Taurus Thunderbolt's ,,,,,on sale??????????

[Slamfire]

I were look'n on the gun broker, last night and noticed  prices anywhere from 400.00 up to 600.00'sh. they were all .45lc,,do they even make one in 44/40 Thunderbolt,?? Am i missing something,, or is there a problem with this Taurus model ,,cause the pricing seemed a bit lower  than the last time i checked on them.





     Hootmix.

[Pettifogger]

Problems?  Do some web searching and you will find that the Thunderbolt has a terrible reputation.  Taurus discontinued them some time ago and the warehouses are trying to get rid of them.  They only came in .357 and .45.

[Abilene]

$400 to $600?  I'd say that's about $300 to $500 too much. 

[Slamfire]

Yeooooow!  Thaaaannnnnk! ya'll. Do they bend ,fold ,spindel,or mutlate ? I didn't keep up on them since they were out of my price range back  when i thought i wanted one,,and if i find one cheeeep enought i'll still try one,357/45lc don't matter, i can always make a water fall decoration with it(lol).






    Hootmix.

[Pettifogger]

Yeooooow!  Thaaaannnnnk! ya'll. Do they bend ,fold ,spindel,or mutlate ? I didn't keep up on them since they were out of my price range back  when i thought i wanted one,,and if i find one cheeeep enought i'll still try one,357/45lc don't matter, i can always make a water fall decoration with it(lol).






   Hootmix.

Yes, they do all that.  Only thing they don't reliably do is function.  Most people use them for tomato stakes.  I would like to see how your waterfall idea works.  

[Slamfire]

I LOVE THIS PLACE, HA,HA HA,AAAAAA. Wait! hey petti ,would it take 6 or 8 to make a water wheel???

  I really didn;t know they were seriously flawed,i probly would try one at a couple of hundred .




   Hootnix.

[Abilene]

I think they've always been inexpensive, like $500 range.  That is why a lot of folks bought them, since other Lightnings tend to be double that cost or more.  Like anything, if you ask around you may find a few people who say they have one and it works well, but those are the exception.  There's one 'smith, Deadeye Dallas, that spent a lot of time figuring out the various and multiple problems and how to fix them and he was able to make a few of them work pretty well, but it took a lot of time and effort and a while back he mentioned having other commitments so he wasn't able to take on any more work with these.

[Slamfire]

 Didn't NC RANGER have a 45lc he shot some matches with and had a pretty good report,?






  Hootnix.

[Pettifogger]

I know a guy that had a Yugo and gave it a good report.  The issue isn't whether there is an occasional good one, the issue is that the good ones are few and far between.

[Slamfire]

Well that just shows ua what i know,i didn't even know taurus made car's,,,,go figure.






   Hootnix.

[Abominable Bill]

There are a few positive reports on the Taurus T-bolt; but there are more negative reports.
They can be made to function. If you want one, you could track down this guy:

I think there have been some who reported them to work out of the box; because they were far and few between, I bought a Pedersoli

[Slamfire]

Bill that were worth seeing, thanks. I have been check'n& reed'n on here  and again if the price is right i'm goin give one a try.






  Hootmix.

[Abominable Bill]

Slamfire,
Here are more from a SASS member that can tune the Taurus to work:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HarryJeffcoat#g/u

Good luck and keep us posted as to how you make out.
I queried and found that the Pedersoli works best out of the box. I saved my $$ and was able to get one.
I love that thing! I hope that you get a Taurus T-bolt and find it works just fine out of the box.
With the Taurus, in .45 I'd stick with smokless loads and start with a 230gr RNFP with a heavy crimp to help reduce blowback

[Slamfire]

Thanks , Abomi .,Bill Good info.,i'v noticed almost every one who shoots a pumper echo's your remark,,,,they shoot dead on and " I love this gun",, may have to sell some of these one-eyed cats i'm feed'n ,or trade'm off.







    Hootnix.

[rbertalotto]

I have a Taurus that I bought about 8 months ago. Sat in front of the TV and cycled it 200 times before i ever shot it.

It is in 45LC.......Using round nose bullets it has never jammed. But it blows back gas something awful. I need to try different powders as I'm not getting a good seal on 45LC brass. Brass comes out near total black. Not fun to shot when it is doing this.

I wanted one in 38-40, but no longer available.

I probably will rebarrel this one this winter.

[Pettifogger]

I have a Taurus that I bought about 8 months ago. Sat in front of the TV and cycled it 200 times before i ever shot it.

It is in 45LC.......Using round nose bullets it has never jammed. But it blows back gas something awful. I need to try different powders as I'm not getting a good seal on 45LC brass. Brass comes out near total black. Not fun to shot when it is doing this.

I wanted one in 38-40, but no longer available.

I probably will rebarrel this one this winter.

The Taurus was never available in .38-40.  Thus, you will never find a factory barrel for it.  Having a custom made barrel will cost more than the gun is worth unless you really like it and just have to have the only .38-40 in existence.

[rbertalotto]

I do my own smithing so all I need is a .401 barrel blank and away I go!

Any other 38-40 will be a vintage rifle with a shot out barrel for upwards of $3000.

I paid $400 for my Case colored Taurus. $200 for a barrel blank and I'm home for $600. The Thunderbolt is a fantastic rifle for CAS. If you ever get the chance to run one, do it. Amazingly fast and easy to keep on target. But they are very complicated firearms with lots of small moving parts. They need to be tuned properly and then maintained.

[Pettifogger]

I do my own smithing so all I need is a .401 barrel blank and away I go!

Any other 38-40 will be a vintage rifle with a shot out barrel for upwards of $3000.

I paid $400 for my Case colored Taurus. $200 for a barrel blank and I'm home for $600. The Thunderbolt is a fantastic rifle for CAS. If you ever get the chance to run one, do it. Amazingly fast and easy to keep on target. But they are very complicated firearms with lots of small moving parts. They need to be tuned properly and then maintained.

Run one?  I have 12 of them and have worked on a bunch more.  (Colt, AWA, USFA, Taurus, Pedersoli and Uberti.)  I have an original 1st Gen Colt Lightning with a mint bore that I will sell you have a lot less than $3,000.00.  AWA also made .38-40s and I have one of those laying around somewhere.

[rbertalotto]

Pettifogger, I didn't mean "you" when I suggested "run one"........that was for general consumption ....

I've seen you speak of the Colts and was well aware on your familiarity with them.

If you have a 38-40, either vintage or repro, for sale...I'd be interested.

Send me an email on what ya got and what ya asking.

rvb100@comcast.net

THANKS!

[Pettifogger]

Pettifogger, I didn't mean "you" when I suggested "run one"........that was for general consumption ....

I've seen you speak of the Colts and was well aware on your familiarity with them.

If you have a 38-40, either vintage or repro, for sale...I'd be interested.

Send me an email on what ya got and what ya asking.

rvb100@comcast.net

THANKS!

I'll look for them and see if I can get you some pictures in the next couple of days.