I've seen a good bit of negative press regarding the Thunderbolt .22LR ammo and was wondering what is it that causes people to dislike it? I've got some and have not had any misfires/failure to fire; and, in fact have found it to be quite accurate in my Ruger Mk II and even in my old JC Higgins bolt rifle that I've had all my long life. So, can anyone shed some light on Thunderbolt ammo please??
Thunderbolt .22's
- Thread starter Johnnu2
- Start date
SweetWilliam
Buckeye
I've seen a lot of that negative yugo being posted too and I believe none of it. I don't think I've ever had a misfire with a thunderbolt. Personally I think it's the shooters gun that's doing the miss firing.
The latest one I just heard was thunderbolts will clog up your barrel. LMFAO
When I replied to the post I asked what was the barrel being clogged up with but ever got a response back.
And another thing, the days of 3 & 4 cent 22's are long gone but people can't get that trough they're head.
The latest one I just heard was thunderbolts will clog up your barrel. LMFAO
When I replied to the post I asked what was the barrel being clogged up with but ever got a response back.
And another thing, the days of 3 & 4 cent 22's are long gone but people can't get that trough they're head.
Chuck 100 yd
Hunter
Most people are happy if they can find ANY .22 ammo these days. Still there are those who just love to complain about everything and anything .
Rick Courtright
Hawkeye
Hi,
The very little personal experience I have with Thunderbolts tells me the stuff's filthy dirty to shoot. Not that it'll clog your barrel, but you'll have quite a cleaning job waiting at day's end.
As for misfires, I had to think. I shoot a lot of Federals from Wally, some Winchester 333/555 stuff, and whatever flavor of Remington that happens along. I don't recall ever having a misfire with the old Marlin single shot rifle, nor with the Kadet .22 conversion on my CZ-75B, regardless of the ammo. It might have happened, and I just forgot it.
My Mk II and 10/22, OTOH, are frequent offenders in the misfire department. Again, regardless of the ammo. One particularly memorable misfire incident involved a rattlesnake within about five feet of my feet, who thought I looked good for lunch. The Mk II, loaded with "good" CCIs that day, greeted it with "click" twice before the third hand racked round went "bang" and dispatched the snake. Perhaps blaming the ammo's not quite accurate... ;)
Rick C
The very little personal experience I have with Thunderbolts tells me the stuff's filthy dirty to shoot. Not that it'll clog your barrel, but you'll have quite a cleaning job waiting at day's end.
As for misfires, I had to think. I shoot a lot of Federals from Wally, some Winchester 333/555 stuff, and whatever flavor of Remington that happens along. I don't recall ever having a misfire with the old Marlin single shot rifle, nor with the Kadet .22 conversion on my CZ-75B, regardless of the ammo. It might have happened, and I just forgot it.
My Mk II and 10/22, OTOH, are frequent offenders in the misfire department. Again, regardless of the ammo. One particularly memorable misfire incident involved a rattlesnake within about five feet of my feet, who thought I looked good for lunch. The Mk II, loaded with "good" CCIs that day, greeted it with "click" twice before the third hand racked round went "bang" and dispatched the snake. Perhaps blaming the ammo's not quite accurate... ;)
Rick C
Lot off powder fouling is the biggest problem many people have with it, I made the mistake of buying a brick of Tunderbolts when my kids were young and learning how to shoot with Ruger 10/22 rifles it was a bad day at the range the guns kept jamming from fouling and had to clean the actions out about every 5 shots to get them to fire again, also they were not recycling the action every time due to lack of power.
I'm sure they work fine in a bolt action or revolver, if you find you have a semiauto they work in your in luck it don't happen often.
Next trip to the range I brought some Federal bulk and so Winchester bulk packs and had no more problems with the rifles.
I'm sure they work fine in a bolt action or revolver, if you find you have a semiauto they work in your in luck it don't happen often.
Next trip to the range I brought some Federal bulk and so Winchester bulk packs and had no more problems with the rifles.
SweetWilliam
Buckeye
What 22 ammo doesn't leave a powder residue?
