Colt's · Pistol

Colt 1877 Lightning

Name: Colt 1877 Lightning
Brand: Colt's

Revolving · .38 Long Colt · introduced 1877

Also known as Lightning, Colt Model 1877 Lightning, Colt 1877 Double Action

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About the Colt 1877 Lightning

The Colt 1877 Lightning is a compact six-shot double-action revolver and was Colt's first double-action design, as well as the first commercially successful American-made double-action cartridge revolver. The Lightning name specifically denoted the .38 Long Colt chambering (the .41 Long Colt version being the Thunderer and the .32 the Rainmaker). With its bird's-head grip and frame roughly 20 percent smaller than the Single Action Army, the self-cocking Lightning was favored by lawmen, gamblers and frontier travelers who wanted a concealable, fast-shooting handgun.

Billy the Kid is the outlaw most associated with the little Colt Lightning, and John Wesley Hardin and Doc Holliday are also tied to it, giving the fragile double-action an outsized reputation among gunfighters and gamblers who preferred it to the bulky .45 Single Action Army.

Colt 1877 Lightning specifications

General

Type: Pistol
Action: Revolving
Firing mechanism: Double action single action
Trigger: Double action
Calibres: .38 Long Colt
Magazine capacity: 6 rounds
Magazine: Rotary magazine

Dimensions

Barrel length: 114 mm (4.5 in)
Overall length: 230 mm (9.1 in)
Height: 122 mm (4.8 in)
Width: 34 mm (1.3 in)
Weight (empty): 0.68 kg (1.50 lb)

Barrel

Rifling: Left hand

Materials

Barrel: Steel
Receiver / frame: Steel
Stock: Wood
Finish: blued

Performance

Muzzle velocity (typical): 235 m/s (771 fps)
Muzzle energy (typical): 269 J (198 ft·lb)
Effective range: 25 m

History

Introduced: 1877
Discontinued: 1909
Production status: Discontinued
Country of origin: US
Designer: William Mason

Features

First colt double action revolver
Birds head grip
Gate loaded
Black powder only
Compact frame

The Model 1877's intricate double-action lockwork was notoriously fragile and prone to spring breakage. Chambered for black powder only; factory boxes warned the gun was not adapted for smokeless powder. Barrel lengths ran from 2 to 3.5 inches without an ejector and 4.5 to 7.5 inches with an ejector.