ATLAS
COLLECTIBLE FIREARMS

Atlas Collectible Firearms is profoundly honored to present a museum-grade, investment-tier piece of 19th-century American arms history: an original 1890 Colt Medium Frame Lightning slide-action rifle chambered in the iconic .44-40 Winchester caliber. Manufactured in 1890 as confirmed by serial number 49921 stamped sharply on the lower tang, this exceptional slide-action repeater features a 26-inch round barrel with a full-length magazine tube, a German silver blade front sight, and an elevator-adjustable sporting rear sight. Built during the height of Colt's rivalry with Winchester's lever-action repeaters, this high-condition Medium Frame specimen stands as one of the finest original examples known to exist.
Displaying brilliant factory finishes and classic Colt appointments, the receiver, barrel, and magazine tube retain vibrant factory bluing, complemented by a nitre-blued trigger and loading gate, alongside a case-hardened hammer and buttplate. The left side of the receiver is sharply stamped with the iconic Rampant Colt logo, while the top of the barrel cleanly bears the "44 Cal." caliber designation. The rifle is stocked in a original checkered walnut slide handle and a smooth, straight-grip walnut buttstock completed with a classic crescent steel buttplate.
The cosmetic condition of this extraordinary antique Colt Lightning is very fine to near-mint overall, representing one of the best original Medium Frame rifles available anywhere. The receiver retains 95% or more bright, original factory blue finish with minor high-edge wear, faint scattered freckling, and a few light handling marks, while the rear half of the lower tang has naturally flaked to a smooth silver/brown patina. The barrel and magazine tube retain 90% or more original factory blued finish with minor fading toward the muzzle. The original walnut stock set is in very good condition with light handling impressions. Mechanically, the slide action functions with crisp, vault-tight precision, locking up solid, while the 26-inch barrel preserves a good bore with strong, defined rifling and light frosting in the grooves.