In House Shipping:
Make: Colt
Model: Lightning Magazine Rifle, Small Frame
Serial Number: 57412
Year of Manufacture: 1901 (https://www.colt.com/serial-lookup)
Caliber: .22 Short & Long (not Long Rifle)
Action Type: Slide / Pump Action, Half Length Tube Magazine Fed Rifle
Barrel Length: 24”, Octagon
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade dovetailed into the barrel. The rear sight is a fixed “U” notch dovetailed into the barrel. The tang is drilled, tapped, and filled for a tang sight (not included).
Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are two-piece wood with a smooth slide grip with cut borders, straight grip, straight comb and checkered black hard rubber Colt buttplate. There are some scattered light compressions and scuffs. The LOP measures 13 3/8″ from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The plate has some scattered marks and light wear but the checkering and rampant colt are well defined. There are no chips or cracks. Overall, the stocks are in about Fine condition.
Type of Finish: Blued
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is dull and the rifling is defined, though a bit shallow. There is general erosion throughout the bore. In this writer’s opinion the bore rates 4/10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 60% of its metal finish. The finish has taken on a mottled discoloration and has mottled thinning. There are spots of thin oxidation. There are a few dings on the edges of the barrel’s octagon. There is some erosion on the top of the barrel shank. The tangs have lost most of their finish. The screw heads have tool marks with serviceable slots. The markings are clear. Overall, this rifle is in about Very Good condition for C&R.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this rifle. As with all previously owned firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: None
Our Assessment: Around the 1880s, Colt was looking to diversify but both Remington and Winchester had the rifle market sewn up. Besides their lever-actions, there were also new slide action rifles: the user pumped a moving arm set under the barrel and around a tubular magazine, kicking out a spent round and loading a new one with every “stroke”. Colt concentrated on this design concept and in 1884 introduced a gun with a short slide action that was so slick and so fast; they dubbed it the “Lightning”. The advertising said it all: “Nothing was faster than lightning”. Dr. William H. Elliot, a dentist by trade, designed the gun. Half hobby, half side job, Elliot liked to tinker with things and over the course of his life came up with at least 130 inventions. Since he lived in Ilion, New York, he often walked down to neighboring Remington and showed them the interesting things he was working on and when Remington didn’t bite on his new rifle design, he sent a letter to Colt, who loved it. The handy rifle’s tubular magazine could hold as many as 16 rounds, depending on caliber, which made it very attractive. It came in three varieties: small, medium, and large. Each of these guns had the same set up, with a deep-blued finish, case hardened hammer, American walnut stock and fore-end, and open rear and front sights. They were light, going 6.5-pounds or so. The medium frame guns, chambered for .32-20, .38-40 and .44-40 Winchester calibers, marketed as 32, 38 and 44 CLMR (Colt Lightning Magazine Rifle), were the most popular, using some of the same cartridges as Colt’s Single Action Army and with ammunition already being produced for Winchester’s rifles. Ultimately, the rifle was discontinued as Winchester and Colt came to the agreement that Winchester would produce rifles, Colt would produce handguns, and nobody needed to make the market competition get ugly. This example is a 1901 production small frame chambered for .22 Short and Long. It retains much of its original finish and with original stocks and a decent enough bore to make a nice range gun, this will make a great addition to a Lightning collection missing a small frame.