Fightlite Herring Bandito pistol: small, bad and ugly (not so much...)

We continue our overview of the most unusual guns among those recently introduced to the US market, where between tariffs, inconsistent laws and fears of possible reversals in gun ethics, a little bit of everything is happening. After about a century, this year we saw the Kel Tec PR57, a semi-automatic pistol without a magazine, made expressly to circumvent a ban in the state of Colorado that prohibits the possession of detachable magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. Another type of gun that is making its way into the arsenals of American preppers is the lever-action rifle fed from AR-15-style magazines. We have already seen several examples of this, such as the Henry Supreme, the Bond Arms LVRB and the Fightlite Herring. We already talked about it some time ago in a specific article, and now we briefly return to the subject as Fightlite itself has presented an if possible even more bizarre version of its lever-action rifle, with a decidedly original aesthetic.

Fightlite Herring Bandito: small and mean

It is called the Bandito, and it is a sub-compact version of the Fightlite Herring lever-action rifle: it has a barrel length of 7.25 inches, or 18.4 centimetres for an oaverall length of 54 centimetres. For the time being, there are two calibers available: .223 Remington (or rather 5.6x45mm NATO) and .300 Blackout. In the USA the Herring Bandito is classified as a pistol and is fed from AR-15 style box magazines with a capacity of ten rounds. The Bandito's stock is of the type known as the Mare's Leg, with only a short butt section. This type of stock is not typical of the Old West, as many people think, but is a historical forgery originating from the TV. It was in fact made famous in the USA by the 1958 TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen who played the character of Josh Randall, a bounty hunter who confronted bandits with a shortened Winchester 1892, with no sights and with a barrel shortened to 10 inches. In any case, the Mare's Leg has become part of the pop imagery of American enthusiasts and this special version of the Herring, which is about to reach the market, confirms that it is capable of exerting a certain fascination. The stock or, rather, the polymer grip in sand, olive green or black is complemented by an aluminum handguard from Magpul with M-Lok slots. The 7075 aluminum parts are anodised while the steel parts have a phosphate finish.

The Fightlite Bandito is capable of using any magazine compatible with those of the AR-15 platform and thus, theoretically, also with a much larger capacity and above all with the possibility of using ammunition with a longed pointed nose bullet profile. Theoretically the rifle could be chambered in any caliber that can be fired in a Mil-Spec AR-15 with aluminum receivers.

As with the Herring rifle, the operationg system is partially the same as a Black Rifle, with an 8-lug Mil-Spec rotating bolt that locks into a barrell extension, also with Mil-Spec 8620 standard. The difference is that the bolt movement is not actuated by the firing gases but by manually operating the cocking lever located behind the trigger guard. The other obvious difference, at least legally, is that in this case the gun cannot be subject to the limitations that affect semi-automatic guns in some American states. In fact, the Bandito is designed like an AR-15, i.e. with upper and a lower receivers, but given the particular operating system, usual components such as the T-shaped charging handle, the fire selector and the forward assist are missing and covered by simple caps. The advantage is that the receivers allow the fitting of many accessories designed for the Black Rifle par excellence and echoes its general feel. The safety, on the other hand, is a cross-bolt type, positioned in front of the trigger guard. The heart of the system is a patented linkage that allows extremely smooth cycling of the bolt. When the cocking lever is lowered, the patented cam engages a steel block in the lower receiver while the bolt carrier continues its backward  motion. This creates a 6:1 mechanical advantage that more reliably unlocks the bolt from the barrel extension, allowing the extractor to pull the spent cartridge case out of the chamber and eject it. Closing the cocking lever then pushes the bolt forward again, which in its motion extracts a round from the magazine and pushes it into the chamber. Simple and effective.

Fightlite Herring Bandito technical specifications and price

Fightlite Bandito: quintessentially American

The Fightlite Bandito is about as American as you can humanly imagine: a lever-action rifle on a super short AR-15 platform and fitted with a stock straight out of a Western TV series! Uncle Sam would love it, and it is certainly a lot of fun to carry in the field, especially in .300 Blackout. It is probably less fun to use for home defence, as muzzle flash and firing noise could be quite annoying in confined spaces. The retail price in the USA is $1,899.99, which is not cheap considering the average gun price, but we would predict a good success for this RCP (rifle caliber pistol) that would not look out of place in an episode of The walking dead TV series...

To find out more, visit the Fightlite website.