As some others have mentioned, rimfire semi-autos seem to be more susceptible to digestion issues than other action types. I had some problems with mis-fires using Thunderbolts in my Colt Woodsman; it seems to have a picky diet. Put the same rounds in my Remington model 34 bolt action rifle, however, and I have no problems but the Thunderbolts do seem to be dirtier than most.
seems to me that to be a self proclaimed expert at anything on a forum or internet rag you have to criticize something...Remington Thunderbolts take a beating...I have to say that a fresh brick of these will go thru any of my 22lr guns with no problems... I did have a brick that rode in the toolbox of my truck for a couple of decades, I didn't fare so well with that one in a stock 10/22...I suspect any other 22lr ammo would fare the same...
OK, to delay any critisizm about whethere or not I'm an expert, qualfied to report on a specific ammunition let me say I ain't no ezspurt!
I can't say anything about current production of Remington .22 ammo, I can say that all my experiences with Thunderbolt and Viper were much less than satisfactory. I purchased 4 .22 LR firearms within a 1 year period and tried every .22 LR ammo I could find (in stores and online) to see which ammo fit which gun. I had a Remington semi-auto rifle in .22 LR and even that Remington rifle wouldn't fire a 10 round magazine without at least two failures to feed, but worked quite well with every other ammo I could find. My 10-22 would get so dirty shooting Remington rimfire ammo it would sometimes fail to feed, not so with any other rimfire ammo. I had a Ruger MkII that also wouldn't digest a bit more than 20 rounds of Remington ammo before problems started. All the Remington .22 LR ammo I fired in my rimfires was about 4th on the accuracy list below Blazer and Federal bulk. In my single shot Contender, my most accurate rimfire, groups were quite a bit larger with Remington ammo than any other rimfire ammo I fed it. And 100 rounds was max. before it was necesary to clean the rifle. I did not have any problems like these with CCI green tag and standard, Winchester, Federal, Blazer, Fiocchi, SK, and some sub-sonic ammo. I did not record the Remington ammo findings, I just quit buying it...
So, not a gun writer, balistics expert, or fourm guru. I'm just sharing my first hand experiences with Reminton rimfire ammo. I haven't tossed any money away on Remington rimfire ammo in mebbe 13 years (but prolly closer to 20) so they may have improved, but I wouldn't bet on it...
I can't say anything about current production of Remington .22 ammo, I can say that all my experiences with Thunderbolt and Viper were much less than satisfactory. I purchased 4 .22 LR firearms within a 1 year period and tried every .22 LR ammo I could find (in stores and online) to see which ammo fit which gun. I had a Remington semi-auto rifle in .22 LR and even that Remington rifle wouldn't fire a 10 round magazine without at least two failures to feed, but worked quite well with every other ammo I could find. My 10-22 would get so dirty shooting Remington rimfire ammo it would sometimes fail to feed, not so with any other rimfire ammo. I had a Ruger MkII that also wouldn't digest a bit more than 20 rounds of Remington ammo before problems started. All the Remington .22 LR ammo I fired in my rimfires was about 4th on the accuracy list below Blazer and Federal bulk. In my single shot Contender, my most accurate rimfire, groups were quite a bit larger with Remington ammo than any other rimfire ammo I fed it. And 100 rounds was max. before it was necesary to clean the rifle. I did not have any problems like these with CCI green tag and standard, Winchester, Federal, Blazer, Fiocchi, SK, and some sub-sonic ammo. I did not record the Remington ammo findings, I just quit buying it...
So, not a gun writer, balistics expert, or fourm guru. I'm just sharing my first hand experiences with Reminton rimfire ammo. I haven't tossed any money away on Remington rimfire ammo in mebbe 13 years (but prolly closer to 20) so they may have improved, but I wouldn't bet on it...
Cripes. The OP asked for personal experiences with a certain brand of ammo and people responded. No one is complaining here. Seems like some people feel a need to jump in and complain and exaggerate to feel self-important.
