a 45Colt Pump rifle

[mohavesam]

Anyone have one of the Taurus (not rossi) Thunderbolt rifles in 45 Colt?

I have handled them but not-yet bought one. Talked with at least one guy who really liked his, he told of no feeding issues with good accuracy. Good enough that he took it into a stand for short-range on whitetail.

Nice finish and smooth cycling one the ones I've handled, and I'm just looking for good experiences to seal my decision.
What say ye?

[Griff]

I think they're called the Taurus "Thunderbolt". Many folks have tried them in cowboy action shooting, in both 45 Colt and 38/357. Speed demons they ain't. Lots and LOTS of problems. There've been a few cowboy gunsmiths that've worked out the kinks. The very best ones have been the ones imported and assembled by AWA (now defunct). IMO, if you're not planning on competing with one, there would probably be far more examples that work just fine... cowboy action shooters seem to insist on speed over anything else...

[.45colt]

Griff is a Cowboy action shooter and knows His stuff. I have wanted a Colt Copy for years. the Pedersolis are not cheap but that is what I would get and though I love the Colt I would get it in 44-40 as I have heard for years they run much better do to the slight bottleneck in the cartridge. I just missed one a while ago $1200 like new . I could have Cried. .http://www.taylorsfirearms.com/long-gun ... round.html
The one pictured is the top shelf model stand grades are a few hundred less.

[Sixgun]

Why fool with uncertain quality when for maybe $1500 you can get a real deal Colt in 38-40 or 32-20 with maybe 40% of the finish left that will work. I currently have em in all calibers and headache free they are. One 38-40 has over 5K out of it.

44's are usually 2G's and up.

Were not talking internet prices but some of the better gunshows or better yet, like I've got most of my guns, through local auctions and estate sales.---6

[Hairtrigger]

I bought a new one from CDNN a few years back for $450
It is a fun toy. The accuracy is a bit better than what I expected
I would buy another

[Marvin S]

I don't know what you intend to use it for but I like my Remington 14 1/2 in 44wcf.

[mohavesam]

I'm with hairtrigger, not into the CAS stuff. I and my rifles hunt, so I'm looking for experience with them as a $450-500 tree stand gun, or woodchuck stalking rifle. There are hundreds of "other options" I know, but variety is the spice...

I like what Taurus did with the Winchester replicas with just enough modernization to be safe and accurate. I have a great 63 and a blued 62 pump and SS lever-action that have never really been anything but exemplary. So far I've not handled a Thunderbolt that did not have a first-rate bluing job and decent sight alignment.

I'll probably give the 45C rifle a try. I've spent more on less that's for sure.

[Shrapnel]

The originals are great, there is nothing like an original Lightning. This is an original SRC in 44-40. They work much better than the cheaper copies. The USFA copies are equal in quality to the originals and will work much better than the Taurus and other copies. They aren't easy to find and when you do they aren't cheap, but they do chamber them in 45 Colt...

[Hawkeye2]

A friend handed me one in .45 Colt a few years back and I believe he was hoping I would make an offer after I tried it. Fifty rounds of my cowboy loads later and I was not impressed by the accuracy. It was new and I had lots of jams, many stovepipe, and it didn't matter how fast or slow I worked the action. I handed it back to him with a few comments on the function and before I turned away I asked him what he wanted for it. He said $325 and I walked off.

[Shrapnel]

A friend handed me one in .45 Colt a few years back and I believe he was hoping I would make an offer after I tried it. Fifty rounds of my cowboy loads later and I was not impressed by the accuracy. It was new and I had lots of jams, many stovepipe, and it didn't matter how fast or slow I worked the action. I handed it back to him with a few comments on the function and before I turned away I asked him what he wanted for it. He said $325 and I walked off.

If it doesn't work, it isn't any good even if it was free...

[Hairtrigger]

A friend handed me one in .45 Colt a few years back and I believe he was hoping I would make an offer after I tried it. Fifty rounds of my cowboy loads later and I was not impressed by the accuracy. It was new and I had lots of jams, many stovepipe, and it didn't matter how fast or slow I worked the action. I handed it back to him with a few comments on the function and before I turned away I asked him what he wanted for it. He said $325 and I walked off.

If it doesn't work, it isn't any good even if it was free...

I always enjoy a challenge and would have done my best to get that gun functioning

[Hawkeye2]

A friend handed me one in .45 Colt a few years back and I believe he was hoping I would make an offer after I tried it. Fifty rounds of my cowboy loads later and I was not impressed by the accuracy. It was new and I had lots of jams, many stovepipe, and it didn't matter how fast or slow I worked the action. I handed it back to him with a few comments on the function and before I turned away I asked him what he wanted for it. He said $325 and I walked off.

If it doesn't work, it isn't any good even if it was free...

I always enjoy a challenge and would have done my best to get that gun functioning

I already have more firearms "challenges" than I need. I should have included in my first post that I didn't care for the balance, the way it came to the shoulder or pointed. It wasn't love at first sight and even if it worked well I probably would have taken my '92 or '66.

[Blaine]

The way Henry is expanding their line, a pump seems likely.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Ok,
So you have the Pedersoli that sells for about $1200, You have the AWA's that sold for about the same as well as the USFA version. Those guns all pretty much worked.
Then you have a Taurus made version that retails for about $500. That is just too much difference in price to expect the Taurus to be comparable.

Over the years I have worked on some originals, several of the USFA Lightning pump rifles, and several of the AWA's and Pedersoli's. AWA was the first to get them out and they did have some problems with their early guns, but both the USFA, Pedersoli and the AWA-USA's are really good guns, but they are not cheap. That said, when Taurus came out with the "T" Bolt folks knew I had experience with the pump guns began to send people to me that had bought the "T" Bolts. I would say I have had about 20 to 25 of them here for work. Of that number I just couldn't make 5 of them run right, for various reasons. Bottom line is I sent them back to Taurus and they did manage to fix most of them but some required more than one trip back to Taurus. one was sent been back three times and still doesn't work. The really sad part is the quality of the workmanship, too. This was a new gun when it first went to them but now it's beat up, the wood is bruised and scratched up, the screws are buggered and still doesn't work. The last time I talked to them they tell me there is nothing else they can do. So much for the lifetime warranty

Think about this. All the other pump rifles start at about $1200. The Taurus gun is still under $500. That's the old silk purses and sow's ears thing.

Bottom line is I still work on the others, but I won't work on any more of the Taurus guns.

[Hairtrigger]

I always enjoy a challenge and would have done my best to get that gun functioning

I already have more firearms "challenges" than I need. I should have included in my first post that I didn't care for the balance, the way it came to the shoulder or pointed. It wasn't love at first sight and even if it worked well I probably would have taken my '92 or '66.

All good reasons
But still!