50 Express Colt Lightning 

Ok, just brought my horse in…poured a glass of Knob Creek…and a new episode of the Cinnabar. What the heck could be better on a colt Saturday night!

My brain has gone to seed, saw this video and thought I hadn't seen it, got excited all over again. Forgot how nice that gun is. Thanks again.

I'm glad you guys actually fire these rifles and not just look at and talk about them. I know a collector that has paid a lot for antiques and has never fired them. I don't understand giving over $10,000 for a firearm that may not even function!

You are absolutely one of the most fortunate people I know... To be able to see handle repair and above all shoot these old firearms is to be fortunate indeed. I didn't know Colt made those in anything but the smaller frame guns. As far as the die you do what you have to in a pinch. She is a whomper stomper for sure. I wouldn't be afraid to take that gun hunting for most anything that walks...

I've never heard of a Colt Lightning until I saw a reproduction in a shop a few months ago. Fascinating ol girl, thanks for sharing with us!

Heard those honkers come over while you were shooting. Sounds just like here. We have permanent resident geese here that only migrate pond to pond.

Sure we enjoy the clip. Thank you for sharing.

First time I ever saw a 50-95 express Lightening! Great video!

Smoke and mist! Doesn't get any better than that Mark. Excellent job.

I enjoyed the video Thanks.

Thank you. Great to see an actual Colt Lightning being shot and a large frame, to boot.

Wow!! Another great video!! Yep, you might as well be the one to test out this fine firearm! If you are ever bored shooting, let me know! I'd gladly take you place!!! Keep up the great work! Thanks for sharing another video.

Thank You, I enjoy seeing these vintage pices of history.

I gotta tell ya, I found your channel about 2 weeks ago and I can't get enough. Hats off to you sir.

What a sweetheart rifle!! I have lots of levers, but would *LOVE* to own and shoot a Lightning!!

Now that's cool.

Gee I feel so sorry for you having to shoot all those old fine rifles and revolvers. Actually I truly envy you. Love your videos.

Nice ejection of the empties after the replacement extractor was installed. Thanks for the demonstration.

Excellent video. One of my favourite cartridges.

I’m Looking Forward To The Takedown And Reassembly Video On The Colt Lightening Large Frame Rifle Mark 😀😀👍🏼😀😀🔥

Love these old firearms and what you do !

Great old rifle Mark. Excellent video.

Great video, lucky enough to have each of the large frame colts, they made them in 5 calibers. Also the winchester 1876 shoots the 50-95.

One of My Favorite Calibers Mark 😮🔥🔥🔥🔥😀😀👍🏼 What a Wonderful Rifle 😀

Ive admired these Colt Lightnings for so Long, It Always made me wonder why Colt didn't seem to produce very Many of these. also, they Should Have!! Thank You, Love what You Do!

Excellent, and a beautiful rifle.

Wow! That’s a special piece. Excellent job on the dies and extractor. I’ve never had the privilege of firing 50-95 Express. Those guns in nice shape and in that configuration bring big money, if you can even find one! Appreciate the video.

I have a lightning medium frame in 44-40

Great stuff Mark, sure do enjoy watching you tinker with these old rifles.

Thanks Mark. Fascinating old rifle in a caliber I didn’t know about. Enjoyed the gunsmithing as well. You’re very talented. Shooting was great as always. Very powerful load. Love the smoke too. I have a reproduction Lightning in 44-40. Lots of fun to shoot. Need to shoot it more. It’s pretty stiff all around. Look forward to the future take down video.

One of the most beautiful rifles ever made! We NEED a reproduction of this, even if it is in just .45/70-if that is possible!

Wow, that’s a lot of disassembly to just get the bolt out. Detailed cleaning would be few and far between. Another great videos sir.

Wow I was looking for a video on this rifle

That's a really nice rifle mate , I've never heard of that cal until today . Great stuff mate 👍

Fantastic content and an incredible location!

What a rare gun and ammunition! Thanks for sharing!

Nice old Colt lightning. Good job on the repair and awesome job on turning out the reloading dies👍🏻

Catching up on vids. Impressive work mark. Looking forward to that seeing that gun of johns you told me about. Thanks

old west guns power never fails to amaze me my 45 lc trail boss loads will go clean through a 2x12 and a 5/8 cedar fence board (in a 20" barrell with 250 grain cast) at 75 yards , there just colt safe loads also

Great video, thanks for sharing.

