Taurus Thunderbolt Pump Rifle - 45LC

A

awpk03s

New member
Anybody have any experience with these? My local shop has one NIB for $449. I think it would make an excellent companion rifle to my recently acquired Ruger Blackhawk 45. I wonder if it would handle DoubleTap +P rounds..?
 
They sure are pretty and fun to look at. They look like a lot of fun.

With that said, get a nice Puma 92 lever in 45 colt and don't look back.

The Taurus Thunderbolt was an exercise in futility. Very unreliable and prone to big problems.

If you go to the sasswire, you can find lots of frustrated guys who tried to get them to run right because the idea is awesome.

I believe that the Uberti Lightnings are much better though but quite a bit pricier and still prone to issues.

Also, the Puma 45colt 92 levers are plenty strong enough to handle hot loads. There is a reason why they are also chambered in 454casull.
 
I had a Thunderbolt a nice looking rifle but fast pumping would cause a round to fall under the lifter, It was very stiff to pump even after a trip to the gunsmith .and don't try to shoot 45Colt +P rounds action not strong .AWA was going to make a .44mag Lighting rife as a special order around $1,000 well worth the money all parts first class.
 
I've got one

I had some early issues with light firing pin strikes using CCI #34 primers but after switching primers it has been fine. I changed the sights to some I could see. I have not experienced the jams as mentioned here, but I don't try to run it like a semi-auto either. Nice slim rifle with a large magazine and a big chunk of lead. I think I paid around $400 several years ago.
 
Thunderbolt

I have a stainless Thunderbolt that I bought in 2007, It is back in the Taurus repair center as the bolt is actually deflected by the hammer in the full cocked position. This creates a very stiff forward motion on the pump. It also loosens the top cover after several shots.

It has been back with Taurus for over 5 weeks.

They do not make this model any more, I wonder why?:(
 
Well I got my Thunderbolt back and they did nothing. Taurus needs to get their act together as they would not acknowledge moreless fix the issue. This is my last Taurus :(:mad:
 
I have a taurus thunderbolt and it is a blast to shoot, relatively quiet and no kick. Mine had the barrel shortened to 20" when I bought it. I don't have any feeding issues, but my wife does. She does not pump it fast enough. Most of our shooting are with light loads, 250 hard cast. My wife and I shoot it a lot. I have a flywheel hanging on chains behind the house which gets used often. It will not handle +P loads, but I have worked up a deer load. 300gr JSP behind 23.7 grains of RL7 for about 1130 fps. RL7 is slow compared to the normal pistol powders so the presure dosen't peak so fast. I replaced the rear buckhorn sight with a peep sight from http://www.skinnersights.com/. A significant improvement. I sometimes carry it on deer drive hunts.
 
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