Thunderduds............

[jackstan]

Last summer I bought some Remington Thunderbolts from the local Dunhams . This week it was their turn to be sent downrange and carefull firing from the bench has shown that the three different rifles used absolutely hate this stuff . Even the Kimber that normally will shoot poor ammo OK would not group this stuff .

A Marlin bolt rifle didn't seal well with some of it and I could feel a little gas escaping on some of the rounds . Those rounds also sounded like they were subsonic and needless to say didn't group in the same place the shots that made a "crack" when fired .

I'm not likely to buy any more of Remington if this is their idea of quality control . Thankfully I don't have very many rounds of this stuff left ... see ya Remington I hope you get your act together :salute:

Jack

[thatguy423]

Remington rimfire is historically some of the worst stuff made.. Thunderbolts being the worst.. Seems like your experience follows suit..

[peppy62979]

Damn it just be me but I have only had about 25 bad rounds out of 2000 if thunder bolt.

[7.62 Nato]

Remington rimfire is historically some of the worst stuff made.. Thunderbolts being the worst.. Seems like your experience follows suit..
I'd say the Golden Bullet bulk packs beat them for being crap.

[DP425]

Yeah, I don't shoot remington rimfire anymore. Haven't had good experiences with any of it

[jackstan]

Ya know .... the ammo I used fifteen years ago wasn't this bad , others I know had bad luck with it but my rifles didn't mind it . This new stuff is something else again , I only had one round out of two thousand rounds that refused to fire . It's just the lack of groups ...... I can't used this stuff for anything but noise making .

I have some Remington Golden I bought about ten years ago , maybe I'll get that out next and see if it's going to work ..... or not .

Jack

[7.62 Nato]

They are marketing the "new" Golden Bullets as "improved" but I feel that just means back to being made right. I've found plenty others that work at least as well, and sometimes cheaper.

[springforfield]

i have a bolt action marlin and had the same experience i wouldnt go as far as to ditch remington but i wouldnt take the thunderbolts for free

though waiting a year didnt help ya any

i bought my 10 dollar boxes of UMC 9mm and wont be looking back

[SeeTee]

I'd say the Golden Bullet bulk packs beat them for being crap.
Yep,
A while back I was shooting from a new bulk pack of Golden bullets and at least 1~2 dud in every 100, ( and the bullets were all loose in the cartarge case) I remembered that I had some old GB stored, about a brick worth, from about 30 years ago, got them out and shot them all and not one dud.

[TomE]

I have a brick of Thunderbolt and one of Goldens, then I'm done with Remmy rimfire.:banana:

[jackstan]

It just makes you wonder what is going on with Remington , thirty years ago you could bank on quality . I recently tested some Twenty-two magnum ammo and had some nine year old Premier using the V-max bullet . It shot one hole groups , I bought some recent production and it wasn't even close :banghead: It certainly wasn't worth the near twenty dollars a box they sell for .

Maybe it will take Remington thirty more years to pull their administrative head out of the dark place they are keeping it . On a brighter note though ..... I recently tested some Federal Champion ammo and it shot very well in several different rifles . It was on par with the CCI Blazer line , sometimes more accurate and sometimes as good as . It's nice to see someone step up to the plate and take Remingtons place .


Edit to add ; just sent the last of this trash dowrange saturday ... good riddance !!

Jack

[CHX77]

...thirty years ago you could bank on quality .
Jack
I agree, Jack. Maybe this will support your comment: Yesterday I shot some Thunderbolt ammo. The rifle is an old Marlin 101 that my Father bought for me in the mid 1960s. The 50 round box of Thunderbolts has been around longer than I can remember, and just might be 30 years old. The price tag on the box says $.49. They shot within a 3" group at 100 yards.

Edit for clarification: For me, 3" @ 100 yards was incredible considering the lack of a bench rest and a bit of a breeze blowing around that day.

[jackstan]

I certainly believe it , I can remember Thunderbolts and Wildcat being a very good value for the money . Accuracy may not have been match quality but it wasn't bad either . It really wasn't what it has become today , next time I'm in the ammo locker I'll look around and see if I can find any with the old price tag on it . I remember ninety-nine cents at Quality Farm & Fleet .

Jack

[jackstan]

I went on a search and recover mission yesterday . In an abandoned tunnel complex under no mans land in an old locker right where I left them was just what I was looking for . The price on the Quality Farm & Fleet box read one dollar nine cents so my memory wasn't to far off . Nearby was some Remington "Golden" bullet ammo in the fifty round box not the bulk packed stuff .

So just to satisfy my older was better memory I took out a box of each and four rifles . An A-17 target was stapled up at almost thirty yards and the Kimber was first on the bags and gave a good group with each type . Next was a Marlin 881 that actually liked the Thunderbolt a little better than its brother the 880 . The 880 didn't seem to care for either ammo but the groups weren't horrid either . The Springfield 84c did alright for itself considering it was the only rifle without a scope . This rifle may actually shoot the "golden" bullets better than any of the others but old eyes make for fuzzy sights sometimes if ya know what I mean .

