My husband and I picked up our MP 15/22 a couple days ago, and the guy at the shop only had the Remington Thunderbolt .22 ammo. Well, of course we get home, read the manual, and it says not to use it.

I was wondering if anyone has put it through their's and what their experience was like with it? I mean, it's 500 rounds so I think it should be at least worth trying? We are going up to Michigan this weekend where ammo isn't such a scarcity and will be picking up some better stuff. BTW, when it says Federal Bulk ammo on the manual it doesn't specify which kind, hollow or round, how many grains, ect. I also will be picking up some CCI Mini-Mags since I keep reading good things about it.

Thanks y'all, have a great day!

There's nothing the matter with that ammo. The manual does not say not to use it, it says not recommended.

That said, ignore that section of the manual. It was written several years ago when the 15-22 was having out of battery discharge problems and is no longer applicable to today's production. Additionally, the "recommendations" were based on user reports and not on any testing done by S&W.

Shoot the Remington and enjoy. Thousands of other 15-22 owners do.

Virtually any .22 ammo, no matter the brand or designation, will work just fine as long as the velocity is over 1,000 fps.

I have used it in a 15-22, Sig522 and 10-22 and it goes bang and cycles. Little dirtier then other ammo I have used, but hey, it's a 22 (I'll use it again in these)

Now, In my Umarex pistols, (M&P22 and Colt 1911-22) it leaded up the barrels bad. Actually had to pound the lead out of them. (Won't use it in these)

Every firearm is different, shoot it, no problems, continue. Problems, evaluate and decide if worth the hassle.

A fully loaded 25 round magazine might sound a little like this-

Bam
Bang
Bang
Pow
Pow
Pow
Pow
Pow
Bam
Pip
Pop
Pop
Bang
Bang
Boom
Pip
Pop
Blam
Bam
Bang
Pow
Pop
Bang
Bang
Pow

But at least the ammo fires. And regardless what the manual says, still fun to shoot.

Regards, Mike

Mike ...

I've shot a lot of Thunderbolts over the years and never had the results you describe. Other than being somewhat dirty, it's been no worse than any other budget round.

My M&P 22 pistol likes Thunderbolt the best over anything else.

This is so very true. I hadn't noticed it before until i took my girlfriend with me to the gravel pit to do some practice. I actually had the "new and improved" golden bullets. I was standing about ten yards from her and noticed a wide aray of bangs and ping as you said. Never heard this from any of my federals or mini mags. No probs with cycling and accuracy though

I would put 2 to 3 hundred rounds of the mini mags through it first. You can't beat the quality of that ammo in these rifles for the money. I broke in mine with it, and as of date it eats up everything I put in it. Not one mishap in over 1500 rounds to date. (note to self... knock on wood.) I would also run the gun a little on the oily side for the bolt and slide for the first couple times out. I did this, and the parts just wiped off clean with a rag. This way if it starts giving you problems out in the field you can do the same and just reoil with out having to end your day having to clean your weapon. Excess oil does attract powder residue, but the weapon will be tight in the beginning, so oil it up good and clean it often in the first 10 to 20 mags.

That's what shooting Golden Bullets sounds like for me!

__________________
Semper Fi

All Remington ammo sounds similar in my 15-22 but more like this

Pow
Bam
Pip
Pop
Pop
Bang
Bang

Thanks for all your responses! I feel much better now. I may do what Dino1 said, and put a few mags of Mini-Mags through it first (if I can find them). I feel much more comfortable now-thanks for the quick responses!

This may help. Good Day At The Range

congrats on your m&p 15-22 purchase, they are great guns. mine eats everything i have fed it with no problems. you may want to bring some ammo up here to michigan with you though. 22lr have been very elusive to come by , at least for me. but then again, i dont wait for the doors to open at the big box stores to grab what i can. Just sitting back and waiting for all the panic to die down so i can enjoy the range time...Again, congrats on your purchase,,you can really have fun when things settle down

I'll take the other side of the fence. That Rem stuff used to be good years ago, but anything with the Remington name on it today is ****. Too many misfires and inconsistent. The last brick I had I threw half of it in the river. The very last shot with it didn't sound right, so thankfully I had the foresight to look down the barrel. Had I fired again I likely would have ruined the gun.

Couldn't give it to me for free. And I certainly wouldn't use it in MY 15-22.

Fed bulk is all the same - 36 gr, HP.

You hit the nail on the head. They all should go "bang". All those pops and pows don't happen with quality ammo. They all should sound the same. When you get a "pop", better check to be sure the bullet made it out of the barrel.

I "ain't got no" S&W MP anything but I have used a lot of the Remington Thunderbolt in a handgun that was specifically, by the manufacturer, reported to be used with "hyper-velocity" .22 LR ammo (as in Stinger) only..for functioning purposes.