Very interesting. I didn’t know Colt made these in more powerful cartridges like 50-95.

Maybe a video on cleaning these old guns after shooting black powder through them?

History, craftsmanship and freedom represented in a beautiful setting. One we once enjoyed here as well. Only a dream now here in Canada while under control of the dictator. What a fine Colt rifle that is. The black powder load is the one , Enjoy.

Another great video. Thank you

Boy, that would be a heck of an experience to use that on a bear or elk hunt. It's funny that pump shotguns were almost a universal American standard by nearly every manufacturer at one time or another, and pump action .22 rifles were also very popular by multiple manufacturers. But when it comes to larger caliber pump rifles they are just sort of "out there" but actually scarce and rare by comparison to other actions. I wonder if it was just factory output over the years that strangled the potential popularity? If you can't get what you want or even see one on the rack; you will probably buy something and never look back.

Honestly, that mushroomed really well. That wound channel is excellent. This 1300fps not 3000. Good stuff; your videos are great and I always learn from your disposition!

That look like a lot of fun, I had dies and stuff I could’ve loaned you

Very nice never knew about these guns.

Ive never seen one of those the trigger guard and trigger and the sides of the reciever remind me a little of the 1897 shotgun

Great Video!

Great stuff👌👌

That sure is one purdy rifle

Nice, thanks

Perfect video Mark, shooting a 50-95, repairing a 50-95, reloading, making a crimp die, slowmo through the gel, smiled from start to finish and watched it again. Thanks so much for your work. Had to pinch myself. PS does the cartridge seal well enough with black powder the action stays fairly clear or is it a pain to clean?

THANK YOU SIR

Nice Old Rifle, most of the one's you see are the medium Frames in 44-40 Probably not many made in the 50 express

lol, might as well be you.....I'd take your place any ol' time

Maybe the camera did not pick it up, but was there any lube on those boolits you were reloading?

Very good video Mark as is usual. It looked as if the bullets were unlubed. Did you have a lube disk on top of the powder?

Fantastic video, as always! What a great old rifle. I think you nailed the black powder loads. Good fps for medium sized game up fairly close. I don't know much about 50-95. Would it be possible to cut down 50-110 brass for it? Maybe there's a source for the actual brass?

Very nice ! I find the most difficult thing to get for the 50 cal, (I have an 1886 in 50/110) is the bullet mould, I ended up making my own for the tiny 350 grn bullet, how much BP did you get in the case? The modern solid head cases do not hold as much as the old folded head cases. Many thanks for posting this one! Chris B.

G,day Mark What a great old gun, What brand of Bangora straw hat you ware , l got a new Twister bangoa coming, its a bit late in the Summer over here in Australia , great channel cheers ....

Please show us how you clean that after firing with black powder.

Are you not using lube in the grooves? A couple years ago I bought a reproduction rolling block chambered in 50x140. I bought 20 rounds of ammo for it from Buffalo Bore but, figuring that 140 grains of BP would be more than I would want to be behind, even granting that the rifle has a very heavy barrel, I made an inertia bullet puller from PVC pipe. I'll reload the cases with 70 grains of the powder they came with and use corn meal as a filler. I bought wads and cards from BB and 100 bullets. I found 50x90 dies on eBay. Waiting for warmer weather get to the range. Also just procrastinating...

I once saw a pump action rifle in .500 S&W Magnum. I forgot what company makes it? Seemed to work well.

Take a look at Mark Novak’s channel on how to deal with that ’Patina’ he would boil it and card it to bring that blueing back to life. Excellent video on a really nice seldom seen rifle.

I thought all the despirados came to their senses'

Made in Hartford, Ct.

Would a light buffing with a carding wheel and a nice boil in distilled water help in converting the rust into a nice black layer again? I watched Mark Novak do that with a Winchester 1887 shotgun. I guess that would be up to the owner. Awesome video again. Maybe I will get one of those for my collection done day. I sure do like them.

I've always admired the Lightnings, but alas, the cost is prohibitive. I've been tempted by the reproductions, but I've heard too many stories of problems. I'll just have to settle for your videos. Thanks!

Hello Mark, I understand you are probably busy with the shop and ranching but I thought I'd send another friendly request for a video on the Winchester M1 Garand. Thanks for such great content!