[fred cook]

This is probably a 1 of 1 Colt. It started life as a Colt Model 1877 "Lightning" chambered in 38 Long Colt. Made about 1886. Fast forward about 65 years (1953) and a gunsmith by the name of George Matthews located in California decided he needed a gun to take along on walks into the desert and created this. He made inserts for the cylinder and relined the barrel to shoot .22 rimfire, reshaped the birdshead grip to look more like a single action army and added ivory grips. He casehardened the receiver and rust blued the grip frame, cylinder and barrel and made the hammer and recoil plate to work with a rimfire cartridge. In 1969, Guns and Ammo put out a hardback annual that had articles about custom guns. This little 1877 is shown on page 180 along with a short write up. This Colt works perfectly in both single and double action. There were some other gunsmiths that did this kind of conversion, but they converted most of their guns to single action only. So, what you have here is a 132 year old Colt that is essentially brand new! I have shot it a bit and found that it works quite well. Holsters for Colt Lightnings are just about impossible to find so I got Ed Buffaloe in Texas to make a traditional styled holster complete with a hammer loop and pigskin lining. Don't want rough ole leather wearing off any of the bluing!