Colt 1877 Revolver

[Cherokee Reb]

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OK...I've browsed the Approved/Unapproved Lists and know the Uberti Lightning is not allowed and I understand the rational. I see Colts models of 1889,1895 etc listed as approved but I don't see any mention of the 1877 or 1878 Colts. I would dearly love to shoot my Colt Lightning since I have found a source for proper heeled bullet ammo.

Am I missing something?? If so , it won't be thr first time....

Thanks,
Cherokee Reb aka Mingo Frank

[Deadeye Don]

An original Colt Lightning double action is most certainly approved.  I have one also, but I do not have the guts to use it in a match.  Right now it works just fine having shot it a few times, but considering how fragile they are I dont shoot it.  Plus,  I don't do well in Vegas.

If we had style points in NCOWS you would most certainly get some for shooting your Lightning in a match.

[Cherokee Reb]

An original Colt Lightning double action is most certainly approved.  I have one also, but I do not have the guts to use it in a match.  Right now it works just fine having shot it a few times, but considering how fragile they are I dont shoot it.  Plus,  I don't do well in Vegas.

If we had style points in NCOWS you would most certainly get some for shooting your Lightning in a match.

I just want to shoot one stage with it, just to say I did.

CR

[Deadeye Don]

I sure can't fault you for that line of reasoning.  Whew!  I thought you wanted to shoot a whole match with one. 
 

When I shot mine, I found it to be extremely accurate, but certainly more accurate shooting it single action.  I have heard that it is safer from a mechanical point of view to shoot it double action as it is less likely to break that way. 

[Cherokee Reb]

I alway thought it was odd that the "fragile" 1877 was made over a longer time frame than the "robust" 1878s...

Going to take it out to an NCOWS shoot this week-end. I'll let you know how it does.

CR

[Tascosa Joe]

Cool 

[St. George]

Shoot it double-action, and you should be fine.

The biggest problem with them are the weak springs - and the distinct lack of anyone wanting to work on them once they break.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Pit Mule]

Might want to check with Vaughn Trueman of the Bullet Hole on repairs to 1877-78's. I got a 1877 in a cigar box at an auction a few years ago. After assembly it was missing the hand spring. Got it to Vaughn for repairs and checked out, fixed and in great shape.
Vaughn is ex-officio as a Senator, NCOWS Judge, and heck of a gunsmith who advertises in the Shootist. And he's the only one I would have smooth up or work on a '92' rifle.

Pit Mule

[44caliberkid]

I have one that I practiced with once, trying to shoot 5 plates, DA, as fast as I could.   It failed to fire 3 of the 5 rounds first time around.   I cycled through another five times and got one more to go off.   Probably a weak mainspring.   It has been retired since.

[Cherokee Reb]

Fired it one stage. Had 4 of 5 fire first time and downed two steel plates. The one round that didn't fire did the second try. The primer was really deep set, so could have been the problem . Regardless it was great to shoot something 111 years old and have it function as well as it did. I'm a happy camper.

Later
CR

[pony express]

Sounds like success with the Lightning! Don't have one myself, it was enough challenge today to keep my 1892 Colt Army working through a couple of stages today.

[Colt Fanning]

Howdy,
I shot an 1877 at our monthly NCOWS match yesterday.  Had only one jam in 5 stages.
Regards
Colt

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Cherokee Reb, Colt F., 44 Kid, WIll & Deadeye, Good job on shooting those old keepsakes!  Makes 'em feel loved and cared for!

(And I'm ESPECIALLY glad there was no breakage!)

[GunClick Rick]

I have one also,need some springs,i have to push the trigger forward to engage,once it is pulled back that's it,and the cylinder does not turn even if i use it as a single.Who can fix it? Ive' tried but i know I D NOT have the talent to do so mine is an 1889 if i remember right.

Is it the piano wire that is the ultimate fix for these,or is that another gun..

