Thunderbolt ammo question

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  • Atrox88

    Gold Member
    Jan 7, 2016
    1,245
    Carroll County
    Anybody using Remington Thunderbolt ammo? Any issues with it? I had some old stock (20 years old) that fired well. I was thinking about buying some more to stock up. I normally use CCI with great success.
     

    Ammo Jon

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 3, 2008
    20,787
    I personally run it all the time and no problems. It is dirty but I find issues with 22 are usually the gun and not the ammo. My Advantage Arms conversion kits are finicky whereas my Rugers eat up anything and everything.
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,158
    I've been shooting thousands of thunderbolts for decades.
    Shooting is a dirty pastime.
     

    plinkerton

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 30, 2012
    1,441
    Abingdon
    Took me months to get my Mark III right after I ran a couple hundred through it.

    My kids Savage Rascal had no problems.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    Used to shoot it often, as others have said, you will get leading, dirty, and in my case seemed to have more misfires. Now I just buy CCI, even the non plated LRN "standard velocity" is pretty clean, accurate and subsonic with solid function in most everything. Mini mags are the gold standard for a high velocity load, and subsonic from pistols, will function in the few things that are unreliable with standard velocity ammo.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,667
    Not Far Enough from the City
    I've had great luck recently with Aguila Super Extra HV copper plated. It runs 2 to 3 bucks a brick over the cheapest available Thunderbolt, but its been very good ammo for both function and accuracy. It would be useless to me otherwise. Stinks though because of the Eley type priming.

    I don't mind paying for Mini-Mag quality, but I have 3 rifles that prefer it to CCI Mini-Mags. The question for me now becomes, is this stuff good and the next batch will be good also, or did I luck onto a particularly good lot. Anyway, maybe try a box.
     

    photoracer

    Competition Shooter
    Oct 22, 2010
    3,318
    West Virginia
    On the Rimfirecentral.com website even the guys in the Remington sub-forum won't use Remington 22 ammo in their rifles. Reason I use CCI is that I don't have to clean my rimfires more often than every 2k rounds or so. If I was using Remington Golden Bullets it would be closer to every 500 rounds.
     

    Trigger Time

    Amazed
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 23, 2013
    1,231
    I personally run it all the time and no problems. It is dirty but I find issues with 22 are usually the gun and not the ammo. My Advantage Arms conversion kits are finicky whereas my Rugers eat up anything and everything.
    Same here, runs fine in Marlin 60 and a GSG 1911 conversion and a MIV but the Adv. Arms Glock conversion needs a good cleaning after about a hundred rounds
     

    delaware_export

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 10, 2018
    3,143
    I usually use the thunderbolt stuff, or golden bullet, a good bit.

    My plinker Remington ? speedmaster ? eats anything!!! The Ruger sr 22 pistol likes the thunder bolt and golden bullets. And hates federal lead nose.
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    It's relatively hot 22 ammo, which is cool, but no way it's worth the cleaning annoyances at the end. Stock up on Fed and Mini-Mags.
     

    Oddway Otts

    Active Member
    Mar 17, 2008
    359
    Harford County
    I've used Thunderbolts for years, with no problems. I clean my .22s every once in a while (whether they need it or not), and haven't found them unexpectedly dirty. I just participated in the Delta Peach Bottom Steel Challenge (all four stages), using Thunderbolts (some kind of old) in my 10/22, without any problem (other than launching my flash hider down range on stage three). Although I came in last in my division, it wasn't the Thunderbolts. I've got some Montgomery Ward .22 Long Rifle ammo that I may use next time.
     

    honukane

    Active Member
    Aug 15, 2012
    313
    Southern Maryland-istan
    IMHO it is pure cheap crap.... I bought a bunch of it when ammo was scarce. Big mistake. I ended up throwing away the last several hundred rounds of it. It failed to feed due to loose/cockeyed projectiles, jammed, failed to fire, and was absolutely the dirtiest stuff I have ever seen... I use CCI minimags exclusively, with zero issues.
     
    Last edited:

    Neutron

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2014
    1,532
    severna park
    Opinions all over the place. I guess add me to the ones that don't have much of a problem with Thunderbolts. They seem to feed well in the 10/22 and also with the pistols. My .22 lever guns are fine with them also.
     

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