THUNDERBOLT Shotgun Slugs - The "Italian Brenneke"

We test some 12ga, 1 3/8 oz. Thunderbolt slugs loaded in 3.5" magnum shells. While these slugs may be unfamiliar to many Americans, there at good chance you've heard of the Brenneke Black Magic slugs, which are about as close to these as you can get.
For more information about the Thunderbolt slugs in the U.S.
(link removed due to new YT rules)
Commonality with the Brenneke Black Magic:
Both slugs use hardened lead, a plastic wadding to stabilize them, and fly at 1500 FPS. Muzzle energy is about 3000 ft. lbs. for both slugs.
To find out more about these slugs In Europe:
www.gualandi.it/en/products_sl...

[@RBGJoe]

Ohhh, I'll be getiing some of those. Thanks, Italy!

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

The one common denominator I've noticed of all these exotic slug shells is they almost never behave like you would imagine sitting on the bench, when slowed down (film that is), some that looked very aerodynamic often tumbles while others that look like a brick will travel very accurately. Very interesting. Thanks for posting these.

[@mattv2099]

excellent operation

[@CaptainPanCan]

Si

[@mize5676]

si

[@The_Warrior526]

+MattV2099: Guns & Food Wurd.

[@cretupaulh-madeweapons1230]

+WarriorX Zdar

[@thegeneralissimo470]

Si

[@JesseAndMike]

These slugs look awesome! Great test! Liked! :)

[@taofledermaus]

+JesseAndMike thank you!!

[@christiankennedy4494]

I love the direction you're channel is going

[@RonJohn63]

2:48 He lifted the barrel before pulling the trigger. That's what caused the too-high strike, not the external ballistics. (I think he did it on the second shot, too.)

[@noc1891]

idd, in away he did hit were he is was aiming tho :P just above the ledplate :P

[@bc30cal99]

Thanks for this video, it's much appreciated as we can get these loaded by Challenger in Quebec here in Canada, but the Brenneke have been either unavailable or $4-$5 a shot when we do find them. We live in rural BC where there's no shortage of bears. When we go up the mountains behind the house our standard progression of bear discouraging devices is good spray followed by a short barreled 12 gauge loaded with Gualandi slugs. Thanks again for the good video sir.

[@bc30cal99]

I believe I'm in error stating the Challenger is the 1 3/8 oz, it's the 11/8 oz I see on the box. Would love to find some of the 1 3/8 oz to load on this side of the medicine line. Sorry for the error and thanks again for the great videos

[@mrclucker1969]

Thanks for another excellent, informative video. Those slugs are impressive. I don't feel that your equipment choice impacted negatively in any way - conversely, all viewers will now know not to use a choke with this round.

[@taofledermaus]

+Paul Roberts Thanks Paul!

[@atrides7]

italian slug is by far the best in europe!!! and better than a brenneke slug

[@00oBladeo00]

You've been quick to test this big one! cheers

[@millwright0matt]

love the thunderbolt slug. looks like a very dangerous round.

[@joshuahutcheson9371]

Wow! these are awesome! Thanks for the video! Great content once again! Might have to pick some of these up!

[@vwrFEW]

You ought to try some lightfield commander slugs...the 3.5 inch ones do about 1890 fps for the same 1-3/8 ounce slug

[@waynedaley7048]

Another great video guys ..

[@geraldswain3259]

Ballistic products are known for the generosity of testing their products!!!.

[@yveskc1]

Plain cool! Thanks for sharing.

[@gelliot8156]

Great vid! Tell Ballistic Products that I will be picking up a couple of these because of your video.

[@AFishBicycle]

Get get get it! Love these videos!

[@diggitallindadirt3283]

Another great slug video thanks that's some power !

[@taofledermaus]

thanks!

[@SuperHarryace]

Great video guys. A stable slug indeed

[@taofledermaus]

thanks!

[@kencurtis508]

Great video, thanks.

[@geraldkeever427]

Wow! I have been watching your videos for a month or two now and i have never seen a block of clay explode like that. Even the hole it left in the lead plate was huge. these are some serious slugs. Have you ever tested anything more impressive than those?

[@coupdegrace6533]

awesome video 😊I've never used these yet for hog hunting in cali but I love the remmington copper solid sabot they make them in hollow point and ballictics tip, and hornady makes a sst sabot as well, wich are awesome and used both for deer and hog not bear yet . i did see any vids of you trying them so thought i'd bring them up ,many more companies make some badass sabot slugs . I'm sure you know but these are some I've used from 15 meters to a 110 meters with smooth bore barrel on my 12 ga .

