Remington Thunderbolt is garbage.

Executive

Executive

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Not that this is new information, but, in a rush, I picked up a box of the only reasonably priced .22 at FS a week ago. I took my boys shooting tonight and the crap worked only about 60% of the time. FTF's and FTE's in THREE different firearms. I left the remainder of the box, about 400 rounds on the bench in the range house marked "free, good luck". I usually use the bulk, value pack 550 round boxes of wally world .22 and have NEVER had a problem with it. I will not use Thunderbolt again.
 
I've never had a problem with Thunderbolts.

A big factor in how .22 works is whether its been abused in transport.
 
I also avoid PMC "Zapper" and Federal "Lightning" for the same reason. I vaguely recall Winchester had an equivalent box-o-crap for the discount market, but forget the name.

My idea of high-value .22 ammo was the blue Federal ammo and Winchester T-22. CCI by the case used to be a good buy, also.

My club issues $15 gift certificates for North East Trading, or used to, until the guys preferred steaks so they could show something "useful" to the wife if they won a match. I would use those certificates to buy a brick, so haven't had to actually pay for .22's in a while.
 
You're not alone, wouldn't fire worth a crap in my Mossberg 702 and my friends 10/22. From what Ive shot its CCI or nothing.
 
I had trouble with the Remington before firing, they are somehow slightly larger or rougher than all the other .22 I use, and they would not chamber properly in some of my .22 rifles. Never will shoot that stuff again.

I have found that the Federal is good, CCI standard velocity, and American Eagle HV copper plated (for use in my AR15 adapter).
 
this caused me grief in my MKIII, which was fine before and has been since. I gave mine away.
 
Rem Thunderbolt is also terrible for leading up barrels.

My buddy's P22 became unuseable after a couple hundred rounds of the
stuff. There was so much lead in the barrel that as the bullets were
leaving they were flying at different trajectories. His P22 was then
shooting buckshot patterns on the target, even at 10 feet or so!

It's not worth it when you can shoot rem golden bullet, aka, "dirt with
primer behind it" and not have this kind of problem.

-Mike
 
I remember buying a few bricks of the stuff back when I first got started and needed high velocity to cycle my first little auto-loader rifle; back at least 18 years ago.
The price was $9 a brick.......worked fine as far as function goes but it was about as accurate as a Clinton testimony. MOBD was the norm.
 
drgrant said:
Rem Thunderbolt is also terrible for leading up barrels.

My buddy's P22 became unuseable after a couple hundred rounds of the
stuff. There was so much lead in the barrel that as the bullets were
leaving they were flying at different trajectories. His P22 was then
shooting buckshot patterns on the target, even at 10 feet or so!

It's not worth it when you can shoot rem golden bullet, aka, "dirt with
primer behind it" and not have this kind of problem.

-Mike
Click to expand...

There are plenty of people who shoot like that at 10 feet with any gun. Including me on a bad day.

Any firearm, when shot with excessive amounts of lead ammo, will have leading problems. That's just the nature of it.
 
vellnueve said:
There are plenty of people who shoot like that at 10 feet with any gun. Including me on a bad day.

Any firearm, when shot with excessive amounts of lead ammo, will have leading problems. That's just the nature of it.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call a couple hundred rounds of 22LR excessive. It might not
even have been that much, now that I'm thinking of it. FWIW, this
same gun typically would have at least an entire brick of golden bullet
run through it, and at least at the end of the session would still be hitting a
target at 20 feet no problem.

And I was -there- when it happened, so it wasn't just him missing the
target... because I loaded the gun up and I got similar results. At first
I tried to shoot at the target from about 25 feet and missed completely, and
then I think I had to get within 10 feet to hit paper... the holes we were
getting on target defied logic. I think some of them even keyholed, like
the bullet was coming out of the barrel and turning sideways. After
a few mags of futility I cleared the gun and looked at the barrel, and it
was polluted with lead.