 Cherokee where you gettin your booolits

[Colt Fanning]

Howdy,
Try Poppertsgunparts.com for springs.  They sell a new spring kit for the 1877.  The trigger return spring is stiffer and
much better than the colt part and eliminates the need to put in a shim to stiffen it.  The hand spring requires some
bending and I broke one trying to bend it.  I now think I know how to bend one if needed.  They also sell 38 colt python
target barrels for $40.  I have rebarreled two guns with these excellent barrels.
Regards
Colt

[litl rooster]

I have one also,need some springs,i have to push the trigger forward to engage,once it is pulled back that's it,and the cylinder does not turn even if i use it as a single.Who can fix it? Ive' tried but i know I D NOT have the talent to do so mine is an 1889 if i remember right.

Is it the piano wire that is the ultimate fix for these,or is that another gun..

 Cherokee where you gettin your booolits

GCR  I found some at Gunbroker and I believe Track of the Wolf had some. It's been awhile since I bought the ones I do have. I set a search up on my GB account for ".41 colt" it covered a broad range of stuff. Parts dies ammo etc.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Thanks,
Cherokee Reb aka Mingo Frank

Does "Mingo" mean the same thing in Tsalagi (Cherokee) as it does in Chahta (Choctaw)?

Enquiring minds, and all that.

-- Nighteyes (Mississippi Choctaw)

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Daniel....


The Mingo are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans made up of peoples who migrated west to the Ohio Country in the mid-eighteenth century. Anglo-Americans called these migrants mingos, a corruption of mingwe, an Eastern Algonquian name for Iroquoian-language groups in general. Mingos have also been called "Ohio Iroquois" and "Ohio Seneca". Most migrated to Kansas and later Indian Territory (Oklahoma) under Indian Removal programs. Their descendants reorganized as a tribe recognized in 1937 by the federal government as the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.

The word Mingo is Iroquoian and means Treacherous....

Hope this helps

Bill

[bear tooth billy]

I recently bought one of these, it was made in 1888. It was renickled at some time, and a local gunsmith rebushed the cylinder
I shot it the other day and as I was pulling the trigger the linkage slipped out and didn't fully cock a couple of times. It did fire 8 out of 10 rounds, and shot accurately. Can I shoot it single action or will that hurt it? it seems to work fine that way. I don't know if I
should attempt to shoot this or just put in the safe as a cool piece of old west history.I would like to shoot a stage at a ncows shoot
with it.

                                                   BTB

[Trap]

   Made to shoot double action. Shooting SA breaks springs

[HKUriah]

I have one of these with a 3" barrel, and it is a sweet shooter.

Okay, let me say up front I've never shot an NCOWS match, my only experience with Cowboy Shooting is SASS.  That being said, I like looking at the discussion boards for all permutations of what could be, even with a stretch, classified as CAS for interesting topics, and this is one!

The Colt Lightning is a great gun.  It points well, it's DA trigger is not bad, and in spite of its smaller frame, it's more of a "DA Peacemaker" than the 1878 is, in my opinion.

I use my 3" one as a pocket pistol at SASS sidematches, and no one has ever tried to tell me that I can't.  (In spite of some online arguments about its suitability for that role)   I have also shot an entire match with it.  This was at what was called an "Iron Cowboy" match where you needed 4 pistols and 2 rifles.    I fired it, and my 1878, SA mode and didn't have even the slightest glitch.  Accuracy was... not the best, but I did okay.

I know of another one at a local shop with a 5.5" barrel, that has had all of its springs replaced with modern ones.   I am very seriously consideining purchasing it to go with my factgory conversion '58 Remmingon that is also a .38.

And yes, I have use low power smokelss loads in the gun to no ill effects.  In fact, my loading with smokeless is noticalby less stout than black powder ones.

[Thumper]

I posted this on another thread but can't find it now. I can fix these 1877's along with most any other pre 1898 revolver. If interested please send me a PM.

[Guns Garrett]

"Mingo" -
I think "mingo" in the Muskogean languages (Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Alabama, and others) refers to a "head man" or chief?  Most times I see it spelled "minko".

Tsalagi/Cherokee is more closely related to Iroqouian, which shares little with Muskogean.