The Saga of My .... Taurus Thunderbolt

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[Outrider]

Howdy Pards


Well.....eureka...after a five month wait, my replacement T-Bolt finally arrived yesterday.

John Boy...I see what ya mean about the finish on the wood..but overall it looks pretty good.  Now...let's see if it works.  I will keep ya posted if there are any more problems.

[John Boy]

Outrider ... give a post if you are having intermittent 'stove piping's' with cartridge OAL's in the 1.570" neighborhood.

I have been experiencing a few with RNFP reloads at 1.569".  No sure if it is the rifle or the operator yet.

Also, try chambering the first round from the magazine with the rifle turned 45 -90 degrees while holding it level.  Got a couple of misfeeds with mine ... bullet nose hung up at the top of the chamber.   If it is the rifle, then I'm going to try some bullets with smaller metplates

BTW ... Congratulations upon the Arrival of Your 'NEW' Rifle.

[Outrider]

John Boy:

Took the new T-Bolt to the range this evening and fired about 30 rounds through it.  Slow fired great..not a hitch.  Tried a 5 round string rapid fire...not a hitch.  Tried several strings and did experience two hang ups, but I think it was operator error in that I didn't get the bolt all the open before I tried to close it.  This thing is still pretty stiff.  I did not experience any "stove piping"

The loads I am using is a 200 grn. RNFP lead in front of 4.6 grn. Clays, with an overall length of 1.572". I have used this load for years, and have never had a problem with it.  It works equally as well in the handguns, and the lever guns.

I am going to replace the sights on mine, and I think I will take your expert advice and go with the set up you have.  Have you gotten your tang sight attached yet?  I have one of the sights on an M-62 Taurus, and I may try to swap it over to the T-Bolt.

I have a shoot this week end, so I will keep you posted as to how the T-Bolt fairs

Happy Trails
Outrider

[John Boy]

Have you gotten your tang sight attached yet?

Outrider ... Yep, but not the way I want it.  The stock 1.75" tang screw will catch the last threads and the sight will hold on the tang.  My friend looked through his workshop and couldn't find a 12/28 die.  He's has an order into MSC Industrial for it and some other stuff that he needs for a Swiss Vetterli Cadet rifle that he is working on.

[Outrider]

John Boy

Did you ever get your tang screw problem ironed out?   I have not used the new replacement T-Bolt in a match yet, however it seems to be feeding ok...so far

[John Boy]

Nope ... my 'buddy' is dragging his feet

[John Boy]

Well, when in doubt for the tang screw ... send Brownells Tech folks an email and receive the answer within 24 hours 
Tang Screw for Taurus Tang Sight is ... 579-009-762 ... the head will have to be turned down and length shortened a tad
 009762 Tang Screw #12-28, 2.24" OAL       $2.53

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=17122&title=REPLACEMEMT+SCREWS+-+Remington+-+Winchester

[Van Morgan]

Hello, I am new here. Bought my wife one of them new Thunderbolts. It is a ZHxxxx serial number which should mean it is one of the newer models with the kinks out of it? She wanted a lightning, but they were way too pricey. I have been reading over the last few months that supposedly the newer Thunderbolts have most of the earlier problems fixed? Will post a range report once it dries up around here. Just bought it Saturday.

[Travis Morgan]

    Well??? How'd it do?

[Van Morgan]

I posted under another thread, but after 3 matches it has been working ok with the exception of a few issues with feeding and light primer hits with reloads. Haven't had any issues with factory with feeding. I have been trying to keep the OAL at 1.57". I think we have had a total of 2 jams one of which was in practice and the round was too long in the match. I switched from CCI to Winchester primers with no change. I will try Federal when I can find some. They are pretty scarse locally at the moment. I have been using Lasercast 250 gr RNFP, but was thinking of trying some Hornaday 255 gr .454's. Was wondering if anyone has tried them?

[BOBV]

Very interesting post.. I recently purchased a TBolt s/n ZIxxxxx (April actually). Sent it back to Taurus in mid May because of light hammer strikes.  I must have been the first to report this problem because they hadn't hear of it before (Ha Ha).  After having the gun for about 8 weeks, I got it back stating "No Problem Found" (Ha Ha) and was told to use only factory ammunition (Ha Ha).  I think I'm going to try to get a stiffer mainspring or get this one re-tempered, don't know yet.  I have been using Winchester LP primers and there was a post somewhere else said they had problems with Winchester and not CCI so I'm going to try some CCI's to see what happens.  I can't find the site again, that is how I stumbled upon this one.... Lots of good info here. 

Regarding the sights, I have a Lyman rear peep for a model 94 that matches the screw holes in the tang I was going to use but the front screw is too short and I don't know the thread size. I was going to re-drill and tap the front hole for the front screw that came with the Lyman sight for the winchester.  Hopefully I won't have to if I can find out from you what you did for for your front screw?  I may just order one for the 62 now that I know it fits and I have the screw info you posted here for the rear screw but please give me the info on the front tan screw. (appears only to be there for tang sight).  I can always use the Lyman on my 94, no problem there.

Anyway, in my book, the jury is still out on the Tbolt, I will update here as I know more and as I said, alot of great info here, I wish I would have found this site six months ago.
BOBV

[Van Morgan]

Took mine back to where I bought it today for a refund. They wanted to send it for repair saying that Taurus would fix it right the first time, yeah right. Wife objected strongly. I told them replace it or refund it. They refunded our money.