[SHOT 2025] Pedersoli Makes Pump-Action Rifles Great Again
Pump-action rifles have fallen out of public favor for a long, long time. In fact, it might be a stretch to say they ever were in the public favor, unless you were a deer hunter in New England or Pennsylvania. But Pedersoli is looking to bring out two new pump rifles, based on the very old Colt Lightning design, that might change your mind on this action, whether you’re an old traditionalist or a fan of modern space cowboy-style firearms.
Pedersoli @ TFB:
Davide Pedersoli 86/71 DROPTINE Lever Action Rifle Pedersoli Black Widow Single-Shot Rimfire Rifle Pedersoli Howdah 45/410 Double Barrel Pistol Pedersoli Reproduction: 1874 Sharps Light
Bringing back the Colt Lightning
The Colt Lightning was built 1884-1904; the reproductions from companies like Pedersoli have probably eclipsed the time length of the original Lightning rifle’s production run, although probably not the total volume of Colt rifles sold. Like the original Colt Lightning, your average shooter prefers a lever-action to the pump, especially since Colt’s design had a reputation for being janky.
But Pedersoli has the habit of not just making beautiful reproductions of past weapons, but improving them in non-offensive ways (the 86/71 lever gun being a good example). That’s what they’ve done with their Colt Lightning repros, bringing the rifle back to the U.S. market in 2025 with some tweaks that should make it run better for the cowboy action enthusiast who wants something other than a John Browning-designed rifle.
Pedersoli’s literature explains the updates like this:
We wanted to make our rifle to be more versatile and appealing, introducing improvements to the internal mechanic, refining it to handle most of the ammunition available on the market. Specifically, this new generation is characterized by movable cartridge retainers that are linked to the movement of the bolt. The cartridge, held in place by the retainers during the upward motions of the elevator, is released when entering the chamber, making the operation smooth and fast.
Got it? We can’t tell you whether or not their updates make a noticeable difference, but we can tell you that it’s a slick-handling action, and the gun looks gorgeous in person, with deep blueing, an English-style stock and American walnut furniture. Sights are standard semi-buckhorn, on a 24-inch barrel. The magazine holds 10 rounds of .45 LC.
If you want a gun like this to hunt with, but can’t bear to drag such a fine-looking rifle through the brambles, Pedersoli also makes a more modern-looking variant, the Jackal44. Chambered in .44 Magnum, with a 19-inch barrel, fiber-optic sights and the option to install an optics mount, and even including 5/8×24 threads at the muzzle, this is a fast-handling pump gun with modern features.
It would no doubt tempt a few American hunters and others looking for a slick pump-action, as long as the price was right. Unfortunately, we don’t know the MSRP yet, but we’d expect it in coming weeks.
