New member here. I am very interested in Colt lightning rifles. Hopefully people can help me get a better understanding of these rifles.
My first question is on one of my Baby Carbines. It is an early model in 44-40. I am guessing by the serial number, it would of been near the end of the run on this type. Is that correct. Sorry for the lousy photos. Thanks for the help
It's referred to as a Medium frame. The baby was the small frame. It's of 1886 vintage and appears in very nice condition. The Lightning rifles started life in 1884..so yours would be at the beginning. Do some online browsing there's tons of neat info on them.
I noticed in the article there was a mention of the Lightning rifle made for the San Francisco Police Department. Here are some pictures of #12. As mentioned, only 401 of these were made for the SFP. Here is a link to more pictures. http://www.americanarmsandantiques.com/listings.php?id=1520
I've been through some books. Can't find that sight any where or in the Colt accessories.
You sure it is a baby carbine. You can tell by the front sight. Baby carbine about, .258 inch, front to back, carbine about .34 inch front to back. It is hard to tell by the picture if the front sight is correct. The barrel on a baby is about .59 inch at the front sight, carbine, about .66 inch in the same spot on a carbine.
Many but not all baby carbines had a B stamped on the inside of the fore grips.
My understanding is that the baby carbines were only in .44 clmr aka. .44 wcf. They also weigh less than five pounds. The .44 caliber standard carbines I've weighed go about 5 1/2 pounds.
The Baby carbines came in all calibers, even in the large frame. Must admit I've never seen one in a large frame, and only a few carbines.
Don't have the exact weights here, but the 32 cal baby was heavier than the 44 cal. This is because the same barrel blank was used and with a smaller bore, thus more metal left, the 32 weighs more.
Carbine calibers: usually in .44CLMR ... Baby Carbines were made with slimmer and lighter barrels than the standard carbines.....The overall weight of the Baby was 5 1/4 pounds, as compared to 6 1/4 on the standard model, (The Book of Colt Firearms, page 499, Sutherland & Wilson)
I have a Colt Lighting 32 cal. mid frame rifle. As far as I can tell from the serial number it was made in 1885. It is in what I would consider very good condition. But the shit of it is that somewhere along its life a relative had the original barrel, which it still has, plug'ed and re-bored to a 25-20 to shoot stuff on the farm. Just wondering what that does to the value of a great old gun.
That is a nice looking rifle. It really is a shame it got messed with. It is too bad they went with a caliber not even offered by Colt. Can't really figure out why. There isn't that much difference between the 32 and 25. I can't see on the barrel, it still has the 32 cal on it in front of the action.
It is hard to say on a value, Unoriginal really knocks the price around, especially for Colt people. That being said, I would still like it. I'll look around to see if there are others around like that and maybe get an idea.
Thanks for the reply. It is shame that the bore is not original. Here is a picture of the 32. cal on barrel and the Elliot's patent. Plus the se
rial number which is really low. thanks again.
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