It is a PPK/S clone called the PX22 made by a defunct company called "American Arms" out of Missouri.

A cheap, but well made semi-auto, I wanted something cheap to practice with over and above the suggested hyper-velocity stuff. A test of ammo brought the Thunderbolt forward as 100% reliable in this handgun.

I bought a lifetime supply back in 1991 when I bought the handgun.

It pays to experiment.

__________________
Have guns...will shoot'em.

CCI Stinger all the way. None available right now though?

I've run quite a bit of Thunderbolt through 1 of our 3 with no problems, I'm sure it's dirtier than CCI though

I had a large supply of Thunderbolt bought back in the '90s. It was really good ammo so when the old stuff ran out, I bought new Thunderbolt. My God what garbage it is!!! On average 3 misfires for 10 rounds and no doubt a different sound each time one goes off.

I suspect that Remington's QC went way down in the crunch to produce and sell all the ammo they can.

If your gun likes it, good on you.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

I do not have a 15-22 but tried using it in a revolver and semi auto pistol.
On the plus side it was reliable and accurate.
On the minus side it leaded the barrel badly unless I allowed the barrel to cool down after firing 20 rounds.

I'd worry even more about the "pips."

Yeah since we are IL, ammo around here is pretty much non-existant except for shotgun shells. That's the only reason I picked up the Rem TB to begin with. I'll definitely hunt around some more and try and at least find the Fed Bulk, I haven't seen ANY CCI in a long while. There's a Cabela's in IN on our way up to MI so I may stop there on the way and see if they have the good stuff. But-the TB is already paid for so I a may as well try it. If I get more than 15 misfires in 50 rds I'll shelf it until I can break it in with better ammo, then try again.

Happy plinking!

gotta pay attention to any abnormal sounds and be sure the bbl is clear of obstructions. it would be real easy to miss a squibb if shooting rapid fire.

I picked up a 500rd box of Thunderbolts via Midway USA. I was excited to see ammo available and didn't realize until the transaction went through on the Internet. -- I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I can sell an open box on GunBroker for $100.

RP

I have shot thousands of T-bolt's w/o any mishaps in pistols, rifles and revolvers......they are Rem's answer to the Wildcat which I have also shot a ton of those as well......and have a bunch magged up to shoot tomorrow.....

My 15-22 standard newer model loves singer's & federal auto match 325 pack's.
The american eagle though,was one problem after another.Does anyone else have problems with this stuff?

I used to buy it all the time as well - back in the 1970's and 1980's. My recollection is that it went to **** in about 1994 or 1995. Bought some brass up to about 2002, when I gave up on ALL Rems. After a number of returns to the factory, when they gave me a hassle the last time I said no more. I wanted a refund but they would only send new product. Ended up selling the stuff at a gun show at a loss.

got a load of Thunderbolts on the way shortly..... hoping they run fine in my 15-22 as others have experienced. Will definitely post results one way or the other.

I received my box of 500 from MidwayUSA last week and after reading all the negative press I didn't expect much. I just shot 10 mags on a clean cold rifle and had no problems. I did notice a few rounds louder than others and even a couple pips. I really didn't notice a difference in accuracy but then again most of my targets were paper plate size at 100 to 125 feet. I only wish I was able to buy more. I know Thunderbolts are not top quality but they serve their purpose. (Make noise, slight recoil, smell of burnt powder and a hole in the target)....

RP

i ran about 110 rounds through it yesterday and that is exactly what it sounded like for each mag...and in that exact order too...lol

__________________
SDMF

I've had a little better luck with the Rem Golden Bullets than with the Thunderbolts. And I've had better consistency with regular Fed bulk (when I can get it) than with the Auto match. I've pretty much determined that with high volumn shooting in the M&P 15-22, plated bullets of almost any brand are better than plain lead.

My best results have been with CCI AR tactical... pricey, but clean, consistent and fairly accurate. Of course, YMMV as to availability. My local Walmarts and Gander Mountain have been getting some in lately.

When I shoot straight lead bullets I run a solvent down the barrel more often at the range, and I never do rapid fire with them.

I shot 150 + rounds Sunday with the thunderbolts,and had no problems.

If it's not cheap, but still ****** Thunderbolt cancels itself. We get such radical differences in experience with T'bolt, I wonder if it's made in several factories or maybe several different production lines. I've tried my batch in revos, S&W and Ruger autos and semiauto and bolt rifles. Bad in all.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

they are MY least favorite 22's, but tell that to my Sig 220 22lr conversion that accuracy wise shoots them great, even if I get 1 out of 20-30 that I have to hit more than once to get it to go bang. they are much less accurate in my 617 and dirty things up much faster than any other brand I've tried.