[@tobiemufukinmuffin5514]

That was awesome, I mean not just awesome, I don't know how much better to describe it.

[@nitramdh]

3:00 You can see how he starts to driftt up as he pulls the trigger. Nice shot of the shot dude.

[@jason-ge5nr]

That just detonated the clay target.Bad day to be a gummy bear

[@gummybearliberationarmy9294]

+Albion Laster Keep that shit away from me!

[@alharthy50]

really awesome slug

[@linklesstennessee2078]

Yes ballistic products have some good stufff

[@spikeydapikey1483]

That looks brutal !

[@FruitparidiseAZ]

Love the videos. Not sure why, but your videos seem to be at half the volume of all the other youtubers that i watch.

[@aeronwilliams94]

awesome, thanks for sharing.

[@KenjTheSnek]

You should team up with TheSlowMoGuys! I bet they would be delighted to capture these shots in slow-mo.

[@joshcampos6031]

That's an amazing round!!! I was wondering have you guys tried the leigh penetrator round or have an opinion if you have?

[@robertwatkins135]

DANG GUYS THANKS FOR YOUR TESTING AND SAVING ME AND MINE LOADS OF CASH AND TIME. REGARDS BOB W.

[@glockerbob]

That's some crazy power.

[@jaydee2123]

I definitely wanna get me some of those. BUT! Y'all should see how well they work in a smooth bore. A lot of us don't had rifled barrels; let alone a rifled choke tube...

[@timothyfrost591]

What are the best hunting slugs to use for smooth bore, and rifled bore shotguns

[@TheWoundChannel]

Looks like it hits SO hard

[@TheWoundChannel]

+Chicken Nug Master :)

[@cretupaulh-madeweapons1230]

mag

[@LemonDadsicle]

i put em in a bag

[@LemonDadsicle]

dont be such a drag

[@inuyasha1389]

+Jared Dela Torre That rhymes

[@PfunkNH]

I dont use ear pro or glass's and all the comments i get are regarding such.... what a world we live in my friend... what a world indeed

[@MrBrown-br7sh]

I may have to order some of these. Every fall we bring our leftover pumpkins to the range where we fill them with water & food coloring before shooting them.

[@bobbrown6389]

Great stuff, Boy's I miss being able to shoot, as a Aussie Vet, I got messed up over 26 years ago, things happen quick, but I love your Posts, nice rounds. What happens over longer shots? Have you used dumb dumb rounds or jelly bean bags , they are crazy fun. Regards from DownUnder , keep up the good work.

[@lcplcalifornia89]

Awesome!

[@taofledermaus]

+lcpl4life89 thanks!

[@kassiman5307]

VERY GOOD >>> VIDEO

[@Billthebaker420]

those are awesome! thumbs up...

[@fimokostov3110]

That's fantastic slugs...For any situations EVEN hunting everywhere GUALANDI have choise of slugs.For me the best is GUALBO subcaliber like "SABOT" in fact the bullet is in 20ga but puted in plastic conteiner who have (COMLET DIAMETER OF 18,6mm)..GREAT CHOISE FOR ANY CHOKE IN ANY SMOOTH BORE SHOTGUN..ps The weight is 28g..Greetings from MACEDONIA

[@bennybilt357]

have you demo slung buck? or razor discs. that would be awesome!

[@jerkmycrank6063]

when I look at that from the side, it's kind of looks like a bishop from chess. I would've named it the Bishop slug

[@taofledermaus]

That is what it reminds me of too.

[@panbear9265]

taofledermause the French have one similar I used for wild boar in France💪🐻🐗🔫but was that whine from the slug ?

[@kennethkrieb3018]

Hey Jeff. I just found this video. Can u tell me/ us what type of gun powder and how many grains of powder did you load these slugs with to get a velocity of 1,500 fps? Thanks in advance

[@scottyjohn]

Dat ricochet whistle though!

[@MrROB1085]

wow crazy slug

[@MegaPokemon99]

please do a ballostics test of this round

[@charlesbenoitthomad]

can you do a video of you top 10 favorite slugs.......

[@alphafort]

Probably pointless wearing a bp vest as it will slam ur rib cage thru ur spine (from the blunt trauma). yes...that will hurt a lot.

