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.
Thunderbolt vs golden bullet
- Thread starter TeeJay37
- Start date
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.
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.
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.
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:TeeJay37 said:
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
Hawkeye
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.
chopprs said:
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,
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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:TeeJay37 said:
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....
Winchester.... I dont buy them at all since I had one blow up in my 22/45 mk II....
Richbaker
Blackhawk
chopprs said:
They are too long for anything with a "match" chamber..... CCI "Stingers" is the correct name.
RJ556
Buckeye
I too have had good luck with GB's and Thunderbolts. Yes both are a bit dirty, but I have had very few FTF's and they have been pretty accurate. I have used them in a CZ452, Ruger 10/22, 77/22, Savage M72 and Tactical Solutions AR15 upper.
Donaldjr1969
Blackhawk
I've never used Thunderbolts or Golden Bullets but at the range where I shoot, lots of people have used Thunderbolts and I have not heard or seen any misfires.
I've been using the CCI Blazer in 525 loose pack with good results. Other than the fact that the rounds are loose-packed and as such, can bump others and loosen the bullets, is there anything else about the rounds in the 525 pack that would make them worse than the 500 round brick?dacaur said:
People's impression of ammo depends on whether or not they've ever gotten a "bad lot" of the stuff.Chief 101 said:Must be a regional thing as I only hear this negative stuff on the internet. just a thought
Chief aka Maxx Load
I've shot over 75,000 rounds of the Rem GBs and Fed Bulks (I think that breaks out around 20K/55K or 25K/50K, respectively), so I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of the "big picture." :wink:
Yosemite Sam
Hunter
And I've never had good luck with the Fed bulk that other people seem to like so much.
A local store recently started carrying Peters .22 ammo in bulk, and it comes nicely packaged in individual 50 round boxes, just like the old days. Same price as all the others, and shoots just as well (for me, in my guns, etc, etc, etc).
As stated, I too like Mini-Mags, but yes, they're too long for my CZ452 and T/C Contender. They'll work, but they make working the action difficult.
-- Sam
A local store recently started carrying Peters .22 ammo in bulk, and it comes nicely packaged in individual 50 round boxes, just like the old days. Same price as all the others, and shoots just as well (for me, in my guns, etc, etc, etc).
As stated, I too like Mini-Mags, but yes, they're too long for my CZ452 and T/C Contender. They'll work, but they make working the action difficult.
-- Sam
I don't like them--they're the least accurate cheap .22 ammo in almost all my guns--but they're cheap, and Walmart (almost) always had them in stock and ready to go. And until the last couple years, at least they were darn close to 100% reliable.Yosemite Sam said:
Now, quality of any given box/lot is a crapshoot. The odds run maybe 5 to 1 in your favor, or better, but that odd bad box is really annoying. :evil:
Sugar River
Buckeye
Craig,
What's the scope on that CZ?
It looks like a Loopy 1-4 CF?
Pete
What's the scope on that CZ?
It looks like a Loopy 1-4 CF?
Pete
CraigC
Hawkeye
It is! :DSugar River said:
Similar threads
