Thoughts on particular .22 LR ammo

[Fatdaddy]

I'd avoid Remington Thunderbolts like the plague.
A friend of mine just bought a new MP-15/22 and after less than 100rds he thought his scope was broken...I'm talking 4 FOOT groups and keyholing at 50 yards.
After inspecting the barrel he found it was leaded beyond belief.
I'd never seen anything like it before and did a quick Google search when I got home. It seems like he isn't the only one with this issue.

 

[DPris]

I chased him down specifically to ask about Remington rimfire quality, that's what he said.
They may have had a minor lapse or you may have gotten some NOS.
Denis

 

[skoro]

Are any of these dogs that I should avoid, given that I've built up a fair stock?

Yes...

Avoid any 22LR by Remington.

 

[Panfisher]

The older Remington thunderbolts and Golden Bullets were filthey, dirty, didnt always go bang and d or all that were pretty dang good for accuracy in my rifles. Would love to find some new stuff to compare to. Haven't seen new 22 LR in a while.

 

[DPris]

And that's the reason I did chase him down.

Their Golden bulk has consistently been an excellent performer for me for well over 15 years.
I just don't see the problems with it that others do.

I use it frequently as a test round, can't recall the last time it mis-fired, and a couple times it's produced best-of-session groups.
Denis

 

[Don McDowell]

I've always wondered where this Remington Golden bullet being no good stuff came from. We went thru thousands of those in a summer trying to control a prairiedog town without using chemicals. When a rifle started misfiring, or failing to eject it was time to clean. Accuracy was good enough for one shot stops out to 200 yds.
And then one day I shot this group thru the lowall at 50 yds offhand with the stuff

 

[Fatdaddy]

I've had good results with the Remington Golden stuff. The Thunderbolts are just uncoated lead projectiles which probably contribute to the leading issues with my buddy's rifle. I suspect they would be fine in my old Speedmaster.
It seems that most of the bulk 22 ammo has suffered from spotty QC as of the last few years....but we (shooters) keep snapping it up like moldy bread in the apocalypse.

 

[Davek1977]

Thunderbolts are the only ammo listed that I actively avoid buying.

 

[bannockburn]

Stocked up quite awhile back with Wolf Match Target, CCI MiniMags, and Federal Champion. Mixed results with most Winchester rimfire ammo (accuracy and/or reliability), and pass on anything Remington.

 

[12many]

I use only CCI standard or HV. I know POI for both.

Try to find one that works well in your gun and you can buy in bulk, then buy a bunch of it. Each type shoots different and your POI is going to very with each different box. Shoot only one type and get more hits.

 

[GetmeoutaCT]

Thanks again all. did the 9am ammo run to Big C and picked up a 100 box of CCI Mini-mags @ $7.99 (one box limit, dammit). I left the bricks of Remington Thunderbolt @ $17.99 alone, thanks to this thread. Figure I'll use what I have of those in the Single Six and concentrate on CCI from now on, since Cabela's has this at least two mornings in any given week.

As an aside, me and a couple of other codgers I keep seeing at 9am are starting to call ourselves the BAC (Breakfast Ammo Club).

 

[tulsamal]

I buy whatever is cheap .

I will buy whatever non-match, non-specialty .22 LR I see on the shelf.

Which equals exactly zero boxes in the last two years. Usually Walmart or Bass Pro tells me "we did have some" but somehow I'm zero for a million tries. Doesn't matter where I go or when I go... I've got the curse... if I show up, there will be no rimfire on the shelf. I was in the big Bass Pro in Springfield last week and asked about .22's. Not only did they not have any, but I found it amusing that literally every couple minutes some other guy would come along and ask them. I was only in the gun section maybe ten minutes and at least five guys asked about buying .22 ammo.

Good thing I stocked up years and years ago... but I find it hard to shoot any of my stock when I know I can't re-stock!

Gregg

 

[Capstick1]

It's still hard to find .22LR ammo out where I live. Beggars can't be choosers right now. I pretty much buy any high velocity stuff and stay away from the subsonic garbage. I haven't seen them around but my favorite .22 ammo is the "CCI Stingers". I think this is the holy grail of .22LR ammo. It comes in a blue plastic container. Before Obummer moved into the whitehouse and all this ammo hoarding paranoia started I used to be able to buy bricks of this stuff at my local Walmart. I haven't seen this stuff show up on the shelves in years.

