The Great Thunder dud will it even go off test

[tark]

I was at Scheels the other day and I saw a brick of thunder duds at a reasonable price. ( $21 ) for the brick. I've never used these things much in the past and I can't remember how good or bad they were. Now, I'm not a hunter or a target shooter so I figured I'll grab that stuff. Good plinking ammo and if I get a dud now and then I really don't much care.

So I decided to try a little experiment. 500 rounds, all fired through a single shot Remington model 41 that has an unusually heavy firing pin indentation. I didn't want any light strikes. I wanted to give the ammo a fair chance at going off. I made no attempt to test accuracy or velocity or anything other than: Will is go bang?

Well, the test is done. I'm not gonna say whether I was shocked, surprised, disappointed, or reduced to regurgitation at the results.

So you guys guess! How bad was it? I'll check back in a couple of days and give you the exact number.

 

[.455_Hunter]

In your protocol, if you had a misfire, would you rotate the round to a fresh impact point and try again?

 

[WestKentucky]

I have found very few rimfire rounds in my life that were simply dead. Might take a few snaps but they usually go.

 

[Mars5l]

I've had good luck with Thunderbolt in my tx22. You could hear a huge variance in loads but they all cycled the gun. I'd prefer Golden Bullets for cheap Remington. 22

 

[tark]

In your protocol, if you had a misfire, would you rotate the round to a fresh impact point and try again?

No. The round gets one chance to go off, and that's it.

 

[unspellable]

In my experience with Thunder Dud misfires they will usually go bang if rotated and hit again. This indicates uneven distribution of the priming compound in the rim. For the purpose of the OP's test, I think it quite fair to hit them only once. I vote 20 to 40 out of 500. It's been a long time since I had any. Are they any better these days?

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Ive seen pretty good results with TBs over the years. I get maybe 1-2 duds per 100.
Ive even had a few odd rimfire rifles that actually produced better accuracy with the stupid TBs than more expensive "match" ammo.....

 

[LiveLife]

In your protocol, if you had a misfire, would you rotate the round to a fresh impact point and try again?

No. The round gets one chance to go off, and that's it.

Then you are introducing firing pin/spring/channel fouling/wear factors into the ammunition priming compound testing.

We have already myth busted that likely all 22LR ammunition leaves the factory with priming compound at the rim, but due to harshness of transportation/handling impact shock from dropping shipping boxes and/or from road surface bump/vibration, that priming compound could move away from the rim as demonstrated by priming compound mixed in with powder when bullet was pulled apart from "dud rounds" - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/myth-busting-22lr-no-dud-why-dud-thread.893062/

Will [it] go bang?

During my 10,000+ round testing with new 10/22 and T/CR22 out of the box, 25+ brands/weights/lots of ammunition all went "bang", including Thunderbolt with the exception of Winchester M22 (Which has several duds out of each box and I shot several boxes) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/real-world-accurizing-22lr-on-the-cheap.898035/

Another factor to consider is ambient temperature as many powders are temperature sensitive (Slower velocities at colder temperatures) and when chrono testing, I will keep my ammunition in insulated ice chest/cardboard boxes to maintain more consistent temperatures and keep rounds out of direct sunlight.

I am repeating the 22LR ammunition comparison testing for accuracy at 50 yards with now 35+ brands/weights/lots of ammunition - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...cheap-bulk-22lr-ammunition-comparison.908102/

Yes, I did buy another box of Winchester M22 along with new boxes and lots of same ammunition along with a few more for testing and also added dedicated 22LR upper for AR testing at 50/100 yards.

 

[film495]

500 from a single shot seems like a marathon of a test. At least you weren't testing for jams in a semi-auto. Those seem to gum up an action pretty quick, so I mostly run them through revolvers. They seem good enough for plinking with a revolver and for a misfire I'm still batting 100 that they all go off on a first or second strike. Haven't found a dud dud yet, but sonner or later I'm sure.

 

[tark]

Then you are introducing firing pin/spring/channel fouling/wear factors into the ammunition priming compound testing.

A good point. I kept the bolt and its components well lubricated during the test. Each case was examined after the attempt to fire it, All firing pin indentations were uniformly deep and consistent.

We have already myth busted that likely all 22LR ammunition leaves the factory with priming compound at the rim, but due to harshness of transportation/handling impact shock from dropping shipping boxes and/or from road surface bump/vibration, that priming compound could move away from the rim as demonstrated by priming compound mixed in with powder when bullet was pulled apart from "dud rounds" - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/myth-busting-22lr-no-dud-why-dud-thread.893062/

Another very good point. Any round that failed to fire was pulled apart in an attempt to see what was wrong.

 

[tark]

500 from a single shot seems like a marathon of a test. At least you weren't testing for jams in a semi-auto. Those seem to gum up an action pretty quick, so I mostly run them through revolvers. They seem good enough for plinking with a revolver and for a misfire I'm still batting 100 that they all go off on a first or second strike. Haven't found a dud dud yet, but sonner or later I'm sure.

