Arms within 50 miles of the factory.
Like the old High Standard Sentinel .22 revolver, the Walker is available with frames anodized in black but also in turquoise or pink in order to appeal to the ladies. High Standard sold a lot of Sentinels to the ladies in these colors so this is a good marketing ploy.
Since Charter Arms also makes a hammerless .44 Special revolver, the Boomer, on a larger frame it is worth comparing them a bit. The Boomer I previously reviewed was a 5-shot revolver measuring 5 inches long by 5 inches high and it weighed 18 ounces. It had an 11-pound trigger pull.
Plenty of Ammunition
I had 750 rounds of .22LR to shoot through the little gun consisting of 450 rounds of German SK Pistol Match ammo imported by Capstone Precision and 300 rounds of CCI Mini Mag.
The gun was accurate and pleasant to fire, with high visibility fixed sights that were easy to see and the short grip was no problem for someone like me used to turn-of-the-century top break pocket pistols. Just place the little finger under the grips like you would on the late 19th Century pocket pistols and you have a good steady grip. The grips even have an indention at the center bottom to enable a firmer grip by the third finger.
The little handgun disappears in a pants pocket without imprinting or weighting the pocket down even in thin summer weigh pants even without a pocket holster. It is remarkably good in this respect. Just remember to never ever carry anything else in a pocket that you have a gun in. Doing so is just asking for trouble.
For inside the waistband the Sticky Holster Company makes their MD-5 which fits this gun and S&W J frames among others. Once positioned in this holster the gun and holster stay positioned there as you move about.
For inside the pocket carry, a dedicated pocket holster with a tab to catch on the pocket lining and prevent the gun staying in the holster when it is drawn is desirable to protect the gun from all the lint and dirt that seem attracted to the inside of pockets like a magnet.
El Paso Saddlery makes an excellent inside the pocket holster called the Pocket Max. Just don’t use one if you contemplate firing through the pocket lest it jet some of the powder gasses from the barrel/cylinder gap back into your hand.
Years ago, my wife and I shot up all our old coats testing shooting through pockets with a hammerless S&W .357 Magnum and I saw just how powerful that gas can be. Always push the gun away from your body before firing in the pocket or you will strictly learn the error of your ways fast. Obviously this is a trick for coat pockets and not pants pockets.
Small Caliber Defense
A small pocket hammerless .22 has a legitimate place in the world of self-defense handguns. Not everyone is willing to pack a full size M1911A1 and any gun is far better than relying on your fists. If
this is as big as someone will actually carry then he should carry this instead of doing without a gun. A lot of people can hit the target with a .22 pistol but have not shot big bore pistols enough to shoot them equally well. A well placed hit with a .22 is more effective than a miss with a more potent caliber.
People who will not spend the money to buy enough centerfire ammunition to master it will often willingly buy significant quantities of the cheaper .22LR because it is fun to shoot without the recoil of larger calibers. At the other extreme the late, great gun designer Max Atchisson once pointed out that he had never seen anyone shoot a whole box of fifty .44 Magnum cartridges through a revolver without their scores progressively going down as they emptied the box. Noise and felt recoil do have an undeniable effect and a lot of casual shooters are not willing to put up with it. For them a .22LR is the only choice.
The pleasure of just walking through the woods and doing some plinking with a .22 pistol is a joy that many partake of and sometimes a small pistol that slips unobtrusively in the pocket is the choice for carry. As a woodsman all my years I can say for a fact that it is not a good idea to travel unarmed through the woods.
“There is nothing out here that will hurt you” is a common lie that people hear. Believe me, there is. Whether it is wild dogs or wild people or whatever there is always something. Animals instinctively recognize whether you are armed or not and that can make a big difference in how they react to you. While you are less likely to need to use a gun if you are armed there is nothing that will guarantee that. That’s why you need to be armed. Remember, it’s the gun that you have with you when you need a gun that counts. Not the gun in the gun safe back home. The Charter Arms Walker is here to insure that you have a gun when you need it by being so small and unobtrusive that you will carry it instead of leaving it behind.
