Thunderbolt vs golden bullet

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TeeJay37

Bearcat
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Dec 17, 2010
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My girl's dad bought me a brick of Remington Thunderbolt for Christmas. I have a bulk pack of Remington GoldenBullets, but am consistently disappointed. Out of about 100, I had to throw away at least 10-15 because of misfires. A couple of weeks ago, I had 2 split. I was planning on switching to Federal, because of what I heard. Buuuut, now I have 500 more Rems and am wondering if the T-bolts are any better than the GBs.
 

Snake45

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The T-bolts are WORSE. Very dirty, not particularly accurate, and some guns don't function with them.

Sounds like you got hold of a bad lot of GBs, which isn't unknown. "Normal" dud rate on them is about 1 to 2 percent in my experience (I've shot about 20,000 of them in the last 3 or 4 years) and I've never had one split, though I have had lots with higher dud rates and much less power than normal.
 

ranger1

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IMO the Thunderbolts and the Goldens are both thumbs down. My favorite is CCI Mini-Mag and Federals when CCI's are hard to find!
 

Snake45

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I love CCI MiniMags. Very reliable, run in anything, and pretty darn accurate. But the last time I priced them they were 6c a shot and that's been over a year ago. I simply can't afford to shoot them routinely, the way I shoot.
 

TeeJay37

Bearcat
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Well dang. I havent shot any of the TBs yet, but i have noticed with the GBs that the report varies. Usually something like "pow-pow-pssh"
 

Snake45

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TeeJay37 said:
Well dang. I havent shot any of the TBs yet, but i have noticed with the GBs that the report varies. Usually something like "pow-pow-pssh"
When I did my bench testing of GBs in 2005, I was getting at least FOUR different report sounds from them, everything from squib-like to VERY hot sounding. The strange thing was they finished the accuracy test in third place (out of six), ahead of three kinds of ammo that made the same sound every time! :shock:

The ones I've bought since 2006, however, have been more consistent. MOST of them sound very loud, peppy, and hot, and only a few sound about like normal supersonic Federal Bulks. But I don't think I've ever bought a box of them that didn't make two (at least) distinct noises.

But they shoot just fine! :shock:
 

dacaur

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Yea I used to buy thunderbolts when I first started shooting a lot(AKA thunderturds if you do a search) I bought them for the price, cheaper than anything else in my neck of the woods, but havent bought any for a LOOOOOng time... they just arent worth it. They are REALLY dirty, on my hands, in my mags, and in the gun, and they are inconsistant. inconsistant = not accurate. I like golden bullets better than thunderbolts, but my bolt action gets light strikes with them, and in my SR-22 they get carbon down the outside and like to spit a lot at the end... its never caused a problem, but with so many choices, i dont but those anymore either.

My #1 fav is CCI mini mags, but they cost too much to shoot all the time. All I buy now are CCI blazers (in the 500 pack, not the 525 pack) and federal's in the 375 pack. All of my guns do well with both of those, though the sr-22 is a little more accurate with the federals. Given the choice I would go with the blazers.
 

TeeJay37

Bearcat
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Dec 17, 2010
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Okay, thanks guys. Maybe I'll just try to blow through the 700 or so Remington rounds and then switch to something better. All I'm doing ,as of now, is backyard plinking, so the bullets aren't bad for that. Maybe when get out of school, I'll be able to do more.
 

chopprs

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Oct 16, 2010
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Be careful with the CCI minimags. There are a handful of guns that will not work with them as the case is just a hair longer than standard length.....always good to check first. If they are ok in your gun you can be sure they will function flawlessly! :)
 

CraigC

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Haven't bought many Thunderbolts in a while but I did run a few hundred through my Ciener 1911 without a single malfunction sometime last year just to prove a point. I run 2000-3000rds of GB's every month. If they didn't work, I wouldn't buy them. I 'may' get two or three duds out of a pack of 525-550 at the very most. Out of my two dozen rimfires, I can't think of one that doesn't like them. My new CZ 452FS is particularly fond of them, piling them into a half inch at 50yds with boring regularity.

IMG_7817b.jpg
 

dacaur

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chopprs said:
Be careful with the CCI minimags. There are a handful of guns that will not work with them as the case is just a hair longer than standard length.....always good to check first. If they are ok in your gun you can be sure they will function flawlessly! :)

No, you are confusing them with "stingers", which do have a slightly longer case, but with a shorter bullet, which gives it an OAL which is the same as a normal .22lr round....

Minimag cases are not any longer than a normal .22lr case,
 

chopprs

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You are absolutely right! Sorry, brain fart.....or maybe after Christmas beers!! :)
 
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I have a box of Thunderbolts and the problem I have is the bullet is larger in dia than others and will not seat in my pistols and are too large to load into my revolvers. I have not tried them in my 10/22 so don't know if they will work there or not. If they don't work there I have a very large paperweight.
 

Chief 101

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The first brick of 22's I shot last year was a brick of Thunderbolts and they performed just fine. I don't sit at a bench and target shoot so I don't know the size of groups but I do hit a lot of my targets and a lot of them are moving at a good clip. As long as they function properly they all work good for me. Chief aka Maxx Load
 

DVRich

Bearcat
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Ridge Manor, Florida
The Remington T-Bolts perform in my Mark III poorly. Quite a high amount of FTF/FTE.
The only guns they are good for are revolvers and bolt action rifles.
The Federal copper plated 36 gr HPs have only left me with one FTE and 2-3 duds in an entire 550 rd bulk pak.
 

Yosemite Sam

Hunter
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Of the two I prefer GB. I find T-turds inconsistent, dirty, and have a high percentage of failed primers. Some people don't like the gold paint that GB can leave in the action, but it brushes right out.

I also prefer Mini-Mags, but they cost at least 2-3 times as much. It's bad enough to be paying $17/500 for bulk .22.

-- Sam
 

Snake45

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TeeJay37 said:
Whatabout any of the Winchester breeds?
Might be a good idea to start a new thread asking about them, if you're interested. Would get views from people who don't know or care about Rem ammo, or who have already seen this thread once and don't think there's anything more here for them. :wink:
 

dacaur

Single-Sixer
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I just remembered something else about thunderbolts that made me stop buying them. the number of LOOSE bullets, loose as in able to be wiggled in the brass, that and I have never had as many duds as I did with thunderbolts... most shot the second try.

Winchester.... I dont buy them at all since I had one blow up in my 22/45 mk II....
 

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