I used a single shot for the very reasons you laid out. And it certainly was a marathon of a test! It took me a couple of weeks. The Remington model 41 requires one to manually pull back on the cocking piece in order to fire the gun. Working the bolt does not ready the gun for firing.

 

[LiveLife]

500 from a single shot seems like a marathon of a test. At least you weren't testing for jams in a semi-auto. Those seem to gum up an action pretty quick

During the 10,000+ round testing, I found 25+ brands/weights/lots of ammunition to be 100% reliable (Except Winchester M22) but after several thousand rounds, fouling build up affected reliability of feeding/chambering and firing pin impact on case rim. After cleaning of fouling build up in rifles and magazines, reliable feeding/chambering/ignition returned.

Yes, I bought new magazines for round two of my ammunition comparison testing.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I always had good luck with them firing. They are dirty though. I keep some q-tips in my range bag. And some remoil. A quick clean up. And back to shooting.

 

[unspellable]

If you have a fair and square indentation in the rim that rules out firing pin strike issues. I've had much better reliability as far as going bang with any other ammo. The priming compound goes in the case wet, then the case is spun to make compound flow into the rim. I think its poor quality control. If shipping and handling were the primary cause it would affect other brands.

On another note, I've found a couple of 22s that are designed for suppressors, reducing the typical 22 crud build up in the can. I'll have to give them a try.

 

[.38 Special]

When I was very young, I bought bricks of whatever was on sale. This usually worked fine - with the understanding that I was a lousy shot and couldn't generally tell good ammo from bad - but at least the stuff made noise when I pulled the trigger. Every once in a while, though, I would run into a brick that was really unreliable, and Thunderbolts featured prominently - to the point that even my teenaged self started avoiding them.

Which is a long way of agreeing with folks who've mentioned quality control: chances are your Thunderbolts will be just fine, but every once in a while, you'll get a pretty special box.

 

[Mk-211]

I'm going with you had maybe a few that didn't fire.

I actually like them, an old Mossberg .22 that I had always liked them. My 10/22 shoots them with a few duds, probably because it needs to be clean.

 

[12Bravo20]

I am glad to see some actually have good luck with Thunder Duds. But I won't waste my money on them or Federal Auto-Match either.

When I get ammo that will not run in a Marlin Model 60, Ruger 10/22 or Ruger Mk Series pistol, then I get rid of it and won't buy any more. And I have had Thunder Duds and Auto Match both failed in all three guns.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I've never seen thundee duds in anything other than the 500rd boxes. I have bought Golden bullets in both the buckets and 100rd boxes and had no ftf from the 100rd boxes. The buckets did have a few. As for the Thunder duds, I had my daughter and three of her friends come shoot a couple weeks ago and we went thru a 500rd box and then some in one afternoon. This was in 4 different guns: 3 variants of 10/22 and my Marlin 60. We each had 4 or 5 ftf. Put them back in one of the 10/22 mags and most of them fired the second time. I saved those that didn't, about 10, and tried them all in my Chiappa revolver at least twice more and none of those fired, so they were hit at least four times and still ftf.

 

[bannockburn]

Never had much success with any Remington .22LR ammo. Not with Thunderbolts, Vipers, Yellow Jackets, Cyclones, even the highly regarded Golden Bullet! They were all a jam, misfire, misfeed or failure to eject, waiting to happen!

And to add still more discredit to the ammo, I couldn't even get it to run in a Remington 597!

 

[tarosean]

Do they even sell it in the bucket anymore??

 

[Riomouse911]

5 duds was my pick. That’s a 1% failure rate, which I think is better than they were known for.

Do they even sell it in the bucket anymore??

Way back in the furthest reaches of my ammo stash, among the stack of 12 and 16 gauge buckshot and boxes of targets, I still have a couple of Remington .22 buckets I haven’t touched. I see recent ads for them every once in a while so I guess they may still be being filled.

Honestly, with all of the better stuff I have on hand I don’t know if I ever will get around to shooting these.

Stay safe.

 

[Mars5l]

I still see the buckets at Wal-Mart.

 

[Odd Job]

My guess is 1 dud.

 

[DMW1116]

I’m working through a box of them for my Henry H001. It’s the only rifle I have that will cycle them reliably. They’re accurate out of it too, at least to 25 yards.

I’ve had a few duds but not too bad. At that price I’d definitely buy more. It takes a while to go through a 500 box with a lever action and a Heritage Rough Rider.

 

[Spats McGee]

I guessed 5-10. I’ve had decent luck with them. They’ve been about as accurate and reliable as my other cheap, bulk ammo. Now that I think about it, I may not even have any on hand. I have a buddy with a couple of .22s that love Thunderbolts. I may have given him all of mine.