1877 Colt

[AR22]

Well retirement boredom set in again..So I had this old 1800s folder book lying around..Always kinda liked the hidden Gun in a book thing.

So made this. Also I kinda wish I had not now, but I ordered a Factory letter...Really never told me much I did not already know.LOL

[sealocan]

I think that set matches very well and looks cool.

And if I remember correctly the Colt 1877 .38 calibers were referred to as the model Lightning and their .41 caliber version called Thunderer.
Great marketing names.

I've also heard internet/gun magazine tales and rumors that they are not built as stoutly mechanically as the single actions of their day.
But that could just be people of that time resistant to a change.

[Eat Dirt]

Very Cool ..

Nice way to start the day , seeing a Classic firearm

[AR22]

Thanks

I think it was one of the distributor's that coined the phrases, Lightening and Thunder..Cannot remember for sure but maybe Kitterage? Colt themselves I do not think ever used those terms.

They could be fragile I suppose..I have not fired mine a whole lot and will only on rare occasions..But with my Black Powder reloads and correct heeled bullets, it works nicely..

I just threw some junk items off my shelf in there for aesthetics..Was maybe going to find a antique type deck of cards to throw in there..You know the old ones without numbers and such..

[Mike Armstrong]

I remember that gunsmiths used to cuss and spit back in the 1950s if you brought in an 1877 to fix. Apparently they were picky compared to later DA Colts and the original SAA pattern.

My .41 never broke, but ammo was so hard to get that I didn't fire it that much. Finally found a Colt collector that wanted it a lot more than I did....

[AR22]

Way back I used to have a .41 too..This was way back even before the internet.LOL

I reloaded for it..I used .38 caliber bullets and cut down .410 plastic shotgun wads as a sabot..It actually worked pretty well..Now in modern times reloading for just about everything has gotten much easier and much more support out there to do so..

[Wyatt Burp]

Excellent job, and it looks perfectly contemporary to the gun.

[AR22]

That is a good looking little Revolver there..

[saki302]

I repaired my 1877 .38 by fitting s new cylinder stop/spring thingie..

I've never fired it. Lockup and timing is perfection.. if it breaks, I'll cry 🤣
It was one of the most tedious things I've done, and I've bedded three M1As.

[AR22]

Years ago I have had no less than probably six of these, all in some sort of disrepair..Yes they were a intricate design..But I was able to repair them all to atleast a shooter condition with alot of patience..But they are not all as bad as the rumors tell you they were to work on either..Some just did not want to take the required time to learn the intricacies of them....I enjoyed doing it, especially a challenging repair,LOL

[Wyatt Burp]

Years ago I have had no less than probably six of these, all in some sort of disrepair..Yes they were a intricate design..But I was able to repair them all to atleast a shooter condition with alot of patience..But they are not all as bad as the rumors tell you they were to work on either..Some just did not want to take the required time to learn the intricacies of them....I enjoyed doing it, especially a challenging repair,LOL

Hats off to you and Saki for successfully fixing those. In the 80s I was watching my friend Frank Leaman engrave a Thunderer he sold to Gunwriter Mike Venturino. MV called him from home in MT. Later about refinishing it. Frank said “Wait awhile. You’ll be playing with gun and it’ll mess up. Send it then and I’ll nickel and fix it too”. That’s exactly what happened. The gun bonded up. my friend surprised him by also totally engraving it. it is featured in his book “Shooting Sixguns Of The Old West.

[Sutcliffe]

[Alan Block]

Somewhere I heard that Billy the Kid preferred them.

[AR22]

Yeah it seems the kid did supposedly have a .41

John Wesley Hardin is proven to have liked them and one of his atleast is fully documented through court records that it was actually his personal weapon..

Doc may have favored one from time to time also..

Mine is likely one Billy or Doc owned, I have not been able to verify that yet though,LOL