thunderbolt 22 rounds
- Thread starter krerling
- Start date
- Location
- Winnipeg,Man.
I had a brick of them and would guess that there were at least 25% failed to fire. Also tends to be a dirty ammo, leaving a lot of residue in the barrel.
I have never had any problems with them,close to 3 bricks so far and no FTF.In fact thunderbolts are the only ammo my Savage seems to like.Now my 10/22 hates them will not feed out of the mag very well but in a bolt they are fine.
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I never had any luck with them also and in my area there priced a lot higher than all the other bulk .22 ammo.
Now, what I have had lots of luck with is the Winchester Wildcats.
My .22's chew through them like a dog on a bone.
I have the odd FTF, but for the price, I can live with it.
Now, what I have had lots of luck with is the Winchester Wildcats.
My .22's chew through them like a dog on a bone.
I have the odd FTF, but for the price, I can live with it.
- Location
- Edmonton, Alberta
22 Thunderbolts are real dirty
I had some FTF but not many. Failure to load and reload and jamming up during ejection were common once the receiver started to dirty up with the sticky residue. By the time I fired 200 rounds in my Ruger Mark III, I noticed bullets were key-holing on my targets. I checked the barrel, and it was so dirty, it looked like a smoothbore. It took a long time to clean, even with a copper wire brush.
They are without a doubt, the dirtiest ammo I've ever used.
I had some FTF but not many. Failure to load and reload and jamming up during ejection were common once the receiver started to dirty up with the sticky residue. By the time I fired 200 rounds in my Ruger Mark III, I noticed bullets were key-holing on my targets. I checked the barrel, and it was so dirty, it looked like a smoothbore. It took a long time to clean, even with a copper wire brush.
They are without a doubt, the dirtiest ammo I've ever used.
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
I never had any luck with them also and in my area there priced a lot higher than all the other bulk .22 ammo.
Now, what I have had lots of luck with is the Winchester Wildcats.
My .22's chew through them like a dog on a bone.
I have the odd FTF, but for the price, I can live with it.
x2 on the wildcat ammo
JohnC
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
every .22 rifle is a law unto itself with the asmmo it likes. the only way to find out is to buy a box of everything you can find, try them all then buy bricks or cases of the stuff it likes.
then buy bricks or cases of the stuff it likes.
A lot of bargain 22 ammo (Thunderbolts, Wildcat, Am Eagle etc) can be pretty dirty and somewhat unreliable. Because of the tolerance of such a small round, various rifles handle them very differently.
I my experience, Thunderbolts were one of the better brands I've tried (have used ~ 2 bricks). The lubed bullet did less fouling in my barrel and I found them to be reasonable accurate. YMMV
I my experience, Thunderbolts were one of the better brands I've tried (have used ~ 2 bricks). The lubed bullet did less fouling in my barrel and I found them to be reasonable accurate. YMMV
I have never had good performance with them. I haven't tried them in my new Savage but will soon. I did try rem 'Target' and it was not good. It seems Rem makes decent rimfire rifles but their rimfire ammo leaves a lot to be desired. The cheap Win ammo normally performs quite well.
there are a few consistent problems with thunderbolts as well as some other reminhgton 22 ammo. Their primers seem to be more inert than other brands and need solid hit to ignite consistently. Not all 22 rifles or pistols have strong enough hammer spring to do that and hencefore we hear a lot of FTF from some people and no complains from others. I also suspect their cases are on smaller side - a lot of blow-by, chamber fouling and inconsistent velocities in some rifles while it may perform beautifully in other rifles. I think (worth to try) lubing them or some kind of waxing may fix size issue. It used to be cheap ammo, I still remember 1.49 a box couple years ago. These days them thunderbolts seem to cost on par with other brands, much less of a reason to ever buy them.
Thunderbolts are the absolute worst .22 ammo I have ever used.
In my S&W K-22, the lead fouling was so severe that bullets were keyholing after about 75 rounds. There was so much lead ahead of the forcing cone that a cleaning rod would not pass freely down the bore.
Stay away from Remington "Target" ammo, too. As far as I can tell, it's the same as Thunderbolt, but loaded to standard velocity.
I like the Federal 525 round Value Packs, Winchester 333, or Dynapoints. They are both inexpensive and copper plated.
In my S&W K-22, the lead fouling was so severe that bullets were keyholing after about 75 rounds. There was so much lead ahead of the forcing cone that a cleaning rod would not pass freely down the bore.
Stay away from Remington "Target" ammo, too. As far as I can tell, it's the same as Thunderbolt, but loaded to standard velocity.
I like the Federal 525 round Value Packs, Winchester 333, or Dynapoints. They are both inexpensive and copper plated.
polskadude
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- London Ontario
I just bought 5000 rounds for 159.99. (thats 16.00 a brick, as apposed to the 28.99 I see on the shelf) On sale from 269.99. Never had a problem with them.
LuckyLuc82
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rockwood, Ontario
absolute garbage
I like 'em.
They are dirty and stinky but they cycle my Smith and Wesson 41 perfectly, give a great pop and are accurate as well.
We used to plink with them on the farm when we were kids so the smell "brings me back" as well.
My favorite .22 round.
They are dirty and stinky but they cycle my Smith and Wesson 41 perfectly, give a great pop and are accurate as well.
We used to plink with them on the farm when we were kids so the smell "brings me back" as well.
My favorite .22 round.
regarding thuunderbolts in a pistol - powder is a bit slow and velosity drop is very significant. I chronied thunderbolts from my pistol at 650-800 fps, 150 fps spread in velocities. It cannot possibly be very accurate ammo for a pistol. Add to it that velocity actually drops from advertised 1200-ish fps velocities from a long gun. From 1200 down to 600-700 fps is quite a bit of drop with very unstable burn rate.
For a comparison, CCI standard velocity ammo chronied at 940 fps from my pistol, with very minisque spead of 20 to 30 fps at most. It is standard velocity ammo that was supposed to be at 1070 fps from a long gun.
One good thing about thunderbolts is a shape of the bullet, it makes them cycle in some poorly made semiautomatic guns (1022 comes to mind) or in a match pistols with tighter chambers. Like I said they could be cheap training ammo to learn basics on.
For a comparison, CCI standard velocity ammo chronied at 940 fps from my pistol, with very minisque spead of 20 to 30 fps at most. It is standard velocity ammo that was supposed to be at 1070 fps from a long gun.
One good thing about thunderbolts is a shape of the bullet, it makes them cycle in some poorly made semiautomatic guns (1022 comes to mind) or in a match pistols with tighter chambers. Like I said they could be cheap training ammo to learn basics on.
