Anyone else have this problem with .22 Remington Thunderbolts?

[One Shot One Kill]

They're the best shooting .22lr round I've managed to find for my .22! Yeah I know what you're thinking, "heck no, not thunderturds? Can't be!" I shot over 6 different boxes of ammo, and the best group 5 shot group at 25yds I got was Thunderbolts! The other ammo included aguila super extra, CCI HV, Rem Golden bullets, winchester super-x, and finally some old federal 525 box bulk I had lying around. The runner up was winchester super-x, but it had a random flyer that opened up the group a lot, although even without the flyer it was still not as tight at Thunderbolts! All 5 shots were touching, and while I love to shoot, I don't always pride myself with marksmanship, so it was a pretty good grouping for me. Oh before I forget, the .22 used was a marlin model 60sb, my trusty boyhood gun.
Alas, I digress, the main reason I'm bringing this up is to ask is what do you guys think I should do? Considering the reputation of thunderbolts, and my worries of unjacketed excess leading, should I ditch them (after I shoot the brick of them) and go to the next best thing, or keep 'em and and just make sure I stay on top of maintenance (which is never a problem really anyways, I sometimes clean my guns TOO much!). Nevertheless, I haven't shot enough to see if it leads my gun as bad as some says it does, so I'll have to wait and see I guess for that, but if it does IDK if I can keep using it, leading is such a PITA, especially if you're anal and like things spotless. P.S. I really am leaning towards sticking with them, this .22 is my squirrel gun, so head-shot tack-driving accuracy is needed!

Anways, what do you all have to say about this? Hah, and forgive my essay, when I get going it's hard to stop.

 

[Bcampbell]

Mix a few jacketed rounds in with them throughout your practice session. At the end of
the practice session end it with a few rounds of jacketed only. Barrel will be clean!!

 

[pudly]

I don't see any problem at all. You found what your gun likes. It's not like you will be shooting thousands of squirrels, so with good cleaning, leading really shouldn't be much of a problem.

 

[wolfman]

Mix a few jacketed rounds in with them throughout your practice session. At the end of
the practice session end it with a few rounds of jacketed only. Barrel will be clean!!

You really should know what you are talking about before you post, there is no such thing as a "jacketed" .22 rimfire bullet. Copper washed yes, jacketed, no. Also, the coating thickness on copper washed .22's isn't strong or thick enough to "clean" lead from a barrel.

On a side note, using a jacketed centerfire bullet to "clean" leading out of "any" barrel, can cause from slight bulging to rather explosive results if the leading is bad enough.

 

[9mmfan]

The Remingtons seem to jam more than any other in my Marlin 60.

 

[bcannon]

I shoot Rem TBs out of my 10/22 better than the feds and ccis the win spr -x are a close second - I clean every couple hundred rnds - system works for me - cant see spending more without getting better results

 

[ljk]

The Remingtons seem to jam more than any other in my Marlin 60.

yep

 

[Butternut]

I've only had good results with Thunderbolts in all of my 22s. Leading hasnt been an issue and acxuracy is more than adequate for putting meat in the pot.

 

[K_W]

Thunderbolts do seem to be very accurate, but I have had too many jams jams, misfires, and even a squib for me to buy them.

 

[smokingman]

You really should know what you are talking about before you post, there is no such thing as a "jacketed" .22 rimfire bullet. Copper washed yes, jacketed, no. Also, the coating thickness on copper washed .22's isn't strong or thick enough to "clean" lead from a barrel.

On a side note, using a jacketed centerfire bullet to "clean" leading out of "any" barrel, can cause from slight bulging to rather explosive results if the leading is bad enough.

