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Remington Thunderbolt ??

7K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  SilverRidge 
#1 ·
Question.

When I bought my Ruger MK IV, all they had in bulk was Remington Thunderbolt.
Now I'm hearing a lot of bad things about it, and am not sure whether it's smart to shoot it off in the Ruger.

I've got lots of CCI AR Tactical, and oodles of Golden Bullets.

Is it worth trying to shoot it? Or should I just sell it at a loss?
 
#4 ·
The only problem that I have with Thunderbolts is that the lead is not plated....it is waxed...but so is most target ammo. This means the lead can foul your barrel easier which means you need to scrub it out more often and removing lead takes some elbow grease. If you don't fire them fast and really heat up your barrel they seem to not be as bad at leading. Expensive target ammo is rarely fired fast either. 1917
 
#5 ·
I had a bear of a time getting through the last brick of Thunderbolts that I bought (roughly 3 years ago during the .22 ammo shortage). In each box of 50 I had nearly a half-dozen rounds that were either misfires, powder-puff rounds barely making it out the barrel, or loose bullets causing jams. I've finally shot up the last of it and won't be buying any more.

Oh yes, and they badly leaded the barrels in both my P22 and S&W MP22c as well.
 
#8 ·
Personally, I never buy cheap ammo because whether it be for self-defense or just plinking, it always leads to disappointment and frustration. No matter how good a deal it appears to be, there's always a drawback which nullifies the satisfaction that comes with saving a buck.

Ammunition is just one of those things that suffers greatly from cost-cutting, especially when it comes to .22LR which is already dirty and somewhat unreliable compared to other ammo due to the manufacturing process being more difficult/precise.

Furthermore, while it's certainly better than ARMSCOR or Winchester Whitebox, Remington ammo is generally poor quality ammo. Even their premium ammo like Golden Bullet and Viper are poor in quality compared to CCI Mini Mag and Federal Champion, which tends to be cheaper in price to boot.
 
#9 ·
I shoot THundercraps all the time out of my P22 -- but my P22 isn't finicky and will eat anything now. When I first got it was very picky....I did some of 1911-1917's recommendations and she is a fantastic gun now. Clean it often make sure your not leading up and don't use too much oil. You will know when you start leading up because your accuracy goes to zero because your throwing out knuckleballs.
 
#10 ·
I shot a brick of thunderbolts through my PPK/s .22 ( and had few if any problems ) and it seem far pickier than my P22. A bit smokey true enough. But then I tend to clean my gun after every trip to the range. I find it takes very little time and is actually relaxing. If I can't find some CCI's at a decent price or GB's I'll shoot them again.
 
#11 ·
I've found in recent years that there is no need to buy inexpensive ammunition, going to the monthly gun show here in Florida has solved that problem for me, there are tables at the show full of every imaginable ammunition on the market at a very competitive price. Example purchased the new all copper CCI 21 grain ammo for $6 a box of 50 at a retail store locally they wanted $8.99 a box, shopped around different tables until I got what I felt was the best price, also purchase as always reloads in .45 ACP, .380 in bags of 50 again the product is well made no fail or fire or any problems at a very fair price ..no need IMHO to buy inferior ammo to screw up your weapon ..
 
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