I'm your huckleberry - Colt Lightning

[sigp220.45]

I've always liked these, but never found one that had the magical combination of a decent price and a functioning action, until today.



Its been around the block a few times since 1901, but it still works. The bore is good. Still a few traces of bluing on the trigger guard and grip strap.



The grips are perfect.





It shoots the mighty .38 Long Colt.



Numbers match everywhere.



No locking notches on the outside of the cylinder. They stuck them in here:



It is striking how small this thing is. Ruger Bearcat sized, almost.

I stopped at Cabelas on the way home. Remington is currently loading .38 Short Colt ammo, but there was none to be found. I guess I'll order some, and let this old boy bark a little.

[snuffy51]

I like this kind of stuff, never found one I could afford. Hope it shoots well.

[Rudi]

I believe that was a favorite gun of Billy the Kid. Very nice piece.

[usmc2427765]

I hope Billy carried a serious backup revolver !!

[mauser9]

Wow nice find. Love these old Colts. Thanks for sharing it!

[Ivan the Butcher]

Dad took one apart before I was born in 1956 and it still isn't back together! (I know that when working on the innards, use a padded vise and mount the top strap in it upside down! That leaves two hands free, but some say you need more than that!)

Ivan

[merl67]

Nice find, I too would love to find one of these in shooting condition at a price I could justify.

[alwslate]

Amazing! Another reservation find? Bet you wish it could talk.

[MCorps0311]

Wow that's a classic.

[Iggy]

sigp220.45


That is a Jim Dandy Colt.



I have the Thunderer model which is the .41 caliber version, given to me by the last train robber in Wyoming.

[raljr1]

Originally Posted by Iggy

I have the Thunderer model which is the .41 caliber version, given to me by the last train robber in Wyoming.

Iggy, we need to hear "the rest of the story."

Robert

[vonn]

Range report would be awesome! Very nice!

[Watchdog]

Originally Posted by Iggy

I have the Thunderer model which is the .41 caliber version, given to me by the last train robber in Wyoming.

Are you talking about Bill Carlisle, shown below in the wanted poster, and on the right in the other photo, handcuffed to Sheriff Rubie Rivera at the Rawlins Courthouse in 1916?

If so, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to hear the story.

[Watchdog]

Originally Posted by sigp220.45

I've always liked these, but never found one that had the magical combination of a decent price and a functioning action, until today.

Its been around the block a few times since 1901, but it still works. The bore is good. Still a few traces of bluing on the trigger guard and grip strap.

The grips are perfect.

What a great find! It's beautiful, and the grips are simply too good to be true with their perfect depiction of the Rampant Colt.

That revolver is good for another 117 years. Congratulations on finding that one!

[Xfuzz]

Nice Colt...
Not sure if the info is accurate...but,
I always heard this model had a rep of
being a bit fragile.

[Iggy]

Bill Carlisle


Gunsights


Years later when I was in college, I lived in my Uncle's apartment house near Bill's Motel and use to stop in and visit with him often.


He sat at the cash register where he could see all of his curio shop and restaurant. He kept the old Colt on a shelf below the cash register. He wore a big old Stetson and looked for all the world like Elmer Keith when I knew him.

When he got old and frail, he sold the tourist trap and moved back to PA with his daughter.
He gave me the gun when he left left Laramie.

[Watchdog]

Originally Posted by Iggy

Bill Carlisle

Gunsights

Years later when I was in college, I lived in an apartment house near Bill's Motel and use to stop in and visit with often.

He sat at the cash register where he could see all of his curio shop and restaurant. He kept the old Colt on a shelf below the cash register. He wore a big old Stetson and looked for all the world like Elmer Keith when I knew him.

When he got old and frail, he sold the tourist trap and moved back to PA with his daughter.

He gave me the gun when he left left Laramie.

Thanks for telling that.

And thanks for the link! Great story that everyone here should read!

[one eye joe]

Originally Posted by sigp220.45

I've always liked these, but never found one that had the magical combination of a decent price and a functioning action, until today.



Its been around the block a few times since 1901, but it still works. The bore is good. Still a few traces of bluing on the trigger guard and grip strap.



The grips are perfect.





It shoots the mighty .38 Long Colt.



Numbers match everywhere.



No locking notches on the outside of the cylinder. They stuck them in here:



It is striking how small this thing is. Ruger Bearcat sized, almost.

I stopped at Cabelas on the way home. Remington is currently loading .38 Short Colt ammo, but there was none to be found. I guess I'll order some, and let this old boy bark a little.

CONGRATULATIONS ! ! ! THAT IS A SWEET COLT M1877 REVOLVER---ONE OF MY FAVORITE MODELS.....

INTERESTINGLY, NEITHER THE TERMS, "LIGHTNING", NOR "THUNDERER", WERE EVER USED BY THE COLT FACTORY TO REFERENCE THESE REVOLVERS. THE NAMES WERE COINED BY BENJAMIN KITTREDGE, ONE OF COLT'S MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS......

