No Comments If you’re on the hunt for budget .22LR ammo, you’re like to come across the Remington Thunderbolt .22LR. Some shooters complain about the round’s reliability but others love it for its affordability.
In our Remington Thunderbolt .22LR review, we’re taking a closer look at the round to see how it performs at the range!
Remington Thunderbolt .22LR Review: Quick Takeaways
Just want the quick facts about the Remington Thunderbolt .22LR? Here are our main takeaways:
- Packaged loose in boxes as opposed to boxes with ammo trays
- Often one of the cheaper .22LR ammo options available
- Best used for plinking and fun at the range
- Uses a LRN bullet that will leave your hands dirty after handling and may cause lead buildup in the chamber
- Many shooters complain of malfunctions
- We experienced feeding issues out of the magazine into the chamber as well as multiple malfunctions
- Made in the USA
- Not accurate enough for competitions or any type of precision shooting
Remington Thunderbolt .22LR Review: Specifications
| Caliber | .22LR |
| Manufacturer | Remington |
| Product Line | 22 Thunderbolt |
| Bullet Weight | 40gr. |
| Bullet Style | Lead Round Nose |
| Advertised Muzzle Velocity | 1255 fps |
| Usage | Target Shooting |
The 22 Thunderbolt round is a budget, high velocity .22LR round from Remington made at its Lonoke, Arkansas plant. It uses a 40 grain, lead round nose projectile with an advertised 1255 fps muzzle velocity.
As a budget option, Thunderbolt rounds come packaged loose in their boxes. This is opposed to .22LR rounds that are packaged in trays, like the CCI-MiniMags. Remington offers Thunderbolt in both 500-round boxes as well as smaller 50-round boxes.
The first thing you will notice when handling the round is that it is relatively dirty. After a full range day of loading magazines, your hands will be discolored due to the round’s exposed lead bullet. This can cause malfunctions at the range, which we’ll talk about next.
Remington Thunderbolt .22LR Review: Range Performance
I took a box of Thunderbolt to the range to see how it performs in a TaurusTX-22 pistol and a Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 rifle. Keep reading to see my thoughts on its reliability, accuracy, and velocity.
Reliability
One of my biggest issues with the Remington Thunderbolt is its reliability.
Within the first couple of magazines, I had issues with feeding. In both my TaurusTX-22 magazine and Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 magazine, I found that the rounds did not want to sit correctly. This would cause rounds to not be fed into the chamber from the magazine. I would have to remove the magazine and adjust how the round sat in order to get it functional again. This is not an issue I have experienced with any other .22LR ammo out of these guns.
I also experienced a couple stove pipes in the Taurus pistol and a light primer strike in the Smith & Wesson rifle.
I’ve certainly shot .22LR ammo that gave me more issues than the Thunderbolt. However, no one wants to deal with malfunctions at the range, and there are many more reliable .22LR rounds on the market.
However, these problems come as no surprise. Some of the complaints of the Thunderbolt from other shooters include:
- Leading up the barrel
- Failure to fire
- Failure to extract
That being said, the 22 Thunderbolt runs just fine for many shooters. If your gun is picky with ammo, there’s a good chance it’s not going to like this stuff.
Because the bullet is exposed lead, it will dirty up your gun faster than a coated bullet would. If you’re shooting a lot of it, you will need to clean your gun more often to keep it running well. Being a dirtier round is likely what causes many of these reported malfunctions.
Accuracy
If you’re looking for the most accurate .22LR round, the Thunderbolt is not your answer. While shooting at a benchrest and freehand, I found the Thunderbolt to not be the most consistent round. My groups on target were not very impressive compared to the results of my previous Federal Automatch .22LR review.
I would not trust the Thunderbolt for a match or any type of shooting that requires extreme precision, but it is accurate enough for a fun day of plinking at the range.
Velocity
| Gun Used | Barrel Length | 5-Shot Average Velocity (fps) | Low Velocity (fps) | High Velocuty (fps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TaurusTX-22 | 4.6" | 1033 | 993 | 1054 |
| Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 | 16.5" | 1209 | 1163 | 1240 |
Remington advertises the 22 Thunderbolt’s velocity at 1255 fps. Typically, manufacturers will share velocity data from long-barreled rifles in order to get a higher velocity. I wanted to see what its muzzle velocity looked like out of my own guns.
I chronographed 5 shots of the Remington Thunderbolt .22LR with two different guns:
- TaurusTX 22 pistol with a 4.6” barrel
- Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 rifle with a 16.5” barrel
Out of the Taurus pistol, my average muzzle velocity was 1033 fps. With the Smith & Wesson rifle, it was 1209 fps putting it in the category of high velocity .22LR ammo.
I’m not surprised that we didn’t reach the advertised muzzle velocity of 1255 fps as the guns I used had shorter barrels. I’m also not impressed with the difference between high and low velocities recorded for each gun.
Remington Thunderbolt .22LR: Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for the most reliable, accurate, and clean round, the Remington Thunderbolt .22LR is not our first choice. However, if price is more important to you, the Remington Thunderbolt is at the top of our list.
If you’re looking for a balance of both reliability and affordability, some other ammo options include the Federal Automatch .22LR and the Winchester USA .22LR.
Many shooters have no issues at all with the Thunderbolt .22LR. If you know it runs well in your gun, it is certainly a budget-friendly round worth plinking with. Just be sure to give your gun a good clean afterwards!
