the colt lightning carbine or colt lightning rifle was a slide-action pump-action rifle manufactured by colt from  to  and was originally chambered in - caliber colt eventually made the lightning rifle in three different frame sizes to accommodate a wide range of cartridges from  short caliber and - to - express its profile somewhat resembles the pump-action rimfire rifles made by the winchester repeating arms company and remington arms the lightning saw use as a sporting arm in america and was adopted for use by the san francisco police department but was never as popular or as reliable as the various lever-action rifles of its day