Why does S&W not recommend the Rem Thunderbolt ammo? Is there a good alternative bulk round???

can't really say why they recomend not using it, what i can tell you is that my experience with remington rimfire ammo is bad, I've had them double tripple and even quadruple fire on me, many users on this board have tried them with negative results as well, although some have used them just fine. i recomend using the federal bulk pack with either solid point or plated hollow points. I've thrown 15,000 rounds plus through my mp1522 mostly fed bulk pack

Because Thunderbolt is complete and utter junk.
I once bought three boxes of 50. Put the first box through my P22 and noticed my accuracy was declining rapidly after the 3rd mag.
Put my bore light in and couldn't see any rifling grooves.
It took me soaking the barrel in break free for 30 minutes followed by scrubbing with a brush for 10 minutes to get the lead out.
Remington Golden Bullets can usually be obtained for 18 bucks per 550 at W-Mart. Still some failure to fire issues but they are a good plinking/squirrel round.
Federal and Winchester both put out rounds that go for 20ish bucks per 500 that are good.

Avoid Remington .22 ammo like the plague. Fed Bulk pack is the most highly recommended brand, but Winchester 333/555 and CCI Blazer are good as well.

Being new to the MP 15-22 Ive found out real quick that it loves the feds 550 bulk packs, flawless performance no miss fires and great groups and so far no ftes at all!!!

I had problems loading the cylinder, and with extraction with
the Thunderbolt stuff. Also had FTF with plated Rem. rounds.
I'm only using Fed and CCI for revolvers. JMHO, TACC1

When I got my 15-22 I fired about 400 rounds left out of a box of 550 Remington Golden Bullets. Had 2 FTF. I have since used a brick each of CCI Blazer and Winchester 555 with about the same results. Accuracy was approx. equal as well.

Have you tried CCI mini mags? 6-8 bucks per 100 but I've never had a ftf or a jam while using them on any .22 I've ever owned.
I use bulk pack most of the time but dang, the mini mags are sweet. In fact, they're the only thing (ok, I haven't tried the pricey eley stuff) that will not cause problems in my old Ruger MKI.

Remington ammo is not recommended because they are dirty. They leave a lot of crud in the action and bbl. The quality control is poor because you will experience a lot of failure to fire. The priming mixture does not equally placed in the rim! Stick with the Federal or CCI and you will have less aggrivation, and more fun!

I have not heard that S&W does not recommend Remington Thunderbolt ammo. I've shot thousands of rounds of Remington Thunderbolt in my .22 rifles and S&W revolvers. You have to understand that this is low cost plinking ammo. Is it dirty? Sure, but I think all .22 rim-fire ammo is dirty. Thunderbolt uses a lead bullet and lead can, well, lead a barrel. But then again, all lead bullets have a tendency to foul a barrel. The biggest problem I’ve found with Thunderbolt is that I have a few more FTF’s than one would expect.

Though we haven't tried Feds we've run mini-mags w/o any ftf or fte in just over 1200 rounds. Been worth the price though am buying some Feds at Cabelas today to try.

There were many problems reported with Remington "Yellow Box" ammo when the M&P15-22 first arrived on the market. I believe that at one time S&W published a list of recommended and not-recommended ammunition and Remington appeared on the second list.

All .22LR firearms are somewhat ammo-sensitive and what works (or doesn't) in one rifle may not be the same in another. Winchester Super-X 36gr HP works well in mine. I buy it by the 3330 round case (10x 333 boxes).

-- Chuck

The users manual has that list... I think.

So the Thunderbolt round uses a lead bullet. I'm guessing this isn't good for the barrel. What are the other more popular rounds made of, and is that a better option for the barrel?

The Remington stuff is JUNK! It may or may not fire. Don't waste time or money on it.

All .22 bullets are lead. It's just that some are bare with a wax coating, such as the Thunderbolt, and some are plated or jacketed.

Plain lead isn't "bad" for the barrel. We had such bullets for decades - long before plated or jacketed bullets. Barrels used with such ammo needed (and still do) more frequent and aggressive cleaning to remove accumulated lead fouling.

Plated or jacketed bullets cut down on barrel leading and often feed better in semi-autos.

