Colt Lightning Magazine Rifle Medium Frame 44-40 CLMR WCF Pump 1885 Antique
SOLD FOR: $1,231.00
LSB#: WY250310TW015
Make: Colt
Model: Lightning Magazine Rifle, Medium Frame
Serial Number: 7392
Year of Manufacture: 1885 (https://www.colt.com/serial-lookup)
Caliber: .44 CLMR (.44-40 Winchester)
Action Type: Slide / Pump Action, Full Length Tube Magazine Fed Rifle
Barrel Length: 26”, Tapered Octagonal
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a brass blade in a slotted base dovetailed to the front of the barrel. The rear sight is a folding set of “V”-notch leaves dovetailed to the rear of the barrel, the middle leaf has broken off. The top tang is drilled and tapped for a tang sight (none present).
Stock Configuration & Condition: The stocks are walnut with a two-piece checkered slide handle, straight grip, straight comb and steel crescent buttplate. The stocks have scattered nicks, dings, scuffs and scratches. There are losses around the top tang. There is a crack at the rear of the bottom tang and cracking at the toe. The checkering shows moderate wear. The LOP measures 13 1/2″ from the front of the trigger to the back of the buttplate. The plate has scattered surface erosion which has mostly been scrubbed out, mostly in the white. Overall, the stocks are in Good-plus condition as Antique.
Type of Finish: Blued
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is gray with well defined rifling. There is erosion and pitting scattered through the bore. In this writer’s opinion, the bore rates 5 out of 10.
Overall Condition: This rifle retains about 25% of its metal finish. Remaining finish is scattered, mottled with wear and areas gone to a light patina. The most notable wear is on the magazine tube. There are several scattered nicks, most notable on the receiver, with some scuffing and scratches. There is scattered light surface oxidation and infrequent erosion. There are tool marks on the bottom tang and on the receiver where the magazine fits into the front. The screw heads range from tool marked with strong slots to disfigured with usable slots. The markings range from clear to worn, but visible. The action shows operational wear. Overall, this rifle is in Fair-Good condition as Antique (see Mechanics).
Mechanics: The bolt stop (front of the trigger guard) is missing. The hammer engages the sear notably further forward than normal and the trigger is quite stiff with creep. The sear doesn’t appear to engage at the normal point. Otherwise, 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 an 1885 vintage Medium frame chambered for .44-40. The rifle shows its age with a missing bolt stop and an issue with the sear engagement on the hammer. This will make for a nice example of the Colt Lightning for a collection and would be well worth restoring, too. Please see our pictures and good luck!
Please forgive any typos, I was educated in California. -Bud
