Are Thunderbolts still ThunderDUDS?

[Getzville 068]

During this shortage I've had to buy .22 ammo wherever I could find it.

This includes some brands that I had quit years ago. Case in point: Remington Thunderbolt .22LR.

I picked up a brick of these "Thunderduds" last month. I gotta say, guys, I was surprised. I'm halfway through the brick and so far ZERO dud rounds from my Browning BL-22.

Has anyone else tried these recently-made Thunderbolts? Maybe the "New Remington" has got its act together .

 

[Deplorable Me]

During this shortage I've had to buy .22 ammo wherever I could find it.

This includes some brands that I had quit years ago. Case in point: Remington Thunderbolt .22LR.

I picked up a brick of these "Thunderduds" last month. I gotta say, guys, I was surprised. I'm halfway through the brick and so far ZERO dud rounds from my Browning BL-22.

Has anyone else tried these recently-made Thunderbolts? Maybe the "New Remington" has got its act together .

Back in the day I bought tens of thousands with maybe one in 5000 a dud. Never saw them as a problem. I'm thinking maybe early on they had a few bad batches. Some individuals I know bitched about them but the problem was poor gun springs, not the ammo. I shoot mine through CZ rifles, a 619 revolver and Ruger Mark lll and lV. I will get misfires if not clean. Clean and GTG.

 

[@thewheels]

Same. Never had an issue with the Remington TB's in a cleaned and maintained firearm.

 

[kev74]

I've had good reliability of ignition and good enough accuracy with them.

I'm having a bit of a problem with thunderbolts I bought about 10 years ago though. It seems like the lube has hardened and possibly expanded to the point that it won't chamber in some of my guns. So don't let them get old!

 

[nortatoga]

Took my S&W M&P 22 to a LGS it was not shooting CCI Blazers from a new box, so I thought maybe a issue with the firing pin! They took it in back and I heard pop,pop,pop he ran 30rd's of TB's with not a single issue!! I shoot steel with this pistol so target grade ammo is not really needed. So TB's are not my go/to 22 ammo they do go bang.

 

[timboy]

Never had them perform acceptably in any of my semi autos but the last time I tried any was at least 12 years ago.

 

[Darth]

They used to have enough wax on them that you would end up with a smoothbore after a day of shooting.

Haven't tried a new batch in a while though.

 

[Phauxtoe]

They sucked in the past
They suck now
They will always suck

 

[Modean]

Haven't tried any in recent years. Was always unreliable in all my semi-autos and dirty as hell to shoot.

 

[Robin]

Huh, I have a big box of them stashed away for untold years. It never occurred to me they might be junk. I'll have to dig them out and run some through my .22's and evaluate them. I don't like junk occupying my space, no matter what it is.
Robin

 

[repete]

I've had good reliability of ignition and good enough accuracy with them.

I'm having a bit of a problem with thunderbolts I bought about 10 years ago though. It seems like the lube has hardened and possibly expanded to the point that it won't chamber in some of my guns. So don't let them get old!

Just warm them up a bit, no I'm not kidding just don't put them in the oven or something like that. All it takes is letting them sit in the sun on a warm day. I've got .22's are 50 and 60 years old and will still fire as long as the wax is softened up.

 

[repete]

Huh, I have a big box of them stashed away for untold years. It never occurred to me they might be junk. I'll have to dig them out and run some through my .22's and evaluate them. I don't like junk occupying my space, no matter what it is.
Robin

TB's seem to dirty up a gun pretty quik, I have a Ruger MK1 that loves them just as long as I clean it.

 

[kev74]

Just warm them up a bit, no I'm not kidding just don't put them in the oven or something like that. All it takes is letting them sit in the sun on a warm day. I've got .22's are 50 and 60 years old and will still fire as long as the wax is softened up.

Heat doesn't help. The lube doesn't even feel like wax anymore.

They're easiest to run through a bolt cation.

 

[byron]

I've used them for years I don't remember ever having a dud.

 

[nortatoga]

Heat doesn't help. The lube doesn't even feel like wax anymore.

They're easiest to run through a bolt cation.

@kev74 try to spray them lightly with Honady One Shot case lube.

 

[FP1201]

I wonder if there's something as simple as too thick a rim, too hard Brass or even a combination?

