Colt Model 1877 Lightning
- Thread starter magician422
- Start date
Mike Irwin
Staff
What are your plans for it?
magician422
New member
I'm not sure what I am going to do with it, depends on what condition of it is when I see/get it. If it is safe to fire, I probably won't be shooting it much.
g.willikers
New member
Judging from the picture, it's not in bad shape at all for one that age.
Hope I look that good when I'm that old.
Hope I look that good when I'm that old.
Mike Irwin
Staff
The crapshoot with the 1877 is that the parts are extremely delicate, replacements are pretty much unavailable, and hardly anyone works on them.
spacecoast
New member
Colt's first DA revolver. As Mike said, the DA parts are very delicate and prone to breakage. So fine to collect, but probably not shoot much at all. Black powder rounds only if you do shoot it. If the numbers match on the frame, trigger guard and barrel, it's probably worth at least $500. Decent ones can be had for about $1000.
magician422
New member
Any ideas on what I should offer for the gun?
If you can look it over and it works, offer $300, be willing to go to $500 if you really want it. If you can't get your hands on it, take a pass. Sometimes folks equate age with value, and ask unreasonable amounts for what are essentially junkers. You can check that gun out, and assess the problems if any, in a few minutes, but it is not easy and very few people can do it.
Jim
Jim
carguychris
New member
I've been told by a knowledgeable LGS employee that the DA trigger on an 1877 should be pulled ONE TIME to verify function, only while negotiating price with a serious buyer, and then it should never be touched again.Mike Irwin said:
Don't be surprised if it doesn't work.
Mike Irwin
Staff
That sounds about right.
It has always amazed me that Colt and S&W were turning out DA atrocities while the Europeans were developing g the Chamelot Delvigne double action, far more simple and robust than anything in the US for about 20 years.
It has always amazed me that Colt and S&W were turning out DA atrocities while the Europeans were developing g the Chamelot Delvigne double action, far more simple and robust than anything in the US for about 20 years.
Jimbo-Indy
New member
Have one in my safe but in somewhat better condition. DA trigger doesn't work properly but single action is fine. It is here only because it belonged to my wife's grandpa, under sheriff of Creek County Oklahoma when OK became a state.
Takes oddball ammo with a heeled bullet. Buy it as a collectable not a shooter.
Takes oddball ammo with a heeled bullet. Buy it as a collectable not a shooter.
I have repaired a number of those and failed to repair others. IMHO, they are one of the most frustrating guns ever designed. Nothing quite works as you think it does. For example, in an SAA, a worn full cock notch can be cut deeper. In the Model 1877 (Colt didn't call it that - it is a modern collectors' term) doing that will throw off the whole timing of the gun.
Jim
Jim
Mike Irwin
Staff
"In the Model 1877 (Colt didn't call it that"
If Colt didn't call it that, what did they call it?
Rainmaker, Lightning, and Thunderer were never Colt designations, either.
If Colt didn't call it that, what did they call it?
Rainmaker, Lightning, and Thunderer were never Colt designations, either.
The original announcement called it "Colt's New Double Action Self Cocking Central Fire, Six Shot Revolver." It also says, "The pistol should be carried with the hammer resting in the safety-notch."
The "Model 1878" (sometimes called the Double Action Army) is called in a catalog "Colt's New Double Action, Self-Cocking, Central Fire, Army, Six Shot, .45 Inch Calibre, Revolving Pistol."
One can imagine the sheriff shouting, "Stop or I will draw my Colt's New Double Action, Self-Cocking, Central Fire, Army, Six Shot, .45 Inch Calibre, Revolving Pistol and shoot." Ah, the good old days!
Jim
The "Model 1878" (sometimes called the Double Action Army) is called in a catalog "Colt's New Double Action, Self-Cocking, Central Fire, Army, Six Shot, .45 Inch Calibre, Revolving Pistol."
One can imagine the sheriff shouting, "Stop or I will draw my Colt's New Double Action, Self-Cocking, Central Fire, Army, Six Shot, .45 Inch Calibre, Revolving Pistol and shoot." Ah, the good old days!
Jim
g.willikers
New member
If you want to try, I'll donate the hammer.
It's a good one, tried and true - and big.
It's a good one, tried and true - and big.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Interesting, Jim, thanks. I never knew that.
I thought the common name for the 1878 was the Frontier, and the Double Action Army was another name for the Colt Army/Navy...
"If you can disassemble then properly reassemble that old Colt DA you can call yourself a pistolsmith."
No, I'd go with "miracle worker whose hands have been touched by God."
I thought the common name for the 1878 was the Frontier, and the Double Action Army was another name for the Colt Army/Navy...
"If you can disassemble then properly reassemble that old Colt DA you can call yourself a pistolsmith."
No, I'd go with "miracle worker whose hands have been touched by God."
Gee, I can dis- and re-assemble Colt Model 1877's and also 1878's with no special problems; I will leave claims of being touched by the hand of God to the politicians.
FWIW, I think the toughest to re-assemble handgun I ever worked on was the Campo-Giro auto pistol. It is a bear.
As in the Single Action, the name "Frontier" was used by Colt for the "DAA" and referred to guns made in .44-40 WCF.
The gun collectors call the Model 1889 was called "Colt's New Navy, Double Action, Self Cocking Revolver." Presumably the "old navy" was the 1851 percussion revolver. The later model, with the side cylinder notches, was called the "New Army Double Action Revolver." Whether the "old army" was the SAA or the so-called DAA (Model 1878), I don't know. To Colt every new gun was the "new" this or that, making the actual nomenclature difficult to figure out.
Also, Colt continued the name "new Navy" term through the various changes in the New Army model; in 1895 the original "new Navy" (with no cylinder notches) vanished and the civilian New Army and New Navy guns then were identical except for the grip design and an "N" stamped on the frame under the crane of the Navy.
Jim
FWIW, I think the toughest to re-assemble handgun I ever worked on was the Campo-Giro auto pistol. It is a bear.
As in the Single Action, the name "Frontier" was used by Colt for the "DAA" and referred to guns made in .44-40 WCF.
The gun collectors call the Model 1889 was called "Colt's New Navy, Double Action, Self Cocking Revolver." Presumably the "old navy" was the 1851 percussion revolver. The later model, with the side cylinder notches, was called the "New Army Double Action Revolver." Whether the "old army" was the SAA or the so-called DAA (Model 1878), I don't know. To Colt every new gun was the "new" this or that, making the actual nomenclature difficult to figure out.
Also, Colt continued the name "new Navy" term through the various changes in the New Army model; in 1895 the original "new Navy" (with no cylinder notches) vanished and the civilian New Army and New Navy guns then were identical except for the grip design and an "N" stamped on the frame under the crane of the Navy.
Jim
Mike Irwin
Staff
But Jim,
it has to actually work...
it has to actually work...
AFAIK, the guns I got to work still do; those I couldn't fix (lack of parts, usually) don't. My Campo-Giro still works.
I once bought a very nice 1877 .41 caliber (Thunderer) in maybe 98% nickel cheap because it was broken. After I got it home, it took me five minutes to put the strut spring and hand spring back in the right order. Value went from maybe $400 to maybe $1200 right there. I still have it though.
Jim
I once bought a very nice 1877 .41 caliber (Thunderer) in maybe 98% nickel cheap because it was broken. After I got it home, it took me five minutes to put the strut spring and hand spring back in the right order. Value went from maybe $400 to maybe $1200 right there. I still have it though.
Jim