What majorlk said 100 %

Went to Houston this weekend and visited Carter's Country Shooting Range and Store. Got there and discovered that I left my Federal Bulk at the house and ran inside the store to buy a box. No Federal .22lr in stock and they said that they do not stock it. Don't know why they don't stock Federal, but I wound up buying a brick of CCI Blazer. Never shot Blazer before and had concerns. I ran my 4 mags of Federal that I had loaded at the house and then reloaded with Blazer. I have to say, I was quite surprised! 250 rounds and no issues other than being a little dirtier than Federal. Accuracy was as good, if not just a little better than the Federal bulk. This range visit puts me somewhere around 2500 rounds through my 15-22 and the only two FTF's that I've had was from Remington Thunderbolts that I had left over from an old brick.

On an aggravating note, I just restored an old 1961 Stephens model 187 series A for my son's Christmas. I shot 5 or 6 rounds and had a double fire. I checked everything and tested again and got 5 or 6 shots off and the jamming began. I immediately parked the 187 and thought it might be ammo since the Federal Bulk had cycled 100% perfect just a week before. Got home and tore it down and found a broken extractor. I ordered a whole new bolt assembly today since the original was pretty worn. Hopefully (not getting my hopes up) I might have the assembly in by Friday or Saturday and my son will get his Tiger Striped 187 back fully restored Sunday morning for Christmas. I've never experienced a double fire or Out of Battery Fire before, but I'm hoping a complete bolt assembly will fix the issue. It was a shocking event for me and I'm wondering if the Blazer might have contributed to the event. Kind of think this is just my normal luck and that the ammo didn't have anything to do with it other than being part of a coincidence.

Majorlk, being new to the world of .22 rimfires I have another question. How would a novice know which manufacturers plate or jacket the bullet? Is it indicated on the box?
I used to think that the .22 was a pretty simple round, but this forum has opened up some new thoughts about that.

Just look at the bullet, if it is copper colored it is plated. If it is black or gray then it is not plated. You can also go to the manufacture's website and check the specs. on the ammo.

I've had them double tripple and even quadruple fire on me,>>>>>>>>>

Explain please

??

__________________
NRA Instructor

For my 17-2, only two words:

Green Tag

__________________
and what his trumpet saith

Pull the trigger once and the gun fires twice. One shell fires and the next round chambers or partially chambers and fires again without you pulling the trigger. VERY UNSAFE! Potentially shooting somewhere that you did not intend and possibly firing without being fully chambered and severely injuring yourself and damaging your gun. I think in my case, when the extractor broke, it landed on the rim of the bullet and fired it while the bolt was not fully seated. Fortunately, the bullet must have been chambered, so the detonation was not too severe and the projectile cleared the barrel.

Plated bullets show the knurling or cannelure formed into the lead. Jacketed rounds are almost always smooth. Also, this information is generally on the box.

Bare or waxed lead is the usual dark gray color.

This is a firearm problem, not an ammo problem.

I know, just a coincidence.

Back in my youth we shot 1000's upon 1000's of winchester super speed, revelation(fereral mfg for western auto) and remington. I dont recall duds and misfires from any of that ammo back then. We ran it tthrough all manners of rifles and handguns.
It seems to me that all this faulty ammo has come about since the mfg.'s started bulk packaging of it. And I guess quality control of it has gone in the *******.

__________________
S&W Accumulator

Interesting thought. 50-round boxes have/had the rounds rather tightly nested. The 100-round plastic boxes constrict the rounds even more. I wonder if the loose rounds banging against each other in the handling/shipping of the ammo fractures or dislodges the priming compound?

One thing I learned about 22LR Lead verus Plated jacketed Lead. Any Lead bullet going over 1,100 fps, will LEAD a barrel's groves. Thus the invention of Jacketed Bullets. So shooting any 22LR in the M&P that has a velocity of 1200 (Most are in that speed range), Lead will start to build up. This is one reason I am trying to only shoot jacketed 22LR in my M&P and why I want to try the CCI Tactical 22LR load, this bullet is built for SEMI Autormatics, design to feed better and jacketed to limit leading of the barrel.

Learned this hand loading 38 verus .357 magnum. Lead has it's limit when pushed past a certain velocity. Have you ever seen a 5.56 Lead bullet (this travels at 3200fps) yea, they don't make it, all are jacketed.