"Bulk" .22LR ammo

I agree. I don't think that you'll find a difference between the two. In the bulk packaged .22 you might find a few dings in the cases but I have never seen a difference in performance. I have a feeling that it's a perception thing that a company puts their factory seconds in bulk packs.

"Bulk" ammo is just usually lower quality ammo. So, in general, yes, bulk ammo is not as good as higher quality ammo packaged differently.

I have not heard it argued that simply packaging the exact same ammo differently will change it's quality.

Shoot thunderbolts or golden bullets. Then shoot decent ammo. There will be many more failures to fire. We used to shoot a brick every Sunday growing up. Remington, federal, winchester, whatever we seen first at the local hardware store or Rose's/ k-mart we would have 20 or more per brick that wouldn't go off, I still have about the same sometimes, although some do better, No matter how many times we tried to turn them and keep trying. And a lot that didn't go off first try but did the next. I can't recall ever having a wildcat or higher (50 cent per 50. Lol) round fail while hunting in the same old rifles

I don't know of any ammo that is sold in 50 and in bulk either. They usually have entirely different bullet design so it's not even arguable. Unless you are referring to a brick as 10 boxes of 50 in a larger box. In which case there is no difference. But a brick is usually referred to as federal champion, Remington thunder bolts, or golden bullets, or winchester white box and are bulk packed loose in a box or bucket

Remington Golden bullet hollow point bulk packs (500 rds.) are sometimes defective. I bought two of em' about 18 months ago. One pack had 10% failure to fire and the other BP was perfect---(no misfires) I'll never buy another as their quality control sucks.

Ive shot hundreds of golden bullet bulk packs. I can't say that i've ever gotten a perfect one. You did well. If I have less than 10 per pack I'm pleased. You should have played the lottery Lol
That said, I never went into either local dunham's during the panic and couldn't get thunderbolts or golden bullets, often both. I never saw any other brand. They were 27 and 32 dollars. The local gun stores had the same ammo for 50-75. Granted no one ever goes in dunham's but I'm pretty sure the are many like you who won't buy the remingtons. They are my last choice if I have options

Have had the best results with bulk packs from Federal with Auto Match being the best. Not as much success with Winchester and little if any with Remington.

I prefer the cci blazer black and grey bricks, but again they aren't really bulk packs in the normal sense. They are 50 round boxes inside a larger box and therefore bulk packaged as all ammo comes into the store.
To the ops question though I have seen no difference wether I buy the entire 10 boxes or let the shelf stocker open the box for me and buy them individually. But the loose packs i do have more trouble with

For the most part, I have better luck with single packs than bulk for straight accuracy.

Of course, I have a Savage MKII that REALLY likes Buckets o' Bullets. I guess it just likes junk food.

It varies though as a whole my experience with bucket types is a higher rate of duds or empty cases. OTOH, these are packaged by weight so invariably I've had more than the count indicated. Whether that is enough to make up for the dud ratio is a YMMV. The last two bulk boxes of Browning boxes contained about 12 more rounds than labeled. I had 3-5 empty cases and about 6 FTF. I don't think those had any primer as I placed them to strike a different part of the case hoping to get ignition, nada. At $.03-$.06/round, part of the territory.

Was bit ticked that one box of .45 Blazer FMJ 230gr there were 8 cartridges with significant setback to measure out at 1.19-1.22".

Not too long ago, in a distant decade or two, the ammo that is currently sold as bulk ammo actually came in boxes of 50 cartridges that were packed into a larger brick of 10 of those little boxes.

In my experience that "pre-bulk" bulk ammo seems to be the same fodder as now. Which means at least a few duds or under powered rounds per 500 or so. Which is probably one reason for my preference of manually operated rimfire guns back then, and now too.

If I am just taking it to the range to mess around or plinking, I don't care. I will buy the cheapest 22 ammo I can find (usually in a big package), and if a few don't go off, it doesn't matter.

If I am hunting it's a different story and I will buy good ammo.

Fortunately my nice 22 handguns are apparently similar to some of my ex GF's... in having low standards/high tolerance, so everything works out okay.