CCI does make a jacketed 22 as does Winchester(probably others as well).From the CCI page,scroll to the bottom J=Jacket and is distinctly different than their CP=Copper plated
I would agree though not to use them to clean any firearm.
CCI Ammunition - Varmint
CCI Ammo 22 Winchester Rimfire (WRF) 45 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

 

[Hkindiana]

CCI does make a jacketed 22 as does Winchester(probably others as well).From the CCI page,scroll to the bottom J=Jacket and is distinctly different than their CP=Copper plated
I would agree though not to use them to clean any firearm.
CCI Ammunition - Varmint
CCI Ammo 22 Winchester Rimfire (WRF) 45 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

None of that ammo is .22 long tie ammo, which is what the OP was referring to. I have never seen any full metal jacket .22 long rifle ammo. Copper wash, s nothing more than copper paint, and those rounds still leave lead deposits.

 

[OHOIAN]

They don't load the JHP in 22 long rifle, only in 22Win Mag

 

[One Shot One Kill]

Thanks for the replies, sorry if I confused with jacketed, I just meant to refer to any plated bullet, opposed to exposed lead. I think I'll keep using em since they do work well... I must be lucky cuz my marlin 60 has yet to fte or ftf after 1000s of rounds of different brands. So reliability not being an issue, I'll use em and keep an eye on leading! I plan to use them for range time too, no way I need to keep a brick around just for squirrels lol.

 

[dieselrealtor]

I have had good luck with TB's, way better than Winchesters.

 

[warthog]

I haven't had any trouble with Thunderbolts but you aren't the first person to pist something like this so maybe the new ones aren't as goo as the older ones. I haven't been able, well haven't been willing to pay what 22's go far now, for a while. I have bought a few thousand since things began getting a but better ut I rotate stock so the I am still shooting older ones. In fact I haven't done much rimfire shooting at all since the scare because I feel like the ones I have are golden.

 

[spaniel]

I've had more Thunderbolts fail to fire than any other 22LR round, but in today's environment if I saw a brick on a shelf I'd buy it.

 

[Bcampbell]

WOLFMAN

SOO sorry for calling the CCI MINI MAG jacketed instead of plated!! They are a plated 40gr and yes they are thick enough to clean the barrel if you don't let it get bad. Between my son and myself we shoot over 60k rounds of .22 a year. This practice of keeping the lead down has worked very well. We have 3 .22 competition guns with over 100k rounds through them . The barrels
are still in perfect condition. Our .22 rifle has 340k rounds through it, still in great shape. Many of people that I shoot competition
with use this same practice and it's working for them.

 

[medcoxo]

I have not seen Thunderbolts in a while, but I shot them in the past in my Ruger MkII with no problems. I still have three boxes, but that is only because that box is the only one that fits 'just right 'in my fitted case.

 

[BE Mike]

I've shot a lot of high quality lead .22 ammo over the years. If you are shooting it out of a good barrel, you shouldn't get any leading to be concerned about. I generally don't clean any of my match .22 barrels with anything except a patch soaked with solvent, followed by dry patches. I use a string pull through to protect the rifling. I'm not a big fan of copper washed bullets, nor am I a fan of high velocity or hyper velocity .22 ammo. I think the copper is probably more of a problem with accumulation than lead. All .22's are different. If your gun likes Remington Thunderbolt ammo, then go for it. My experience is from many years ago. Back then I could expect 3-5% duds out of Thunderbolt and poor accuracy, so I quit using it.

 

[45fan]

The idea of shooting a different bullet through your 22 to "clean" the lead out will cause more problems than good. The possibility of bulging is there, but something that is much more likely, the regular load that you are shooting through that gun will take a few rounds to "settle" back in to the original point of impact. When I went through several brands with my newest 22 LR, I noticed this to be very true, and depending on the round, groups could be very off of the original POI.

Shoot what your gun likes, clean it as needed, and dont worry about it. I have a 75C that I have owned for over 25 years that I only recently cleaned for the first time a few years ago. Accuracy was never an issue, I only cleaned it because it was having function issues, and I tried that as a starting point to fixing it. Ended up it had a broken spring, may or may not have been a result of lack of cleaning, but the accuracy has always been well within minute of squirrel.