[one eye joe]

Originally Posted by Xfuzz

Nice Colt...
Not sure if the info is accurate...but,
I always heard this model had a rep of
being a bit fragile.

THIS IS VERY TRUE. IT WAS NICKNAMED, "THE GUNSMITHS' FAVORITE".......

[Iggy]

They are delicate. My Thunderer has a cracked forcing cone.

[29aholic]

Yeah I would not want to shoot it much. I have had several practically mint guns that did not function. I accumulated them for a few years and finally built a super specimen out of about 3 guns.

[sigp220.45]

Originally Posted by alwslate

Amazing! Another reservation find? Bet you wish it could talk.

No, not a rez gun this time. If it was, the ejector rod would be attached with a hose clamp, the grips would be wrapped with electrical tape, and it would be loaded with 2 .38 Specials, 2 9mm ball rounds judiciously hammer-whacked to be just enough out-of-round to stay in place, one AA battery, and a rolled up lotto ticket from 1993.

This one was in a small gunshop in Denver.

[ColbyBruce]

I have some ancient .38 LC ammo that would go good with that old Colt. Does UPS run by your home?

[Inusuit]

This is a great line from the story in Iggy's link:

"I’ve looked at you over gun sights."

[sigp220.45]

Originally Posted by ColbyBruce

I have some ancient .38 LC ammo that would go good with that old Colt. Does UPS run by your home?

Indeed they do. PM me your address and I’ll send you some $$!

[Wyo]

I have one of those that my grandfather, a surveyor, found out in the desert of Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin back in the ‘50’s. It was not functional but still in remarkably good shape, and it had 3 live rounds and 3 empty cases in it. As the family gun nut, it eventually came to me. I always liked to imagine it had been lost by some famous outlaw after a desperate gunfight but, in fact, it probably fell out of some drunken sheepherder’s holster one night while he was out shooting at the moon. These are really cool old guns and I always thought it would be fun to shoot one. I hope you’ll post up an after action report after you get it to the range.

[ColbyBruce]

Originally Posted by sigp220.45

Indeed they do. PM me your address and I’ll send you some $$!

Money? You must have a different idea of what “ancient” means, so take a look.

These were sitting in a Mason jar on a basement shelf. One of my son’s friends came here to buy a Rossi 68 .38 Special from me and he put five of those cartridges in the cylinder before he left. That became his fishing gun. I guess if he is attacked by a spider he might survive.

P.M. me an address and I will run this to the UPS store.

[ColbyBruce]

On the way, check your p.m.’s for the tracking number.

[italiansport]

This revolver should be fine with 38spl cases loaded to low power target levels. This is a LOT less expensive than either 38 shorts or longs!
Jim

[ColbyBruce]

sigp220.45 you will need a knife. Thirty years of delivering sloppily wrapped packages convinced me one could never use too much tape. Harry Houdini couldn’t get out of that box.

[sigp220.45]

It shoots!

I loaded up some powderpuff loads in .38 Special cases. I used Trail Boss, which turned out to be a pain. I'm a pretty rudimentary reloader, with a Lyman 310 tool and Lee powder dippers. One dipper threw 2.2 grains (weighed) of Trail Boss so I used that with a cast 125 grain bullet. If you haven't used Trail Boss, it looks like tiny squashed donuts, and they stick to everything, especially plastic dippers.



Forum pal ColbyBruce was kind enough to send me some vintage .38 LC he had. Here is one round next to my concoction.



It was off the range this morning. The first round was so weak sounding I pulled the cylinder and checked the barrel to make sure the bullet wasn't still in there. It had actually hit the black at ten yards. Tiny sights, old eyes, and a heavy SA trigger made this my best effort.



I also learned that besides being a bear to dip, Trail Boss also smells bad when you shoot it.

I did fire one of the old rounds ColbyBruce sent, and it went off just fine. The rest will go on display with this old gun.

I think I'll keep an eye out for the factory .38 Short Colt rounds. My reloads worked, but the modern .38 Special rim was just different enough to catch slightly on the oddly-placed cylinder bolt. The legit .38 LC rounds cycled smoothly.

Here it is with a proper .38 double action, to show its dainty dimensions.

[ColbyBruce]

Reeves Ace Hardware
46 South Main Street
Clayton, GA 30525
(706) 782-4253

This place has a surprising inventory of ammo, give them a call. They ship too.

That gun would look great nickeled and wearing ivory stocks.

[29aholic]

Use an old dryer sheet on the plastic stuff and it will discharge any static electricity that causes the powder to stick.

[TACC1]

This is what collecting is all about!!
Thanks
TACC1

[ddixie884]

HBWCs will expand to fill the oversize bore and closely match the 150gr original bullet, but I'm sure you already knew that. Nice save and neat gun......