[@yeldah824]

Alpha Fort Without one you would probably die

[@keithfilibeck2390]

this round would kill you dead, you can wear whatever you want.

[@tyelarson4778]

You would most likely die from the internal trauma even with a BP vest.

[@Br1dK0Sp3c]

How would you compare these to the magnum crush rounds which would you say are more powerful

[@berserkberserk997]

we provided the world with the best of everything :D

[@atlasunit22]

the ar plate might be able to stop it, but all the shrapnel from the slug will probably serrate the wearer's neck, etc.

[@Dracologist]

if you put cling film around the clay block, would it still splatter in every direction ripping the film apart?

[@cleber44mag]

Is it spin?

[@Absinthe2401]

May I suggest the Brenneke Magnum Crush? Way more powerful than the Black Magic. tx!

[@nakoawarrior3186]

I would only use a smooth bore shotgun,........ because I don't want any bore contact with lead that hard. The LBC looks OK.

[@RCSuperPowers]

Wow!

[@cybercapri]

The grain of the wood you used caused the bullet to pop out the side, if you look at the 6th piece, the grain is U Shaped. That caused the bullet to follow the path of the U to the outside. When you stack these boards in the future take note of the wood grain and try NOT to use U shaped Grain, If you need to use it, make sure the U is facing the shooter. Grain is fickle and very strong hence the reason the bullet was pushed out... Cheers...

[@sapperlott]

Nice video but what's with the interlace artifacts recently?

[@upsweet07]

hi, the most popular round in europe is the brenneke, do you know the sauvestre arrow bullet for shotguns ?

[@bobhealy6858]

just picked up a Winchester 1300 pump today. 15 yrs old and never been fired. camo short barrel. and screw in choke. gonna break her cherry tomorrow.

[@zman1508]

Do you have any videos with better ideas coming up?

[@mrbadx19]

1 out of 10 viewers like this, one out of 8700 dislike...can't get much better than that!

[@gregorycalzada5264]

DANNY never misses 😈

[@Davidautofull]

12 ga 3.5 inch turkey loads have 2.5 ounces of shot. maybe soon we will get the 2 ounce slug.

[@stu281]

Awesome

[@Charlie-wq1gi]

Do these Have to be loaded in a Mag? Can I use a standard 3" shell?

[@waltb0069]

did they use your test data to make the brand ones

[@StPaul76]

1500fps and 1 3/8oz..? That thing packs a serious wallop and it shows :D Now that I think of it, there's not many commercial slug ammo available in 3,5"/89mm configuration. With a 3,5" one can surely showe some powder behind that projectile since in shotshells the 3,5" extra capacity is used for shot or more likely larger shot with the same amount of shot as in 3" to give extra range and penetration mostly in waterfowling situations. That slug has more than 4000J of energy meaning around 3000ft.lbs. Equal to a let's say Norma Oryx .30-06 200gr hunting round. And that's for taking down a moose from a bit of range too.

[@ivaripihl]

hey ... i was looking your videos and had an idea my father made a slug that workd well with his gun and my uncle shot a boar in a about 110 m whit it . if you dont mind i can send some of those to you ..

[@ditchdigger93]

The only drawback I can see to these slugs is the price. They are priced way to high to make them practical to reload. By the time you get these loaded you have as much or more in them as if you'd just bought the Black Magic Magnum Brenneke slugs. We know they will do the job ! I have loaded most all of the Ballistic Products slugs and they are all accurate out of my guns. The LBC Sabot slug loaded up very hot is probably my favorite and I can't see it failing to put down anything that bleeds. Half the price of these by the way. Stay away from rifling! These are not designed for it and it has a negative influence on how they fly. They use drag stabilization and work best in a cylinder bore. If you let them do their job they will work very well for you.

[@taofledermaus]

I don't understand the high price of the Thunderbolts. The DGS-12 is much cheaper and the LBC-sabot is even less. They are all made by Gualandi in Italy.

[@viniciuslwb]

hey tfm this slug works well in a high brass shell?

[@TheAssaultScar]

How do you feel about the mossberg 500?

[@user-pt6rx4ui5n]

thanks.

[@dimebagtribute]

Are those Gualandi always that high in price in 2022?!! 20 bucks for 10 slugs is just outstanding!! Gualandi is well known for its ratio price/quality, and here in Europe (I'm in France) 10 slugs is around 5 bucks what makes the Gualandi a really good, efficient and cheap slug to reload!!