Nobody here presented themselves to be experts on anything; just honest evaluation of a product as requested by the OP. No reason to get all bent out of shape. :roll:
Nobody here presented themselves to be experts on anything; just honest evaluation of a product as requested by the OP. No reason to get all bent out of shape. :roll:
SweetWilliam
Buckeye
Thunderbolts work fine in my semiauto Target 10/22
dougader said:
That's right. I have personally witnessed such severe leading with the Thunderbolt ammo that I stay clear of it. If another feller has had no negative experiences and otherwise loves the stuff, that's okay too. But I'm sure not taking it personal that someone else likes it more than I do and/or has a different opinion of the stuff. :mrgreen:
OTOH...I've seen the Thunderbolt ammo operate perfectly in some guns, too. Ongoing discussion seems to indicate that rougher bores are more intolerant to the Thunderbolt ammo. So for nearly the same price, I'll continue to use other ammo.
I use plated .22 ammo almost exclusively. My buddy Heliman shoots mostly unplated ammo. And we coexist nicely. 8)
But again, I have also seen some guns shoot the cheapest ammo better than any other. Every gun...Every batch of ammo...All islands to themselves.
WAYNO.
I've had more issues with Remington RF ammo, than any other.
I was buying the bulk packs of Golden Bullet and it wasn't unusual to have 8-10 FTF's out of a 550rd box. I was shooting a S&W 617, SP101 and a MKII.
I had just as many FTF's in the revolvers as I did in the MKII.
I've had issues with all brands of rimfire ammo but I've had the most with Remington.
I switched to Federal Auto Match and never looked back. I've had good luck with CCI Mini Mags as well.
I was buying the bulk packs of Golden Bullet and it wasn't unusual to have 8-10 FTF's out of a 550rd box. I was shooting a S&W 617, SP101 and a MKII.
I had just as many FTF's in the revolvers as I did in the MKII.
I've had issues with all brands of rimfire ammo but I've had the most with Remington.
I switched to Federal Auto Match and never looked back. I've had good luck with CCI Mini Mags as well.
Jim Puke
Hunter
IT is junk...never shot any of it that did not repeatedly have dud rounds.
375supermag
Blackhawk
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2013
- Messages
- 557
Hi...
My son and i shoot a lot of .22LR every shooting season.
I buy Federal, CCI and Remington in all manner of bullet styles and velocity ratings. Accuracy seems to be generally pretty good. If I do my part, i can generally hit the 200yd gong on our gun club's rifle range with one shot out of six with my Dan Wesson .22RF with an 8-3/8" barrel, even with standard velocity ammunition. It isn't as consistent as I would like but bullet drop and drift with a slow-moving .22LR is difficult to figure. Most that miss are low but in line with the gong. It is remarkably easy to hit the 25yd 4" steel plate on the pistol range even with my aging eyes.
It all seems to fire just fine in my Dan Wesson and Kimmel Ind. revolvers and my son's Henry lever action carbine. He has had a few FTF s in his H&K carbine, but they all fired on the second try. We may have had one rimfire cartridge that didn't fire out of quite a few thousand rounds this spring/summer. I don't recall what manufacturer it was.
As far as being dirty, well it is rimfire ammunition. It is generally a bit dirty but we do clean our firearms, don't we? I don't notice one manufacturer's rimfire ammo being remarkably more dirty than any others.
My son and i shoot a lot of .22LR every shooting season.
I buy Federal, CCI and Remington in all manner of bullet styles and velocity ratings. Accuracy seems to be generally pretty good. If I do my part, i can generally hit the 200yd gong on our gun club's rifle range with one shot out of six with my Dan Wesson .22RF with an 8-3/8" barrel, even with standard velocity ammunition. It isn't as consistent as I would like but bullet drop and drift with a slow-moving .22LR is difficult to figure. Most that miss are low but in line with the gong. It is remarkably easy to hit the 25yd 4" steel plate on the pistol range even with my aging eyes.
It all seems to fire just fine in my Dan Wesson and Kimmel Ind. revolvers and my son's Henry lever action carbine. He has had a few FTF s in his H&K carbine, but they all fired on the second try. We may have had one rimfire cartridge that didn't fire out of quite a few thousand rounds this spring/summer. I don't recall what manufacturer it was.
As far as being dirty, well it is rimfire ammunition. It is generally a bit dirty but we do clean our firearms, don't we? I don't notice one manufacturer's rimfire ammo being remarkably more dirty than any others.
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