colt lightning rifle: feeding malfunction

[mandrakke]

Hi! I'm a newcomer: my name is Umberto, I live in Rome (Italy) and wish to apologize for my poor english. I own an original Colt Lightning rifle. The writing on the barrel reads "Patent 1883, 1887 - .44 Cal", so I shoot the modern .44-40 rounds. When the magazine is full, I have the following problem: when a new round comes out of the magazine, it goes onto the carrier in the wrong way, i.e. not horizontal but oblique, with its bottom up, which makes  the rifle jam. N.B.: this  malfunction happens only for the first 7-8 rounds when the magazine is full: then the remaining rounds align on the carrier  properly and are chambered with  no problem, so if I don't want to have a jam I must load not more than 3-4 rounds at a time). Maybe I didn't reassemble the cartridge-carrier correctly, or there is some part in the feeding mechanism that is worn out? Is there any kind soul who can give me detailed instructions (with fotos if possible) on how  to reassemble the carrier? Thank you very much.

[Christopher Carson]

Can't help with the rifle, Pard, but wanted to say welcome, your English seems excellent, and I really enjoyed my vist to Rome several years ago!

Regards, -Chris

[mandrakke]

Chris,
thank you for your warm reply!

[Pettifogger]

Hard to diagnose Lightning problems without seeing what is happening.  First, a couple of things to make sure we are using the same terms.   At the bottom of the gun looking down from the ejection port is the cartridge stop.  It has a finger that sticks up to control rounds coming out of the magazine.  Next is the cartridge carrier.  The rounds come out of the magazine tube and go onto the carrier.  It then rises to align the cartridge with the chamber.  It is hard to visualize how you could assemble the cartridge carrier incorrectly since it is simply held in with two screws, one on either side of the lower receiver/trigger housing.  A few things to look at.  When the cartridge goes base up it sometimes means the cartridges are coming out of the magazine to slowly.  The nose of the bullet is still in the tube when the carrier starts to rise and pushes the base up.  This could be something as simple as the magazine spring being to weak.  It could also mean the timing on the cartridge stop finger is incorrect and it is not going all the way down and dragging on the cartridges or is coming back up to fast or has worn.  Back on the hammer are two pins.  The pins lift the back of the cartridge stop when the hammer falls fully forward.  If the pins don't raise the rear of the cartridge stop high enough, then the front, where the finger is located, won't go down low enough and won't properly release the cartridge.  Another thing to check is if there is enough friction on the carrier.  It is not held open mechanically.  It stays in the up position solely on friction.  As the bolt starts to move forward does the carrier drop to the bottom or does the bolt gradually push it down?  If it drops it is because it doesn't have enough friction.  About all you can do is remove it and try spreading the legs a little and putting it back in.  It has to have some drag or the carrier will fall to quickly and the cartridge will jam.  There's a bunch of other things that can cause problems, but you can start by looking at these items.

[mandrakke]

Pettifogger,
you are a real expert! Thank you for your learned and detailed explanation on my rifle's action. The most important part is when you say that the movement  downwards of the cartridge stop finger (to let a single cartridge come out of the magazine) is caused by the complete fall of the hammer (I was erroneously convinced  that it was caused by a small ramp just behind the finger, which is pushed down by the slide, when the latter  is pushed forward). Thank to your explanation  I understand that the rifle is jamming  whenever I test it without really firing it (in fact, the jamming I have experimented so far,  happens each time I try to load/ unload the rifle by simply pushing the slide back and forth, without pulling the trigger).  I immediately experimented what you say in my house, first by peeping at the finger's movement  through the small chink of the loading trap (I pushed it a little bit, with  the slide fully  forward): when I pulled the trigger I saw the finger go down quite a deal. Then I loaded a single cartridge into the magazine, closed the slide and let the hammer go down fully, by pulling the trigger: in that moment the round came out of the mag and placed itself on the carrier properly. Of course I couldn't do the same test with the magazine fully loaded, because with a cartridge chambered, the only way to have the hammer fully down is to shoot the rifle really, and this couldn't be done in my house (I'll try the complete test when I go to the shooting range,  and let you know). For the time being, this is an excellent  result!
Thank you again
Umberto