H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

Reminds me of a local story. The elementary school I attended is called Lt. Job Lane Elementary. Named after a local Revolutionary War hero. His grave is in the Old Burying Ground, and his house, not far from the school, is still standing and is a local museum. When I was in Jr. High, (That should tell you how old I am...) a few kids going to Lane Elementary decided to learn more about the man for whom their school was named. Turned out that he wasn't a Lieutenant at all. Or even an officer. He was private who got shot in the butt at the Old North Bridge in Concord on the very first day of the war, and never saw service again after that. Since then, I never take anybody's word for anything.

Just out of curiosity, since the gun turned out to have been ordered by a person of significance, did they charge you extra for the letter?

This is first post that I've ever seen from someone who owned a USFA Lighting. Can you give us a rundown of it?

I occasionally see adds for people trying to sell Thunderbolts for around $800 these days. Adds give me the impression that they are new. I've seen used ones in what I assume are NIB (or nearly so) condition for $600. I see that and I just shake me head so very sadly.

While there have been those who have found a way to make the Taurus work, the general consensus here on the Wire is that the to call the gun a piece of $#!+ would be an insult to manure. That being said, there seems to be not as much consensus as to what does make for a good Lighting reproduction. Each of the makers out there have their supporters and detractors, but I can only offer my personal observations and experiences. When I decided that I wanted one of these rifles, I was fortunate to be able to compare the Taurus to the Beretta (which I believe was actually made by Uberti) and the AWA. The Taurus had an action that felt like rubbing two sheets of sandpaper against one another. The Beretta had a much smoother action, but it felt clunky to me. The AWA had a smooth action that just felt right. I bought the AWA, in .45 Colt, and have never regretted it. In fact, my first ever clean match was shot with this rifle, at End of the Trail no less. One word of proviso, it must be kept clean. While blowback has never bothered me, it is clear from the dirty cases that some is occurring in this caliber. You've got to keep the channel where the firing pin lives clean and gunk free, or you will eventually get some failures to fire. But if it's clean, it won't give you problems. I like this gun so much that it has become my favorite SASS gun, and when I recently found another one in .44-40, I bought it. The new one's action is just as smooth as the .45, and while I have only test fired it, I anticipate it working just as well, if not better, thanks to how blowback is basically a non-issue with the .44-40. If there is any drawback to the AWA Lightings it is that the company no longer exists. Other people will swear by the Pedersoli, and there does seem to be a general opinion that of all the Lightings on the market today, this is the best of the bunch. I have never handled one, so I can not comment. I have read here that they will not slam fire like the originals (and the AWA) do. The USFA version was on the market so briefly and are so rare that I don't know if it even has a reputation one way or the other. And then there are genuine real Colts. I'll have one in .32-20 in a few days. I'll give my opinion at that time. Good luck.

Oh, they ARE a lot of fun to shoot. My first ever clean match was with my Lighting. End of the Trail two years ago!

Plus one on the careful cleaning. While my Lighting is an AWA, (.45 Colt) and therefore probably different on the insides, I will say that keeping it clean keeps it working. The gun has never worked incorrectly for me with one annoying exception. Last time I used it, there were a couple of times when I chambered a new round, pulled the trigger, and it didn't go bang, and I just automatically worked the action, ejecting the live round to chamber a new one. Lost a few rounds that time. So, when I got it home, I gave the bolt/firing pin a VERY careful cleaning with Gun Scrubber spray. Cleaned out a lotta gunk. But it has worked just fine ever since. Run a Lightning? Keep it clean!

For what it's worth the "engraved show gun" model does work and you can shoot it.

For the record, mine is also an AWA. In .45 Colt. Runs flawlessly

Thanks everyone. This was helpful

Can anyone point me to a video of someone shooting a Colt Lighting (or reproduction thereof) rifle very fast?

Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to posting this, but here goes... The Cylinder on the left is the Uberti .44 Magnum. The right is a Colt .44 Special. As you can clearly see, the Magnum cylinder is bigger than the special, and the walls around the chambers are noticeably thicker. So I guess this finally answers Driftwood's question, yes, the Magnum is indeed heftier than the Colts.

You are correct. Many years ago, I asked that question here on the wire. I admitted that I was confused. Basically I asked how could the revolver be legal and the ammo that it shoots be not allowed. PWB very quickly posted that it was understood that Nagant Ammo shot in Nagant revolvers was an exception to this rule. All of that being said, I use the Lee dies that convert .32-20 brass to a straight wall case that properly fits in the Nagant chambers. It does NOT extend out beyond the front of the cylinder the way original ammo does. I load it with a .312" Wadcutter over a charge of Trailboss. The Wadcutter just barely extends beyond the the end of the case, and I have found it be very accurate and pleasant to shoot. I do plan to someday get some real Nagant Ammo, and maybe even the dies to reload it, especially if the law that deregulates silencers goes through, but I am in no hurry to do so..

