Colt Lightning Clone

[joandcruz]

I was contemplating the addition of a  AWA Lightning (w/24" barrel) to my cowboy guns. Or possibly the USFA version. Does anyone on the list own one? Would you share your likes and dislikes? How many rounds in 45LC will the 24" barreled version hold? Interested is all you can pass on. Thanks

[Pettifogger]

I was contemplating the addition of a  AWA Lightning (w/24" barrel) to my cowboy guns. Or possibly the USFA version. Does anyone on the list own one? Would you share your likes and dislikes? How many rounds in 45LC will the 24" barreled version hold? Interested is all you can pass on. Thanks

"Other than the Taurus thunderbolt  WHich lightning tye rifle has the best proven  RELIABILITY  for the buck
  .38 special only I look forward to your advise.."

Answering you questions could lliterally take a book.  I have combined your two questions and will give an overview.  First, whenever anyone wants to use a Lightning for CAS I tell them that CAS is a hobby and running a Lightning is a second hobby.  To be successful with them over the long haul you need to learn how they work and how to fix them.  There are/were the following brands:

Colt
Taurus
AWA International
AWA USA
USFA
Uberti
Pedersoli

The first five all have the same basic action, i.e., they use the original Colt design.  All can be made to run, but many from each manufacturer simply do not work well out of the box.  ALL of the first five are out of business.  The USFA is very scarce so your chances of finding one are relatively low.  There are no spare parts.  There will always be a few people that say their brand XYZ has always worked perfectly and continues to do so.  However, the vast majority of owners have had problems.  That goes back to them being a hobby.  If you shoot one you better learn to diagnose problems and learn how to fix them.  Which are the most reliable with .38 Special?  None of them.  They are designed for ammo with an OAL of 1.590.  Many of them are chambered for .357, but many will shoot .38s IF the rounds are loaded to a relatively long OAL.  AWA USA would tune their rifles to shoot a certain length .38 Special and you pretty much had to shoot that length ammo.  Since none of the first five are made anymore, no one currently makes a .38, let alone a reliable one.

The latter two are different designs.  The Uberti uses an action that mechanically is set to operate with rounds that are longer than 1.520".  There are two versions, a first gen and a second gen.  There are no parts for the first gen models.  Some .38s will function in some Ubertis but it is a process of trial and error to get the proper OAL and bullet shape that will feed properly.  Most Ubertis need some work to operate reliably and there are some spare parts available for the second gens although getting them often takes months.  The Pedersoli is also a different design.  It is designed to eliminate the slam fire feature and has a two piece magazine cutoff and slide lock that is fairly reliable.  Of all the Lightnings, original Colt and clones, the Pedersoli is the most likely to work out of the box.  Once tuned they are reliable IF you use the proper ammunition.  They pretty much don't like any bullet shape except a classically styled RNFP.  I have 14 Lightnings with examples of each manufacturer and have worked on a goodly number of them for other people.  They all work better with the larger caliber rounds since they will almost certainly be a long enough OAL.  The tapered cases like .38-40 and .44-40 also help with reliable feeding.  Right now the ones I use for competition are Ubertis and Pedersolis.  I currently am running two of each.  After tuning they all work very well with .357 Magnum cases and RNFP bullets.  None of the four will work with .38 Specials.  I have several original Colts, a USFA, two Taruses and two AWAs that are broken and I am looking for or making new parts.  My advice would be to look for a Pedersoli in .44-40.

[Major 2]

A wise man once said...     well written Larson