Colt Lightning Rifle 45 cal - Reloading

jolasa · September 22, 2011, 02:33 PM

Anybody out there reloading black powder (or smokeless for that matter) for the Colt Lightning Rifle, 45 cal?

Looking for some reloading tips!

Mine is the Uberti version seen here:
http://www.uberti.com/firearms/lightning.php

Fingers McGee · September 22, 2011, 04:42 PM

I do not have a .45 lightning; but have a friend that bought one of the AWAs in .45 when they first came out. He never shot BP through it; but after a couple hundred rounds of smokeless rounds, it required a complete teardown and detailed cleaning, lubing and tightening of screws. I would guess that the blowback from a straight walled case would gunk up the action a lot quicker than that causing feeding and ejecting problems. My 44-40 Lightning will go 4-500 rounds before it starts acting up and requires a good detail cleaning.

The original Lightnings were not made in straight walled case calibers. Might be a reason for that.

Of course, the above is only my opinion. Someone with experince using .45 BP loadings may have a differing opinion.

September 22, 2011, 02:33 PM	#1
jolasa Member Join Date: September 29, 2010 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 60	Colt Lightning Rifle 45 cal - Reloading Anybody out there reloading black powder (or smokeless for that matter) for the Colt Lightning Rifle, 45 cal? Looking for some reloading tips! Mine is the Uberti version seen here: http://www.uberti.com/firearms/lightning.php

September 22, 2011, 04:42 PM	#2
Fingers McGee Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2008 Location: High & Dry in Missouri Ozarks Posts: 2,113	I do not have a .45 lightning; but have a friend that bought one of the AWAs in .45 when they first came out. He never shot BP through it; but after a couple hundred rounds of smokeless rounds, it required a complete teardown and detailed cleaning, lubing and tightening of screws. I would guess that the blowback from a straight walled case would gunk up the action a lot quicker than that causing feeding and ejecting problems. My 44-40 Lightning will go 4-500 rounds before it starts acting up and requires a good detail cleaning. The original Lightnings were not made in straight walled case calibers. Might be a reason for that. Of course, the above is only my opinion. Someone with experince using .45 BP loadings may have a differing opinion.