Taurus Thunderbolt

[Dorado Slim]

Does anyone know if they plan to offer it in any other calibers in the future, like .44WCF?

Or 44SPEC??

[Mustang Gregg]

Here, here---Yes---.44 SPECIAL!!!

[Col. Riddles]

Well Taurus just announced that they are now offerring the Gaucho in 44-40 so it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see the Thunderbolt offerred in it too, specially if enough pards write or call them & request it.

[L.G.]

Finally got to shoot mine today, only 1 1/2 weeks after buying it.  Loading isn't hard if youdon't try to push the cartridge down, you have to hit the previous cartridge in the upper third of the rim and push forward.  I started off slow to get a feel for pumping the action instead of racking a lever.  I feels like it will be real fast after I get fully used to it.  I had one issue, and it may have been me being to gentle with it.  Wound up with 2 rounds above the lifter, one backwards.  That took a little work to fix.

[Pappy Morgan]

Hey Pards, I got lucky yesterday the 22nd of Jan. I happened to drop in to a gun show at Fairmont, MN. It was a very small gun show, but that was expected in Jan in MN. The lucky thing was that I picked up a Taurus Thunderbolt in 45LC at a very good price, $349 not including taxes.

I took it home and cleaned it up as usual with a new gun. Then out to the local gravel pit for some chilly shooting. I was very impressed with this gun. It functioned perfectly for me in the cold weather, it was about 20F. It is a very comfortable rifle to shoot. Fit and finish is exceptional for the price. It is a deep dark blue with nice wood. The sights were a bit hard to get used to, but I am 58 and the eyes aren't as good as they once were. I did manage to adjust to them. The front blade is very narrow and fits well into the tiny little rear site notch. The rear sight is a good sized buckhorn with a tiny little notch at the bottom.

I used some handloads that I had made up for my Ruger Bisley. They were 250gr lead round nose ahead of 8.5gr of Clays powder. They fed perfectly through the action. I think it would be best to use a round nose flat point in the tube magazine, to minimize chain fire. I did not have any on hand at the time.

One of the nice things I did like was the ability to drop one round at a time into the action, with easy feeding into the chamber. Not that we would use it this way in a match, but it was nice for sighting in. Didn't have to unload the rifle to go down range and set the target back up. It was to cold to do much precision sighting in, but out of the box I put five rounds in about an inch  at 25 yards.

This will be a fantastic rifle for CAS! Pick one up if you find one. I am sure glad I did!!!!!!

[outrider]

Hey Pappy Morgon:

I also was able to buy a Thunderbolt on Saturday...paid slightly more but not alot...$375.00 before taxes.   Took it to the range and also got groups of approximately 1" at 25 yds.  I did have an occasional problem with misfires though...seems the firing pin hit but not hard enough to fire the round...I am using 200gr. FN in front of 4.6 grns. of Clays...Winchester primers.  Me thinks either the gun has to break in or the primers are too hard...any ideas?

Outrider

[Dakota Dan from OZ]

Taurus is coming out with a new version of the Colt Lightning rifle in 45. Due out in early 2005. It's named the Thunderbolt since there are companys making Lighnings. Looks interesting. Here's a link if anyone's interested. By the way, they are already being sold in Australia of all places. Strange.

http://www.taurususa.com/main/Newfor2004.cfm

We still have not seen them down here yet. Have 38/357 on order for over a year.

D D

[Big John Denny]

Pards, my understanding is that Taurus is only producing the TBolt in 45 Colt at this time, but it will be followed by the 357 Mag soon thereafter. As far as the other popular Cowboy calibers, we'll probably see them as the rifle gains popularity.

There have been mixed reviews on the gun to date, but there's been more good said about them than bad. At the price Taurus is selling them for it seems to be the overall best value in a Lightning style firearm.

Saturday at our local shoot a pard was using an AWA Lightning that cost him a bunch more, over $1K, and his gun locked up tighter than a drum. They had to dissasemble the magazine tube to get out his unfired rounds, but never could get the empty out of the chamber.

I too plan on getting one soon as I can. The trick is you've got to rack that slide to get it to eject and feed reliably all the time. If you try to baby it you're more likely to get an extra round out of the magazine when you don't want it.

[BlaiseNSaddles]

Seems as if the supply of 45 Thunderbolts has even dried up.  Most of my dealers have been hounding the distributors and they say Taurus has not shipped anymore for awhile.

[Col. Riddles]

I used some handloads that I had made up for my Ruger Bisley. They were 250gr lead round nose ahead of 8.5gr of Clays powder. They fed perfectly through the action. I think it would be best to use a round nose flat point in the tube magazine, to minimize chain fire. I did not have any on hand at the time.

Pappy is that a typo? I sure hope so. Hogdon doesn't even list that load for Ruger, Freedom Arms & T/C, let alone for cowboy loads. The max they list for a 250gr cowboy load is 5.1 grs of Clays. That 8.5 gr load would far exceed SASS velocity limits for both pistol and rifle. Are you sure you didn't mean Universal Clays? If not, I fear you have a disaster waiting to happen. I don't think that load would be safe in a Ruger, much less a Thunderbolt.

In June of 97 one of our club members blew up not one but two Vaqueros on the same stage. When our Range Master at the time, (who is also a gun smith & retired police armorer) pulled some of his bullets & weighed the powder charges some of  them had over 19 grs of Unique which is more than double the listed max load of 8.6 grs. Fortunately nobody was injured. http://www.hodgdon.com/data/cowboy/index.php

Hey Pappy Morgon:

I also was able to buy a Thunderbolt on Saturday...paid slightly more but not alot...$375.00 before taxes.   Took it to the range and also got groups of approximately 1" at 25 yds.  I did have an occasional problem with misfires though...seems the firing pin hit but not hard enough to fire the round...I am using 200gr. FN in front of 4.6 grns. of Clays...Winchester primers.  Me thinks either the gun has to break in or the primers are too hard...any ideas?