Don't forget the "short rifle" version of the Springfield.

I have a pair of Nagants I like to use once a year or so. Remove that one part, and the DA's are indistinguisable from the SA's THat's what I did. No problem with doing it. Have fun. Question: Do you use "real" Nagant ammo, or the straightened out .32-20 stuff? I use the latter. Much easier to work with

Yer welcome

To answer a few questions, I have a friend who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has gone with me to some SASS matches when he visits me in the states. I discovered today that there is a SASS club in Winnipeg, and my friend has an open invitation to me to come and visit him. The idea of also being able to shoot with him again, as he really enjoyed it, is a plus (but not a requirement) but he does not own any guns. So, I am doing a little quiet research to find out what is permissible/easiest way to do it

There is a chance to go to Canada this summer to a town that actually has a SASS club in it. I have done some very preliminary research on how to legally take guns up North. It looks like a lot of work, but can be done. In the course of my research, I saw something that said that antique firearms are not subject to most of these regulations. Then I saw that in Canada, "antiques" are one year older than they are in the US. No problem, I've got enough guns that qualify. But then I got a little confused. In a nutshell it *looks* to me that even if a gun is old enough to be an antique, if it can fire cartridge ammo it is not one. In other words a 1890 vintage Winchester 87 would not be antique because it can chamber and fire 12 gauge shotshells. A Colt SAA or Winchester 73 from the same year is also not an antique because it is chambered for .44-40. (These and other calibers were actually listed as disqualifying old firearms on the webpage I saw) The thing seemed pretty clear to me. But can any Canadian pards confirm this for me? Antique or modern, I would of course do whatever is legally required. I just wanna make sure I understand the rules and don't get jammed up over the differences in what defines an antique and how it is or is not regulated.

Well, I figured there would be some silly responses. But it really was just a test that served no purpose except to me. If people wish to use it to be silly, hey, I got not problem with that.

PING

You mean like when once a year I take out my 12" Buntline and my 3" Sheriff's Model, both nickeled in .44 Special? Sheriff Buntline to the rescue!

Well, that's a question that calls for some photographs. Let's start by taking a look at a First Generation made in 1881 that started life as a .44-40 that has been redone as a .32-20 Up next is a Second Generation .45 made in 1971 Next is a Third Generation .44 Special. Not sure exactly when it was made. Sorry about the Buntline nature of this one, but it's the only "long barreled" 3rd Gen I have. And finally, here's the Uberti .44 Magnum. Comparing the four revolvers, they feel pretty much the same in the hand, and at a glance to they don't look all that different to me. The one that is most similar to the Uberti is the .45, and they feel to weigh about the same. But let's take a closer look at some of the details. Upper Left is the 1st Gen, Upper right the 2nd, lower left is the 3rd and lower right is the Uberti. The topstrap of the First is noticeably thinner than the 2nd and 3rd, while Uberti is clearly thicker than the Colts. And that's not all. The cylinder on the left is the .44 Special from the 3rd Generation Buntline. The one on the right is from the .44 Magnum Uberti. It is very easy to see how the Magnum cylinder is just a little bit "beefier" than the Colt. And then there is this... As you can see the Uberti Magnum cylinder is just a little bit longer than the Colt one. A quick check confirmed for me that 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen Colts all have the same length cylinder, regardless of caliber. I also checked a couple of others at random and made it a point to check my ASM and my other Uberti that are both in .45, and they have the same length cylinder as the Colts. I am gonna assume that Uberti made this cylinder longer so that it would not accidentally dropped into a gun without the thicker frame. So to answer Driftwood's original question, yes, the Magnum does seem to be slightly heftier than a standard SAA. Oh, and according the box it's an S.A. Buckhorn revolver. Imported by American Arms and made by Uberti. Okay, that's it. Comments?

You know, if that had a Navy grip and regular sights, it'd be a very close approximation of the "Big Iron" in the Marty Robbins song, and I would want to buy one. But I live in Massachusetts.

Used at the gunshow in Marlboro today. End table near the entrance. They've got another one for $365, but it has New Frontier style sights, which is why I don't have two of them.

Well, today I made a great fine, a Uberti SAA clone with a 7.5" barrel for $390. And it was in .44 Magnum! Always wanted an SAA type pistol in this caliber, and it was amazing to find one here in Massachusetts. I doubt very much that I'll ever fire "full power" loads in it even though I know it would be perfectly safe to do so. Questions: 1. Anybody here have one of these things? 2. Anybody who has one ever fire full power loads in it, and if so what's the recoil like?