Remington Thunderbolt .22LR

SigSavage said:
Why would it not mess up a bolt action rifle?
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Because you can't shoot a bolt action fast enough to heat the barrel up to get lead to melt into the rifling.
I plugged up a 10/22 barrel with thunderbolts about 2 years ago, cost me a cleaning rod and the better part of a day to remove all the crap.

With that being said, I still shoot it since it's cheap and relatively reliable. Just can't do any crazy mag dumps.
 
I refuse to buy Remington Rimfire ammo. Its generally oversized, dirty garbage. All my rifles and handguns get a diet primarily consisting of American Eagle 40gr. RN, and target guns sometimes get Federal Standard velocity and specialty target rounds (Eley etc.). The AE stuff is clean and has not fouled any of my guns. I use CCI and Federal ammo; size is consistent (very important for my match chambered BR rifle) and the ammo is relatively clean.
 
SigSavage said:
There should be a Public Service Announcement stickied here to never buy this ammo. It was all I could find at my local Canadian Tire, so I picked up 1000 rounds today. I went to the range with my Ruger Mark 2 target pistol and after only 20 rounds I knew something was wrong. I packed up and went home to clean and inspect my gun.

I was not able to even pass a cleaning brush through the barrel! Only with some serious pounding from the muzzle end with a bore was I able to dislodge a huge piece of lead that had built up when firing this ammo. I couldn't believe my eyes! I took a couple pictures of the piece next to a Quarter for scale. I did some reading on the internet after this debacle, and it seems this is a well known and common problem with this ammo. Frankly I'm disgusted with Remington for continuing to make this garbage. It's potentially dangerous! I remember when Remington used to be a top name in the firearms industry, but now it seems they are a laughingstock. My dad used to be so proud of his Remington rifles. Now I would never buy anything from them. As it is, I'm out $80 from them. I sent these pictures and a letter relaying my disgust to Remington, not that it'll do anything. They should be held accountable for producing such garbage though.

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That is exactly what happened when I tried Chunderbolts in my S&W K-22 revolver. The Remington "Target" ammo did the exact same thing.
 
Remington is getting terrible. My buddy picked up a box of 300 win mag for moose hunting. he had a couple in his pocket, crouched down and heard a crunch, pulled the ammo out of his pocket and seen the bullets pushed down inside the case! they would probably fall out due to recoil as well. not impressed, and its not even inexpensive!
 
digitalblue said:
Because you can't shoot a bolt action fast enough to heat the barrel up to get lead to melt into the rifling.
I plugged up a 10/22 barrel with thunderbolts about 2 years ago, cost me a cleaning rod and the better part of a day to remove all the crap.

With that being said, I still shoot it since it's cheap and relatively reliable. Just can't do any crazy mag dumps.
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Well, maybe I still have a use for it then- breaking in my Savage BSEV MK 2 when it arrives. Makes me nervous though- brand new gun, after what I just experienced with it.......

As it is, I don't think I have the barrel on my pistol fully clean yet. There is an area halfway along the barrel that looks like an abrasion on the surface. I pray it's still lead, and not damage from me ramming the cleaning rod up there with the bore to dislodge the plug. Or the thousand times I ran the rod back and forth while cleaning......
 
Thunderbolts have long been know as the worst 22 ammo you can buy, but it still surprises me how bad they continue to be. Thats why the are called Thunder-turds.
 
Shot my best group ever, with a High Standard Super Citation, using Thunderbolts.
Bought 2 cases of it, a few years ago at LeBaron, for 14.99 a brick.
I figure at the next ammo shortage, people will be scrabbin' to get at it for 50 bucks per 500.
CTC now selling it for $3.99 a 50 pack.
Granted, it's a bit finickity in many pistols, and there are a "few" duds, and it's a little dirty, but in rifles, it'll do just fine.
 
While I agree, they aren't the best .22 rounds out there and have a terrible reputation, I personally have had no bad experiences with them. My first two rimfire rifles were a Cooey 64 and a Cooey 60 ( wish I still had them). I bought two bricks of Thunderbolts the day I got those two rifles ( each brick was 15 bucks back then) and put both bricks through 'em with relatively no issues.

That being said, I am now a steady user of Winchester 333, Winchester 555 and Federal 525.
 
I have put many many bricks of this stuff through my 10/22 over the years and never had an issue. I am careful, however, to be absolutely sure to purchase only Thunderbolt made in the US. The Mexican-produced stuff is unmitigated crap, and in fact will produce the effects noted above.

Things have changed at Remington recently, so I am no longer as sure of the current offerings as I am of the stuff I bought many moons ago and still have in storage.
 
Redneckwannabe1 said:
Thunderbolts have long been know as the worst 22 ammo you can buy, but it still surprises me how bad they continue to be. Thats why the are called Thunder-turds.
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Now, you see, in my experience the worst .22 to ever hit the market is Winchester Wildcat. This is an opinion I have heard oft repeated. The lube used on the bullets is not only crusty but excessively applied.

Worst. Ammo. Ever. Or not. YMMV, right?
 
I found out about the whole Remington thunderbolt problem before I ever had the misfortune to buy any. I've had the same issue in my Ruger MKIII using CCI Blazers (old stock, not that federal made stuff) but the flakes weren't nearly that bad, and it was about 600 rounds on the range trip before it was making any keyholes. I'm guessing it's because they're both waxed ammo.
 
halfdar said:
I have put many many bricks of this stuff through my 10/22 over the years and never had an issue. I am careful, however, to be absolutely sure to purchase only Thunderbolt made in the US. The Mexican-produced stuff is unmitigated crap, and in fact will produce the effects noted above.

Things have changed at Remington recently, so I am no longer as sure of the current offerings as I am of the stuff I bought many moons ago and still have in storage.
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I just bought two bricks of the stuff. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Dumb question, will it just say on box made in U.S.A..
 
Blastattack said:
I refuse to buy Remington Rimfire ammo. Its generally oversized, dirty garbage.
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so I am not the only person who had a problem with cases that were almost too large to fit the chamber. my 10/22 has a bentz chamber and I keep it very clean all the time. with a clean chamber and the case wiped with a cloth, it still took considerable force to close the bolt. spring tension alone was not enough to fully chamber the round.
 
In all my bolt actions its really accurate. I was suprised when i tried it because i read so many bad things about it. Pretty much all rem ammo has been accurate for me. Winchester has been the worst for me in anything they make centerfire or rimfire.
 
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