 

[chicharrones]

Thanks again all. did the 9am ammo run to Big C and picked up a 100 box of CCI Mini-mags @ $7.99 (one box limit, dammit). I left the bricks of Remington Thunderbolt @ $17.99 alone, thanks to this thread. Figure I'll use what I have of those in the Single Six and concentrate on CCI from now on, since Cabela's has this at least two mornings in any given week.

I was wondering what kind of gun you were going to use.

Normally I'd not recommend the Remington Thunderbolts either, but they should work fine for plinking fun in a revolver.

In fact, when it comes to plinking with a revolver, I'll run just about any cheap ammo I can find. Of course, I can always stuff the cylinder full with better ammo for different purposes, but my two .22 revolvers also get fed the stuff that my other .22 guns (rifles and pistols) don't like.

 

[Fatdaddy]

The biggest problem right now with ammo availability at Walmart is "the inside job". Unless you're friends or family of management/associates, you'll be lucky to get any.
I've seen it first hand.

 

[GetmeoutaCT]

the trick to finding .22 is to be at Walmart or Cabela's or wherever at opening time, and to repeat daily or every oether day until you build what you consider to be the necessary minimum stock. I guess I'm "lucky" in a way in that CT is a blue state and so I'm not competing with as many folks for the limited stocks there are.

 

[ford8nr]

If it's ammo you want there is PLENTY available online for 8-12 cents a round. Just bought 4 bricks of CCI SV for $39 brick. More expensive then before but the wife and I just shot a Silhouette event and went through about 400 rds last Sunday. Best $32 in ammo I've spent in a long time. I still have a stock pile from the last several years, ordered several cases at the start of the panic, but I need to replace as I go.

 

[Jim Watson]

If I were in the OP's position and had samples of ten different loads, I would spend a nice spring day at the range and find out what to avoid, what to look for, and what to accept if nothing better was available for MY guns. All the resources of the Internet cannot tell you what those individual guns will do better with.

Shoot the gun. What a novel idea.

 

[loose noose]

I for one have never had a problem with the Remington golden bullet in the bulk pack, in fact I just finished going thru my last package of gb's and found them to be the most accurate in my Browning Buckmark, as well as in my S&W AR-15-22LR. I've gotten fair to good results in my 10-22, however it seems to shoot CCI Mini-Mags the best.

I've also shot the Thunderbolts, which performed miserably in my AR-7, failure to fire, however, once again seemed to shoot well in my Marlin, and Winchester rifles, as well as the rest of my .22s to which I have quite a few. . So I do believe it could quite possibly be the firearm you are shooting it in, firing pin isn't quite as sharp as it should be, or your bore is rough, you might try using JB Bore Paste and a whole lot of elbow grease to smooth it out.

 

[d2wing]

I have been testing 22 LR in a few rifles from Eley to cheap stuff. To my surprise one CZ likes Remington GB. Like Jim said, you have to shoot it to know. Some ammo shoots great in one rifle and not in another. Some standard chamber rifles shoot anything well. Tight chamber target rifles seem to like the spendy stuff. Federal AM used to be my standard ammo, but I found some others are better across the board. Still working on it. I wish I had it all figured out but I don't.
Not much to add but happy shooting.

 

[788Ham]

I work part-time at Cabela's, Thunderbolts are the "only" brand to sit on the shelves, "cruddy rounds, filthiest rounds I ever shot, more duds than I ever had with Winchester, had to completely strip my rifle and clean, absolutely junk ammo." Federal Champions and CCI's fly off the shelf..... wonder why?

 

[fotheringill]

It depends on a few things.

Is one shooting at paper, small animals or soda cans and distance?

If targets- nothing on your list will give you "target" grade accuracy. You will need top shelf ammo which will go for about $.30/round.

If small animals, you are good to go with anything there except Remington or Winchester bulk.

If cans on a nice day in a field, anything will do. You can be 3" off at 50 yards and still hit the target.

I will add, though, that for me anyway, Thunderbolts are horridly dirty and inaccurate and the Winchesters are inaccurate and have a high rate of FTF.

 

[CraigC]

Avoid any 22LR by Remington.

I recommend ALL shooters avoid Remington .22LR ammo. I haven't been able to stock up in a long time and used to go through 2000-3000rds of the stuff every month. So please, stop buying it.

Golden Bullets are especially crappy:

The Thunderbolts are just uncoated lead projectiles...

Nope, it has the same kind of wax based lube everything else has.

 

[DPris]

My CZ 455 put 5 Remington Goldens into 1 1/8 inches at 100 yards last October.
Denis

 

[Mayvik]

I refuse to buy Thunderbolt. Anything else is fair game although I prefer CCI Minimags by a mile.