I finally got around to trying to disassemble my Taurus Thunderbolt in .45LC this evening.
I whipped out the owner’s manual and to my dismay the cleaning instructions only included cleaning the barrel, opening the action, and spraying the thing out with an arsesol cleaner.
Not good enough.
So, I go online and find some other instruction. In these I find that step #1 is to remove the magazine tube. Remove one screw, lift it out, right? Nope. Danged thing won’t move. I’m not sure why you would need to do this, but I figured I’d just move to the next step.
Remove the buttstock.
That part was easy!
I fiddle around with it some more, can’t get the magazine tube out so I figure I’ll give up for the night and try again. I put the magazine retention screw back on after some fiddling and go to work on the buttstock.
Stubborn little fucker. Whack it with my hand a little bit to get it back onto the tang. Still not moving far enough up. I put a sock on it the end to protect the metal and tap it with a heavy object. It’s moving now. Weee!
Shit, I cracked the wood! How did that happen?
I recheck my work. I was trying to put it back on upside down. Figures. I’ve caught myself trying to do that before. It’s cosmetic, but I’m going to have to replace this sometime. I’m not big on caring much about cosmetic damage to guns, but this one hasn’t even been shot yet! A muck-up like this isn’t “character” — it’s a sign of a dumbass owner.
Sigh.
Live and learn.
The last time I “worked” my way into a handgun I had a small puiece fly off into the ether. Pain in the rear to find it.
Reminds me of the idiot mark I put on my black Springfield 1911. Sure, that was during the reassembly, but it’s the same idea. :)
Hey, I see you cracked the stock and will need to replace it. GOOD LUCK. I received a thunderbolt as gift in 06 and never got around to shooting it til 1/25/10, had problems with feeding and ejection, discovered loading gate screw was missing from factory so I called Taurus on 1/29 and they said they would ship to me. waited 2 wks to receive and sent me wrong screw. Called again 2/19 and said sorry for mistake, had in stock and would mail me new one, called called on 3/15 another guy said it was on order and would get right out to me. Called on 3/31 said they were doing inventory and could not ship until completed, never even asked what part I had ordered. I told them that I was going to AK on Mon 4/5/10 and taking gun along and that if attacked buy wolf or bear and received bodily harm because of gun malfunction that I myself or family members will be suing them. Axle said he did not have to take call and listen to my BS and hung up. Buyers beware Taurus may have warranty for sales purpose but they do not honor it. They are totally unprofessional and rude. I will never own another junker from them and would not recommend them to anyone. Good luck Patrick Purcell
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