I think the term "lightning" was first introduced to describe their field grade Citori's in the late 80's ...and as I recall the "white lightning" first showed up in the early 90's ...but I think its been dropped from year to year out of the catalog. Some yrs out / some yrs its in... Today there is a regular blued lightning, a satin lightning, a grey lightning, a white lightning ....etc ...and grade 1, and grade IV ...etc ....
I know in 1988 - the Citori field grade O/U was just called a Citori - because I bought a new one that winter. In 1988 - mine has the old Invector choke system in it ( which started in the early 70's I think - and ran on some models thru the late 80's). When they started back boring barrels - they went to the Invector Plus choke systems ...and I think the Citori BT-99 was one of the first models with the Invector plus system.
In terms of value - field grade Citori's --- blued, white lightning models, etc ( they're all the same mechanically - and very strong guns ). They are easily 250,000 shell guns / without any issues ---and maybe 500,000 or more. I've been picking up some of the Citori field grade models ...even with scratched up stocks / and the old Invector chokes ...for $ 600 - $ 750 and cleaning them up / and putting them away for the grandkids down the road. The newer versions - with Invector plus chokes - easily demand around $ 1,000 in my area ...and I've seen them as high as $ 1,250 or so ...because the list price on them is getting closer to $ 2,000 all the time ...but in my area you can buy a new white lightning for around $ 1,750.
Enjoy it ...its a great shotgun !! I don't shoot mine much anymore ....and I have several with 28" barrels in both 12ga and 20ga ...( I shoot some of the more specialized Browning O/U's now ) ....but I'll never sell the field guns either .....