When ever we sell a .22 that's likely to be used for more than plinking or pest control, we suggest buying multiple brands and weights; keep a little notebook with thoughts or issues from each Box....sounds simple, and really it is, but there are those that'll make a "mental note" and forget the details.
Granted given the ammunition supply, that might be an arduous task.
Back to Thunderbolts: I have heard bitches and complaints about these for decades and there must be something to it, but not much as they're still in Production and often available when little else is....same with Remington "Golden Bullets" My old Mossberg Trainers love 'em!

 

[nortatoga]

I wonder if there's something as simple as too thick a rim, too hard Brass or even a combination?

When ever we sell a .22 that's likely to be used for more than plinking or pest control, we suggest buying multiple brands and weights; keep a little notebook with thoughts or issues from each Box....sounds simple, and really it is, but there are those that'll make a "mental note" and forget the details.
Granted given the ammunition supply, that might be an arduous task.
Back to Thunderbolts: I have heard bitches and complaints about these for decades and there must be something to it, but not much as they're still in Production and often available when little else is....same with Remington "Golden Bullets" My old Mossberg Trainers love 'em!

Biggest bitch is that both TB's and GB's are very dirty and not the most accurate of 22's in most guns.

 

[camper4lyfe]

I haven't tried them in years. They won't feed in my 597, so I stopped spending money on them.

 

[repete]

Heat doesn't help. The lube doesn't even feel like wax anymore.

They're easiest to run through a bolt cation.

Maybe you need more heat, try the oven this msg will self-destruct in 3-2-

 

[Robin]

I just got back from the range. I wanted to test out those thunderfuggies and figured I would use my Buckmark, seeings how it probably has a lighter bolt and would be more sensitive if something is amiss. The second round failed to feed and out of the fifty rounds fired I had about twelve to fifteen failure to feed all the way, so that was enough frustration for one session. I won't be using them for anything, I can't trust them. Anyone in the Avon area that wants a great deal, PM me, I sure we can work out something.
It'll be interesting to clean the gun, next on the agenda.
Robin

 

[beebee]

Never a major problem in anything I shoot them in... I do like GB's a little better, but TB's are fine.... bob

 

[thegatman]

I've had good reliability of ignition and good enough accuracy with them.

I'm having a bit of a problem with thunderbolts I bought about 10 years ago though. It seems like the lube has hardened and possibly expanded to the point that it won't chamber in some of my guns. So don't let them get old!

Had the same problem. Cleaned a batch by hand with solvent and relubed them. No problem so far.

 

[GTN]

I just got back from the range. I wanted to test out those thunderfuggies and figured I would use my Buckmark, seeings how it probably has a lighter bolt and would be more sensitive if something is amiss. The second round failed to feed and out of the fifty rounds fired I had about twelve to fifteen failure to feed all the way, so that was enough frustration for one session. I won't be using them for anything, I can't trust them. Anyone in the Avon area that wants a great deal, PM me, I sure we can work out something.
It'll be interesting to clean the gun, next on the agenda.
Robin

I’ll come over and try some out

 

[Robin]

Okay, let me know when, I'm doing all the errands, and shopping these days, so I'm in and out a lot.
Robin

 

[Jmac00]

Im still working on a brick my mother gave me ten or 15 years ago. I got about half left, but Im trying to save them for small game I may need to shoot for food, in the near future. I use a Glenfield bolt action 22 that my older brother bought from a freak'n hardware store when I was 16 years old in Tupper lake. he gave me the rifle so we could go shoot rats at the Conifer/Piercefield dump. its always had standard open sights and when I had better eyes I could put 5 rounds in a dime size target at 25 yards.

If one miss fired, I simply took it out, rotated it 180° and put it back in, no problem

 

[S&W Fan]

I’ve got a 1000 rnds or so of these left from years ago. I put them away when I got into semi auto .22 rifles and pistols for a few years. They didn’t seem to cycle all they well even back then. Several years ago I got back into acquiring a few .22 revolvers and old .22 bolt guns. They fire absolutely fine in those so thats what I’ll be using them for. Oh, and they also cycle just fine in the old .22 pump gallery guns too.

 

[Saltwater60]

Never had an issue. They are a bit dirty but they almost always go bang for me. I do get a dud here and there but that’s with most brands.

 

[Robin]

Oh, they go bang alright, they just don't feed all the way into the chamber on my semi.
Robin

 

[GTN]

They fed perfectly in my Glock 44. Thanks Robin