I don't remember when Quality Farm & fleet closed up but it may have been twenty years ago . I seem to remember buying the "Golden" bullets about twelve years ago . To bad Remingtom has let their quality control go down the pipe like that . Of the groups I shot , even the worst group was better than the best the new Thunderduds made .

Jack

[Veteran]

Two weeks ago I shot 150 rounds of golden 22lr thru my Ruger MarkIII target pistol. I bought them in the 525 round bulk box at Dunhams. Managers special and 10% discount coupon cost +tax = $18.07, $.03 a round. No problems at all, bought 2 more boxes same price. Had to space purchases out for special and 10% off. Goldens~yes, Thunderduds~no.

[agksimon]

I called Remington and they have corrected the dud problem. I sent them 6 boxes of 525 count of bad ones on their dime and they sent me twelve back.
Went through about 1000 rounds and not one dud.

[gjgalligan]

Remington is like GM, it is run by beancounters. If Remington was run by gun guys they would be much better.
It is all about short term profit. Don't worry about next week.

[RifleGuy]

I gave up on Remington rimfire a long time ago. About the only Remington ammo I shoot is the Copper Solid Sabot slug in 12 gauge.

Remington quality has, in my opinion, deteriorated significantly over the last few years.

[jackstan]

I called Remington and they have corrected the dud problem. I sent them 6 boxes of 525 count of bad ones on their dime and they sent me twelve back.
Went through about 1000 rounds and not one dud.


I'm very glad they made it right for you and that in itself says something about them as a company .The other half is why would they let that out of the plant in the first place . Many people may be very happy with whatever has the Remington name on it and some will want performance regardless of the name .

Thirty years ago Federal rimfire quality for me was horrible and I haven't given them a second chance untill this year . I tried some Federal "Champion" ammo and it shot as good as new CCI and my old stock of Winchester . The new manufacture Federal worked so well I've shot about a half a case of it so far .

As for Remington ...... Dunhams had a sale offering Remington and Blazer bulk packs at the same price . I bought the CCI and never looked back , It may take me thirty years to get back to trying Remington rimfire ammo again . I see that as being more what Remington wanted rather than what I wanted .

Jack

[TomE]

I'm very glad they made it right for you and that in itself says something about them as a company .The other half is why would they let that out of the plant in the first place . Many people may be very happy with whatever has the Remington name on it and some will want performance regardless of the name .

Thirty years ago Federal rimfire quality for me was horrible and I haven't given them a second chance untill this year . I tried some Federal "Champion" ammo and it shot as good as new CCI and my old stock of Winchester . The new manufacture Federal worked so well I've shot about a half a case of it so far .

As for Remington ...... Dunhams had a sale offering Remington and Blazer bulk packs at the same price . I bought the CCI and never looked back , It may take me thirty years to get back to trying Remington rimfire ammo again . I see that as being more what Remington wanted rather than what I wanted .

Jack

:-D

[crankythunder]

Damn it just be me but I have only had about 25 bad rounds out of 2000 if thunder bolt.


Damn.......you musta gotten the good batch!

[TomE]

I think I will break into my last brick of ThunderDuds. I was saving them for a range donation, but I need some malfunction practice,

[rdarabos]

with thunder bolt issues mine used to jam up stove pipe and misfire, i send a bunch of them back to Remington they said there wasn't anything wrong with them. send me back a bulk box of golds. by the way i bought them from dunams in saginaw , maybe i better shoot the golds and be done with remys :wtf: and sold a gun that i wasn't happy with i thought it was a bad gun (told the guy i sold it to all about it, and sold for almost half of what i paid for it )

[jackstan]

At Dunhams ..... with a choice of bulk Remington or bulk Blazers ...... That is a slam dunk choice right there . Grab as many boxes of Blazer as I can and head for the checkout line :-) With CCI I know I can't blame malfunctions on the firearms .

Jack

[Samurai Jack]

At Dunhams ..... with a choice of bulk Remington or bulk Blazers ...... That is a slam dunk choice right there . Grab as many boxes of Blazer as I can and head for the checkout line :-) With CCI I know I can't blame malfunctions on the firearms .

Jack

What's the difference between bulk blazer and the 50rnd boxes? I've seen the 50rnd boxes cheaper than the bulk.

[jackstan]

Probably very little Samurai Jack , In the rifles I've tested . Most don't care what rounds are used and shoot both equally well . Others have a very slight preference to the boxed Blazers . If I see the boxed for cheaper than bulk I will not ignore their pleas for a new home . I have the unique ability to limit out on ammo faster than bluegills :mrgreen:

Jack