Manufactured in 1891 in 38-56-255 which was the smallest of the Large Frame calibers. The barrel has a German silver Rocky Mountain blade front sight, standard two-line address and patent marking, and adjustable sporting rear sight, and the caliber designation in script on the upper left flat at the breech. The receiver has the Rampant Colt emblem on the left side. It is mounted with a multi-point checkered forearm and smooth buttstock with rifle buttplate. The Colt Lightning rifles were Colt's most successful attempt to compete with Winchester, Remington, Marlin, and others in the lucrative repeating rifle market but were still sold in relatively small numbers despite being very fast actions and reliable. These "Express Model" rifles were the rarest of the series, and only 6,496 were manufactured in 1887-1894 compared to nearly 90,000 each of the Small and Medium frame versions.

Good with traces of original blue and otherwise smooth brown and gray patina, some light scratches and marks, spots of minor oxidation, and mild edge wear. The re-oiled forearm is very good and has moderate handling wear including some smoothing of the checkering. The refinished buttstock is fair with a spliced repair and some chips and thin cracks in the wrist, chipping at the toe, and scattered scrapes and pressure marks. Mechanically excellent.