-Mike
 
EddieCoyle said:
Worst. Ammo. Ever.

The Federal bulk packs at Walmart are the best bargain in ammo.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. The copper washed Federal ammo always functions fine in my semi autos and bolt actions, plus it doesn't foul the barrel as much.
As for best .22 ammo, you can't beat Wolf IMO.
 
ArmedMainer said:
Can the Wolf .22 be bought in bulk someplace ?? I think I NEED some.[smile]
Click to expand...

Four Seasons and Zero Hour usually has it by the brick. There are 3 different grades and they run from expensive to very expensive to Holy Shit for that price this better be good! [grin]
I wouldn't waste it in a semi auto while plinking cans for fun but for a quality gun and target shooting you really do get what you pay for out of it.
 
wolf 22 is re-branded SK Jagd.
The Match Target Wolf is the SK Standard Plus, and the Wolf Match Extra is the SK Match.
SK is Lapua.
A large part of the conglomerate that owns Lapua was held by Saab.
 
I usually shoot CCI but have used Rem. Thunderbolt and never had a problem. Functioned fine in my 10/22, guess I'll count my blessings and just never buy it again.
 
I agree

I agree 100%. Bought a Walther P22 a week ago, got the Thunderbolts... After 40 rounds my barrel was so leaded up that all my rounds were keyholing at 9 feet!! You could SEE the thick lead build up. When I went home to clean, I pushed my cleaning rod with barrel brush into the barrel, and it got stuck!! Yep, i could not pull the rod out, the barrel had shrunk so much due to all the lead. I had to remove barrel with the rod in it, and hammer the rod all the way through to the other side (used another rod to "push" it through the barrel). Yes, I mean HAMMER, with a hammer. Luckily, the rod pushed out all the lead, which was thick in chunks, and the other rod didn't get stuck. The barrel didn't get scratched or hurt, but I was pissed and worried. Had to get a new rod too, mine got hammered and became useless.

That stuff is crap.
 
I use Federal bulk .22 in the 525 or 550 round value packs from Wallyworld or KTP (when on sale). It works reliably 99.9% of the time. I picked up the Thunderbolt at FS largely because I hate to leave there empty handed, especially after shooting the sh!t for a while, but also because as a policy, you can never have too much .22 ammo. I probably have XXXXX rounds of .22 but you never know when it might not be as available or inexpensive as it is now... I DO know that Thunderbolt is off the list of acceptable ammo. BTW, I use that Federal stuff in my Mark III, 77/22, and Walther G22 with no problems.
 
ArmedMainer said:
Jim,what is your favorite ammo for that MKIII ?
Click to expand...

My favorite is Wolf but it is so expensive that I rarely buy it. I'd guess that 90% of what I shoot through the MKIII (and all of my .22s - both handguns and rifles) is the copper-washed Federal from bulk packs. It's been very good other than the occasional failure-to-fire (it's a .22 after all).
 
BoB13 said:
Beware of Aguila also, I think it's called. Failure to feed and eject in my wifes Marlin and my High Standard.

Crapola!!
Click to expand...

It depends on the gun.
The rounds have a more rounded rim, causing the extractor on some guns to slip off the rim.
Mr. Derr uses Aguila and he wins. A lot.
 
BoB13 said:
Beware of Aguila also, I think it's called. Failure to feed and eject in my wifes Marlin and my High Standard.

Crapola!!
Click to expand...

I have a box of Aguila that I shoot as a novelty. This stuff has no powder, only primer. When I'm with some people shooting and we're done for the day and everyone has their hearing protection off I like to pop a few in my bolt action rifle. It really does take you by surpise because it sounds like a bb gun. Do you think you may have a box of this stuff? I tried it in a p22 once and I had to manually cycle each round.
 
I got some just to try it in my 10/22. It ate it right up. But wow is that ammo dirty. NEVER AGAIN! It was only $1.70 per 50 so I don't really care, it was just a pain to strip my 10/22. What a reliable gun [grin]
 

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