March 2006

Taurus, AWA, and Beretta Rifles Meet at the Not-Quite-OK Corral

You can get a slide-action Taurus Thunderbolt for $475, and it’s Our Pick. The AWA Lightning, $850, is also worth a look, but we wouldn’t buy the Beretta Gold Rush .45 LC carbine for $1429.

The Taurus Thunderbolt’s bluing (top) was exceptionally nice, and our testers rated the crescent-shaped steel butt plate totally in keeping with the aura of cowboy guns. The AWA Lightning Carbine at $850 (middle) costs substantially more than the Taurus, but you get a lot for that money. The receivers, trigger guards and other major parts are machined from forgings, and and stocks are walnut. The Beretta Gold Rush Carbine (bottom) cost $950 more than the Taurus, money we just can’t justify spending.

There’s a new breed of action rifle in Cowtown. Instead of the diehard lever gun of old, many Cowboy Action shooters looking to shave the last seconds off their time will soon be using a pump rifle. In the quest for speed in that game, top shooters are posting winning scores with the old Colt Lightning design, or clones thereof. Because top shooters use them, that means everybody wants one, whether or not they work better than the ol’ lever action mainstay. Variety is, of course, what drives the gun industry, and we’re surely not complaining, but we confess we had no idea how well these corn-shuckers would perform. The…
 
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