Colt Lightning rifle
The Colt Lightning Carbine or Colt Lightning Rifle was a slide-action rifle manufactured by Colt from 1884 until 1904 and was originally chambered in .44-40 caliber. Colt eventually made the Lightning Rifle in three different frame sizes, to accommodate a wide range of cartridges, from .22 Short caliber and .38-40 to .50-95 Express. Its profile resembles the pump-action rimfire rifles made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and Remington Arms. The Lightning saw use as a sporting arm in America and was adopted for use by the San Francisco Police Department, but was never as popular or as reliable as the various lever-action rifles of its day. It is however reported to have been used by American forces in the Spanish-American War, most likely as privately purchased weapons.
Variants
The medium-frame Colt Lightning Magazine Rifle was manufactured between 1884 and 1904. It was the first slide-action rifle offered by Colt. Colt records indicate 89,777 were produced, in .32-20, .38-40, and .44-40 as a companion arm to the Colt Single Action Army revolver. Two versions were offered: a rifle with a barrel and 15-round magazine, and a carbine with a barrel and 12-round magazine. The San Francisco Police Department acquired 401 rifles all of which had round.44-40 barrels and bore S.F.P 1 through S.F.P 401 stampings on the lower tang.The small-frame Lightning was the first rimfire rifle made by Colt and was manufactured between 1887 and 1904 as a plinking and gallery gun. Colt records indicate 89,912 were made, in .22 Short and .22 Long. Barrel length was and the rifles had a blued finish, case-hardened hammer, and a walnut stock.
The large-frame Lightning was manufactured between 1887 and 1894. Colt records indicate 6,496 were made in different big game calibers such as .38-56 WCF, .40-60 and .50-95 Express. Barrel length was .