[@taofledermaus]

There's few places to buy them in the U.S. and they really mark up the prices. Need more competition to drive down the prices.

[@dimebagtribute]

@@taofledermaus I hope you will be able to find honest prices!! I don't say the sellers in the us are not honest but the commercial system for those reloading items make the final price here in the USA dishonest compare to the Gualandi price itself, and no matter what want the us seller, if he want to sold these slugs and make a few bucks he doesn't have a lot of choice, put the 10 round at 20 bucks... But this will not change one thing:🇨🇵❤️🇺🇸!!!

[@HYEOL]

"mostly intact" ;) what a definition XD

[@thomascondon9447]

If I were to send you a pack of LBC sabot slugs would you re-test them at a higher velocity? It doesn't seem a fair comparison to load the LBC at a pokey 1200 fps, when they are capable of 2000+ fps, then compare them to a much larger slug at 1500 fps. I love the LBC, and would love to see how they act at higher speeds. I would also love to see how they do against something like ballistic gel at long range say 150 yards.

[@taofledermaus]

+Thomas Condon I may get some more from the manufacturer in Italy. They are going to send me some more samples.

[@jittychitty]

That would be a great defensive/death round. They're going to sell a bunch of these.

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

+jittychitty "home shooting yesterday night, the dead burglar is unrecognizable due to the huge hole in his head"

[@jittychitty]

+CDgonePotatoes Dang, where live?

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

jittychitty just imagining what would happen, it's sure gonna be a mess.

[@AtimatikArmy]

Whoa, I just noticed something, notice the direction of the rifling in the barrel, it is in the OPPOSITE direction than the chines on the slug, meaning that the two directions are working against each other. I wonder what the overall effect was on the spin direction of the slug??

[@taofledermaus]

Any chines, grooves, etc on a slug doesn't affect the spin at all.

[@AtimatikArmy]

***** Oh, didn't realize that. Even on a smooth barrel, it will not have effect aerodynamically? Thanks for all your awesome videos!

[@altaircastii3775]

Nice shotgun barrel

[@SuperCape]

Correct pronunciation is something around ɡwalàndi

[@StephenPowers1]

Great video..Have you guys tried the RIO MG slugs with the steel tips?

[@taofledermaus]

+Stephen Powers The only place that I know that sells that is SGammo. I emailed them offering them free publicity in exchange for a few of their slugs... but they turned me down.

[@StephenPowers1]

+TAOFLEDERMAUS I have tons..message me if you want some, more than happy to help.I bought mine from other places online.. I also have DDUPLEKS Steel slugs and I think I have the Sauvestre finned brass slugs too and the old Hevi-Shot slugs. www.ballisticproducts.com/Rio-RMG12-12ga-Armoured-MG-Slug-10_box/productinfo/RIORMG1210/ (Out of stock but JIC) www.ammosupplywarehouse.com/category/SGS0/12-GA-SHOTGUN-SLUG.html

[@joshua7586]

Nice

[@TheApplebooom]

The rotation of the slugs and the twist of the rifled barrel are contradictory lol.

[@iansmith4924]

Would this be ok to shoot out of a suppressed shotgun? Would it break the suppressor? I want to go wild boar hunting. I'm looking at buying a Remington 870 with a X caliber suppressor. Thanks :)

[@taofledermaus]

I really have no idea. I would think the suppressors would be designed to shoot slug through them.

[@CCW1911]

I can't get the logic of having a rifled choke tube, the slug is at full velocity slamming into the rifling. Either way that slug was a tight fit in the lead in part of the choke tube, that's courting disaster I've seen choke tubes curled up inside and barrels split when just small shot got under it much less a hunk of lead. Make sure your choke tube stays tight! Great videos.

[@leonardolarocca1999]

Exist a fmj slug?

[@Danny-li6ht]

Can you please try this with ballistic gelatin?

[@TheOlsonOutfit]

Mama mia! I'm going to have to try these

[@miguellovino7679]

GREETINGS.. CAN FIRED IN FULL CHOKE SHOTGUNS.?

[@MountainStorm]

That's my kind of ammo right there.

[@robertg9095]

those are deadly I'd like to get a few boxes

[@eranda5191]

Yeah love from Italy 💚🤍❤

[@m82m107barrett]

Can you use buck shot in a slug gun?

[@GunnyFits1]

Every time the wife sees me opening your channel she says "put it out your mind". Hell. There's nothing in my mind. Ask anyone.

[@1976pmiller]

Mama mia those are awesome