1877 colt lightning double action

[gerard]

I have a Colt Lightning double action revolver.38 Special With the serial # 72### it says that it was manufactured in 1888 or 1889. The revolver works fine, alot of the bluing is faded and worn but very little pitting on the side. One grip has a little piece on the bottom corner missing. My question is this can anyone tell me the value on this revolver? Also is this a collector piece or should I just shoot it. Anyones help would be great.
Thanks Gerard

 

[ben hunchak]

I have problems giving valuations on guns with obvious problems such as dating serial numbers to 1888 or so when the .38 special didn't come out until 1902, for me anyways this sends up a red flag. I can say that the '77 is actually a very petite revolver and is known for it's rather fragile lockwork, though I cannot vouch for that. It was a favourite of both good guy and bad on the frontier, though usually chambered in the rather anemic .38 Colt. Values of over $1K can be expected, and one in good condition sat unsold at a resent gun show with a $1300 price tag. Altered or rechambered guns are a whole diff. story...IMHO

 

[Lee Enfield]

I have a Colt Lightning double action revolver .38 Special With the serial # 72### it says that it was manufactured in 1888 or 1889. ...snip...

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIRE .38 Special in this gun.

While the cartridge may chamber, it is much higher pressure than the .38 Colt your gun was manufactured for.

The design of cartridge chambers has changed to cater to inside lubricated bullets, so a modern .38 Colt (long or short) chamber would be shorter in a modern manufactured revolver. This would not allow a modern .38 long colt chambered revolver to accept .38 Special cases.

 

[MTF]

Both previous writers gave good advice. Somthing doesn't match up in the numbers on the gun and the caliber you think it is. I don't think you could chamber a .38 Spl. round in that gun, but if you could, it easily could destroy the gun and your hand. I'm not an expert in Colt "Lightnings", but I don't know of any chambered for .38 Spl. The Colt "Lightning" is the model of 1877, and as far as I know, was chambered only in .38 Colt. The only other caliber was .41 Colt and that model came to be called the "Thunderer".
They came in different barrel lengths, but only those two calibers, I believe. It is not a very good design, in terms of robustness, and there are companies in the US that sell spring kits for them because of the ease with which they break. They were popular and are found fairly frequently, but often have mechanical problems. If yours is OK, you probably should find something else to shoot.

 

[okcorral1881]

I have a Colt Lightning double action revolver.38 Special With the serial # 72### it says that it was manufactured in 1888 or 1889.
Thanks Gerard

Gerard, you might want to post your question also on the "Antique and blackpowder" subforum and also include a few detailed pictures!

OK