RARE FACTORY ENGRAVED DELUXE MAPLE STOCKED COLT MEDIUM FRAME LIGHTNING RIFLE.

RARE FACTORY ENGRAVED DELUXE MAPLE STOCKED COLT MEDIUM FRAME LIGHTNING RIFLE. SN 81109. Cal. 38 CLMR (38-40). Blue finish with 26″ oct bbl, full magazine, German silver blade Rocky Mountain front sight and semi-buckhorn rear sight. Top flat of bbl has 2-line Colt address & patent markings and caliber marking over chamber area. Rifle is mounted with beautiful maple wood with checkered forearm and pistol grip stock with checkered cap and crescent steel buttplate. Receiver, dust cover, trigger guard & trigger plate are beautifully engraved with grape vines, leaves & clusters of grapes and has the rampant Colt on left side. Top tang and buttplate tang are engraved to match. Rear of frame opening for the bolt is engraved with a rosette. SN was observed on bottom tang, left side of top tang under the wood, front face of buttstock under the metal and inside the buttplate. Buttplate also has an additional obliterated number. Rifle is made without a safety except the half cock notch in the hammer. Accompanied by a Colt factory letter identifying this rifle in 38 caliber, oct bbl, length not listed, blue finish, maple, fancy pistol grip stock and factory engraved, shipped to A.G. Spalding & Bros., Chicago, IL on April 30, 1897 in a 1-gun shipment. The medium frame Lightning was the first pump action rifle produced by Colt and was manufactured in fairly substantial numbers although not nearly so much as the Winchesters of the same era. Lightning rifles are rarely found with deluxe features with engraved examples very rare and maple stocked pieces are exceptionally rare. This rifle is mentioned by SN on p. 351 of Colt Engraving, Wilson, as being one of a group of known rifles engraved by Cuno Helfricht. This exact rifle, identified by SN, is pictured in color on p. 494 of The Colt Engraving Book Volume I, Wilson, with credit to the George S. Lewis, Jr. Collection. PROVENANCE: George S. Lewis, Jr. Collection; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very fine. Bbl retains about 95% strong orig blue with two or three small spots of cleaned surface rust with the blue commensurately thinned in those areas; magazine tube retains 95-96% strong orig blue with a thinned area on bottom center; receiver retains 95-97% glossy orig blue showing light sharp edge wear; top & bottom tangs are lightly thinned with the bottom tang turning a little plum; hammer retains about all of its strong orig case colors; buttplate is cleaned bare metal; wood is sound with light handling & storage nicks & scratches with the buttstock having been lightly cleaned; forearm retains most of its orig varnish with the checkering showing light to moderate diamond point wear. Mechanics are crisp, bright shiny bore. 4-44528 JR332 (25,000-40,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2156	$37,375.00	RARE FACTORY ENGRAVED DELUXE MAPLE STOCKED COLT MEDIUM FRAME LIGHTNING RIFLE. SN 81109. Cal. 38 CLMR (38-40). Blue finish with 26″ oct bbl, full magazine, German silver blade Rocky Mountain front sight and semi-buckhorn rear sight. Top flat of bbl has 2-line Colt address & patent markings and caliber marking over chamber area. Rifle is mounted with beautiful maple wood with checkered forearm and pistol grip stock with checkered cap and crescent steel buttplate. Receiver, dust cover, trigger guard & trigger plate are beautifully engraved with grape vines, leaves & clusters of grapes and has the rampant Colt on left side. Top tang and buttplate tang are engraved to match. Rear of frame opening for the bolt is engraved with a rosette. SN was observed on bottom tang, left side of top tang under the wood, front face of buttstock under the metal and inside the buttplate. Buttplate also has an additional obliterated number. Rifle is made without a safety except the half cock notch in the hammer. Accompanied by a Colt factory letter identifying this rifle in 38 caliber, oct bbl, length not listed, blue finish, maple, fancy pistol grip stock and factory engraved, shipped to A.G. Spalding & Bros., Chicago, IL on April 30, 1897 in a 1-gun shipment. The medium frame Lightning was the first pump action rifle produced by Colt and was manufactured in fairly substantial numbers although not nearly so much as the Winchesters of the same era. Lightning rifles are rarely found with deluxe features with engraved examples very rare and maple stocked pieces are exceptionally rare. This rifle is mentioned by SN on p. 351 of Colt Engraving, Wilson, as being one of a group of known rifles engraved by Cuno Helfricht. This exact rifle, identified by SN, is pictured in color on p. 494 of The Colt Engraving Book Volume I, Wilson, with credit to the George S. Lewis, Jr. Collection. PROVENANCE: George S. Lewis, Jr. Collection; Wes Adams Estate Collection. CONDITION: Very fine. Bbl retains about 95% strong orig blue with two or three small spots of cleaned surface rust with the blue commensurately thinned in those areas; magazine tube retains 95-96% strong orig blue with a thinned area on bottom center; receiver retains 95-97% glossy orig blue showing light sharp edge wear; top & bottom tangs are lightly thinned with the bottom tang turning a little plum; hammer retains about all of its strong orig case colors; buttplate is cleaned bare metal; wood is sound with light handling & storage nicks & scratches with the buttstock having been lightly cleaned; forearm retains most of its orig varnish with the checkering showing light to moderate diamond point wear. Mechanics are crisp, bright shiny bore. 4-44528 JR332 (25,000-40,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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