Outrider

Winchester & CCI are the hardest primers made. Try some Federal. I think you'll do better with them. I'm not sure about the hardness of Remington Primers. I've never tried them.

[Pappy Morgan]

Yup, it was a strong load........but I had loaded it for some hunting on big game. Hogden does list it,( in the manul) but under Causel and Freedom arms loads. I know it is a steamy load.........and I would never use it for CAS. It was all that I had on hand at the time. But it did work well in the Thunderbolt.

[Pappy Morgan]

Sorry Pards.......I was wrong on the powder.......it was Universal Clays.........I just looked at the label on the box that I had loaded wrong.

My mistake.......I'll take those forty lashes with that limp noodle!!!!!!!!!

[john boy]

I did have an occasional problem with misfires though...seems the firing pin hit but not hard enough to fire the round...I am using 200gr. FN in front of 4.6 grns. of Clays...Winchester primers.  Me thinks either the gun has to break in or the primers are too hard...any ideas?

Outrider, you are the 7th owner of the C45 that I have heard is having light primer hits.  Mine does it too.  The misfires are happening in the YFxxxx and YKxxxx serial production runs.  The 2 serial number series are only a month apart.  I had 17 misfires out of 75 rounds with one testing

I talked with Taurus Tech folks about the issue and they said ... 'Your the first that I have heard about this problem.  If you want, send it in for repair."

OK, the light hits are happening with CCI and Winchester primers - factory loads and reloads.  IMHO, it is a production issue - the firing pin has a flat end is not protruding enough out of the bolt.

The other malfunction is that the rifle won't chamber 45's at max OAL of 1.60.  Likes em right at the cannalure - 1.585 to 1.595.

Also, with a 3# trigger pull, keep your finger off the trigger when racking the forearm.  Otherwise, ya have a semi-automatic rifle

Other than above ... it is one SWEET RIFLE!

[BlaiseNSaddles]

 

Be nice if they could catch up a bit.  None of the gun shops around here have any, or had any come through.  I keep pestering them, they keep pestering the distributors and it all seems to be on the manufacturers end.

[Green Lane George]

I got one today at a gun shop in Pa. "Barbers Firearms 610-287-2060  I took it home and made 4 dummy rounds with 250 gr. flat nose at 1.575 OAL and they worked fine thru my Thunderbolt. I will shoot it Thursday when some of the snow melts. There was 2 more rifles in blue finish still on the rack.

[sweettooth]

 o.k. picked up my c45 yesterday . no manual , the one online isnt for this rifle ,
It is breechloading not tubular is there a safety ? Read about the rd and green saftey button cant
find it on mine . It is a yk model . I will shoot it latter today if it doesnt have the locking mech.
naturally a key didnt come with it. Anyone who already has one have any insight ?
                                                              Truly Sweettooth

[Green Lane George]

Sweettooth, Call Taurus and they will ask for your address and send you one. I can' figure why they don't give you one when you buy it at first? They give you 2 keys which inserted into the rear of the hammer and turned 180 will bring a pin out to interfere with the hammer being cocked. I also picked one up on Monday, YK17XX. I shot it yesterday and was not real impressed. I guess I can't complain about the price compared to USFA, Beretta and AWA Lightning models. I got 1 failure to fire out of 110 rounds, the firing pin on these YK series have a 1/16 flat on the end of the pin which strikes the primer instead of a ball shape. The larger the flat the more energy it takes to make ignition on the primer. The dealer had 2 other rifles which both of them had the flat also. From reading the forums I noticed this as a problem and some owners were returning the rifle for repair. while shooting my Thunderbolt yesterday I had some rounds flip backwards when working the action, you can't be too easy when pumping the action. Accuracy was ok at around 1" at 25 yards. When I got back to my shop I removed the front magazine cap and installed a 6" by .450 dia. delrin plug in the magazine tube to put more tension on the spring, this will cut the amount from 14 to 10 but it will put more tension on the last remaining few rounds in the tube. If you want to put a tang vernier sight on it the one that Taurus sells for the model 62, 72, 172 will fit. They all have the same hole space at 2.200 "

[john boy]

re: Manual for the C45 Taurus:
One has to call Taurus (telephone number is on their website) and give them your name and mailing address.  Ok, let's say you do that.
A friend received his manual last week and it was NOT for the C45.  Seems the printer screwed up and no one checked at Taurus. 

I have failed to receive my manual yet, either the wrong one or the right one.

[sweettooth]

 As prevously stated I picked up a Thundrbolt yesterday. Talked to Fla. today no 800 number, they are waiting on the new manuals.
  NOW HERE IS THE KICKER Loaded 10 rounds went to jack one in the chamber it jammed. Cleared it with much difficulty tried another one it jammed too. put it back in the box its going back tomorrow. I  dont want it .Brand new gun no key for the locking Mech. no Manual and wasnt able to shoot one round .  Lifetime warranty I dont want to live with that gun 1 more day.
                 ?When will I learn you get what you pay for. ?   My Marlin cowboy competion  with a private smiths action job works all the time every time. I

[john boy]

Sweettooth:  Before you leave it on the range shooting bench and sell it to me for $275  ... you may want to read this thread.
http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=1436.0

Your one round issue is not the rifle - it's the OAL of your rounds