A few months before my father died, he stopped off at the house to show off something he was giddy about, a Colt Lightning 22 LR pump rifle he'd just bought. He said he thought they were really neat and was excited to finally own one. I didn't have a phone with me so I didn't get a picture.

When he passed away, I wasn't given anything from his long gun collection. But I always kept thinking about that rifle, wondering what it was and I could not for the life of me remember enough details to even know what it was. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and my wife ran across this picture of him holding it that she thought to take with her phone at the time. I still didn't know what it was but that brass loading gate is pretty unique. After much research I figured it out, Colt Lightning pump action 22LR. Colt made them from 1884 until 1904. Amusingly, these were very popular at local fair "shooting gallery's where they'd use 22 shorts (the gun will shoot shorts or LR's interchangeably).

Here comes the ironic part... the local antique gun guys I've done business with the past had an auction of various guns and in that auction... you guessed it, a Colt Lightning 22LR, the first one I've ever seen them offer for sale and virtually identical to the one my old man bought himself. I felt it was a sign, so I put in a bid and waited anxiously for the end of the auction. One guy put in a bid or two, but in the end I got it for only $100 over what the starting price was. I picked it up today, and honestly, it really is a interesting little gun. I see why my dad thought they were neat.

I'd not known they even existed, nor that Colt made rifles for a short time. They had 3 distinct Lightning rifles: Small, Medium and Large action. Small is 22 caliber, Medium is pistol calibers ( .32-20, .38-40, and .44-40 and the like) and the large action was for Rifle calibers (.38-56, .40-60 and even .50-95!).

This one is in pretty good shape, it is an early model made in 1898 and still fully shootable. 129 years old!





Sure there's no family nostalgia with this gun, but my father hadn't owned his all that long, but he thought it was neat and I thought it would be neat to get something he was really excited about.



-DallanC

that is awesome to read..... you sure have some interesting rifles now.

Yes, I've caught the "bug" with collecting them. The interesting thing is A) they dont cost as much as one would think and B) they hold their value and do appreciate over time, so one can also think of these as an investment.

I've collected some crazy stuff over the years and done quite well when my interests changed and I've liquidated things.

There's one more rifle I'd like to get some day: A Remington 550 22LR, again a rifle my dad had and I got to shoot when I was a wee lad. Those are remarkably cheap all things considered.

-DallanC

That is fantastic Dallan. As Elvis said, you sure have some interesting rifles now.

You have a while to go yet, but when you get older, much older, you will have to make a decision about what you are going to do with your firearms. Will you sell them off, and risk a similar situation as you have with your kids really liking a particular firearm you own, only to find you have disposed of it so they will have to search one out if they really want one, or will you give them to those that show an interest in your collecting rather than see a dollar value and sell them off.

It was easy with my firearms…I simply bequeathed them all to my grandson in my Will because he was the only one with a Shooters Licence (SL) and I can trust him to do the right thing. His brother wants a couple of particular rifles, but until he gets a SL I can’t give them to him. My grandson really wanted my “go to” .22 Krico I bought in 1969 and also my 1894 Winchester Lever Gun in 30.30 and my SxS Lamber 12g shotgun, amongst other firearms

I wont have that worry I only have 1 kid, a son who's 25 atm.

He's a lefty as well and enjoys shooting these old guns too... so he gets'em all. He can do whatever he wants with them. I know he's itching for my Lefty hunting rifles, and I'm happy for that. I have a couple rare ones that are safe queens (a lefty 1990's era Remington 700BDL in .243, Remington only made those for 2 years... they are as rare as hens teeth).

This past spring I got off my ass and got a trust done, so it should simplify things for him. I told him, "when me and your mom die, just hire someone to help with the trust. It will be well worth the money to have someone guide you through it".

Certainly some of these will be sold before I croak... but some are investments so unless the cash is needed for something else, I think of it as the same thing as owning stocks or something else. Its just money in a different form.

I was always a fan of Star Trek. Many years ago I got into collecting Star Trek costumes, real ones used on the TV and movies. Those were cheap back then but some are worth a small fortune now. I had a bunch on mannequins in the TV room. Its fun to watch an episode one is used in and see it on screen, then glance over and see it there in the room . I'm slowly paring that down as my interests are shifting. Sold a few, have a couple more queued up to sell soon.

/shrug

-DallanC