Roger Rapid

Ditto on Larsen E. Pettifogger regarding .357 and not .38 in your Lightning. IMHO, Pedersoli is the best of the Lightning rifle clones. Go for it - they are super fun to shoot and can be as quick as any lever gun. RR

Wanted to throw my hat in the ring on this one. Some thoughts on the various points raised: Running a Lightning hard: H.K. Uriah suggests running them hard, and I agree, but I'd like to modify that slightly and suggest that Lightnings need to be run assertively and very definitively: fully open, fully closed (and I'm sure H.K. agrees). Calibers: Colt's medium frame Lightings (like all of the clones today) were originally designed for 44-40, 38-40, and 45LC. Everything on the inner workings of the Lightning were designed to hug a cartridge that size. So, .38s and .357 flop around a b

Marshall Dillon... The good news is that unlike a '73 where the cartridge OAL needs to be reasonably close to the length of the elevator to keep the next round in the magazine, the Lightning features a cartridge stop lever that releases each cartridge onto the lifter and prevents the subsequent round from entering the action - regardless of the cartridge's length. As such, the Lightning is not super sensitive to cartridge OAL so, it will shoot cartridges that are shorter than the .45LC OAL (1.60˝) - like !.50˝ or so. But to run efficiently, the cartridge needs to move all the way back aga

Largo Casey... As long as it shoots and I can be at a match with my pards, even a water pistol is okay! Of course, it should be a Pedersoli Lightning water pistol - errr aaah... Just sayin' RR

How about a Pedersoli Side Match: Pedersoli Lightning, Pedersoli "Doc Holliday" pistol, and Pedersoli "Wyatt Earp" shotgun? RR

H.K.U - count me in on the Lighting Side Match !!!!!!! RR

Buckshot Bob... great question! From a fit-and-finish standpoint, I think that Uberti and Pedersoli are heads and shoulders above Taurus, and AWA. From a function standpoint, the Uberti version has too many internal safeties (as Uberti does with their current SAAs), and the slide on the Uberti version can be pulled open without the hammer being released (which means you're always pushing forward on the slide when the action is closed rather than pulling back on it (on the Pedersoli version, you can pull back on the slide, and the instant the hammer is released the action will open

H.K. Uriah .. I do know that Pedersoli's lead gunsmith worked diligently to redesign the mechanical aspects of their version of the Lightning to make their version perform better and stand out from the rest. And this is the case with many of the other internal parts of the Pedersoli Lightning. The single-screw version doesn't secure the plate as well as the double-screw version does. I have worked a few Lightnings with single-screw plates, where tightening the one screw did hold that end of the plate in place but you could still move the "V" end slightly in and out of the receive

The "horizontal bit of metal" is the cartridge guide/ejection plates - there's one on each side of the rifle (they secure the round in place when the lifter comes up and act as ejection tabs when the bolt is pulled open). Pedersoli is the only one that uses a screw to secure both ends of the cartridge guide/ejection plates (i.e., two screws). Uberti, Taurus, AWA, and the original Colt only had one screw (the other end of the plate was secured in place by a notch in the plates). As to the vertical bit of metal on the right side of the receiver, I think you're referring to the loading gate's hin

I have just learned that the Pedersoli web site is being revised and some of the products have been accidentally removed from the current site. The new site should be up within the next several days. RR

Pedersoli IS still making Lightning rifles. About four months ago, the company realized that it was producing too many Lightning model variations and decided to streamline the Lightning line. Not sure when the new model listings will be posted. RR

H. K. Uriah.... Well, I'll trade you my first born for it, or my house... and maybe my house and my trailer. Err ahh - just sayin' !! Congrats on a super find!!!!! Very jealous, RR

Sedalia Dave.... No, I'm afraid that I WILL ! Actually, I love BP, shoot it at side events (BP Night Shoots, Long Range, etc.) and am just mostly into smokeless. RR

Jailhouse Jim... You're the best - thanks. Going to stick to smokeless for him at the present time, but thanks for the offer!! See ya...RR

Thanks all for the input! • I should have indicated my current loads which are: AA hulls, 14.3 Clays with #25 MEC collar, 395g #8 shot (about 7/8oz), Claybuster TGT12 (1oz) 3wads. • Prairie Dawg; Glad to see that 13.9 works - I'll give that a try. (But I'm already using #25 - Hmmmm - I'll re-measure the load.) • I appreciate the suggestions on BP, but I'm going stay with Clays/ClayDot for the moment. Super New Year to you all... RR