Tag Archives: colt lightning

Those Colt Lightnings…

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I had an opportunity to speak to a man across the pond about this image lately.

Peering from across time, the stern yet pleased assemblage of gentlemen ranging from the junior to the ancient all show the clear eyes of steady marksmen capable of putting lead on target as required with judicious ability. Clad almost universally in three-piece suits consisting of a sack coat with matching vest or waistcoat, most are dutifully mustachioed and equipped with a pocket watch– part of the essential EDC of the time.

For the rest of the story, check out my column over at Guns.com

The Colt Lightning Pump Action Rifles: Striking again, and again, and again…

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At the end of the 19th century, Colt Firearms was very well known for their revolvers; indeed, every man worth his salt (and quite a few women) carried a Colt. But as their six-shooters were earning the name ‘peacekeeper’ around the world, business-minded engineers in Hartford were saying, what if we sell a companion rifle, chambered for the same rounds as our hit revolvers? Then make another version for big game and then a third in a smaller caliber for target practice?

That, my friends, is what you call lightning in a jar—and the genesis of the Colt Lightning pump action rifle.

James Perry Pierce c. 1880 Sheriff with Colt Lightning rifle

James Perry Pierce c. 1880 Sheriff with Colt Lightning rifle

Read the rest in my column at Guns.com