The most common problem I run across with the cheap ammo is the bullet being shoved into the case at a slight angle.

I shot some targets yesterday with a S&W M-17 .22. These are at 10 yards, standing, two-hand DA. My shooting is certainly not Camp Perry worthy, but I kept them on the center of the target which is about all I can ask for.

50 Rounds of Winchester "Xpert" 36 gr HP high velocity (1280 fps on the box):

Here are 50 rounds of Aguila "Target Competition" rounds, 40 gr LRN:



A little bit more vertical stringing with the Aguila loads, and the group size is basically the same width.

Now, this isn't close to a scientific test with a known-accuracy match gun fired from a solid rest, etc. But practical-plinking speaking, I couldn't tell the difference between the bulk and the match ammo in this particular handgun shooting it in this way.

Stay safe!

My "Bulk" .22 LR is a 5,000 rd./10 brick case of THIS for $180 delivered.

GR

The only bulk I care for currently is the Federal Auto Match, it seems to shoot a bit tighter groups than CCI std vel in my S&W 17. My Ruger shoots the CCI better than the Fed Auto Match by far.

I've never liked golden or thunderbolt, unreliable and inconsistent. I prefer CCI and some Federal.
I don't know if there is a difference between the two, but I would guess individually packaged ammo holds up better in the shipping process than the bulk box'o ammo.

Garandimal said:

My "Bulk" .22 LR is a 5,000 rd./10 brick case of THIS for $180 delivered.

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GR

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The local shops sell that one 500 round box for ~$34. I picked up what I could back in '17 before CA got cut-off from online ammo sales. I don't have enough at those prices so now I pay $24+ for the CCI Blazer and feel lucky.

I did an accuracy test about 4 years ago with 20 different types of 22 ammo both in a Buckmark pistol and a savage MK2 rifle. Small pack ammo such as mini mags, CCI standard, Winchester 100 packs ect... do in general shoot better and are more reliable than bulk ammo. There are a few exceptions where bulk ammo is just as accurate in a certain gun, but is not as reliable. That’s my experience from actual accuracy testing as well as having chucked a thousand duds into the weeds. Of course that will not be true of bulk pack ammo that is also sold it 50 round boxes.

If your just playing around, you can’t tell the difference between 1” and 2” groups, and don’t mind a dud every hundred rounds bulk pack ammo is just fine. If your trying to wring out all the accuracy you can or you absolutely need it to go bang, bulk pack is not the right choice. In my experience if it comes in a plastic 100 round box that says CCI or Winchester on it, its going to be good ammo. If it comes in a cardboard box and says Winchester or Federal on it, I would avoid it. The best bulk 22 ammo in my experience and testing is Remington golden bullet and Blazers.

I have always had good luck with the remington golden bullets and they were my ammo of choice for many years. After the 22 scare in 2008 I started buying a bulk pack of federal blue box every time I went to WM until I started counting and had around 20,000 rounds on hand. Thats not counting the other variations I have.

I have had more misfires with different guns than ammo brands. I have a marlin 981T that seems to have a soft striker spring. My marlin 39A lever gun always sets of the round. I think that hammer system really wacks the rim of the round. So not all failures to fire may be from the ammo. Just a thought.

RA40 said:

The local shops sell that one 500 round box for ~$34. I picked up what I could back in '17 before CA got cut-off from online ammo sales. I don't have enough at those prices so now I pay $24+ for the CCI Blazer and feel lucky.

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The LINK will ship it to your FFL. Not too bad.




GR

I've always considered BULK .22 ammo as those loose rounds of several hundred in a box. Those that are packaged in 10 boxes of 50s I have not considered as BULK.

joneb said:

I don't know if there is a difference between the two, but I would guess individually packaged ammo holds up better in the shipping process than the bulk box'o ammo

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This has been my experience.

someguy2800 said:

There are a few exceptions where bulk ammo is just as accurate in a certain gun, but is not as reliable

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So true.

One issue I read about was the bucket o bullet types, esp the golden bullets that the rounds had a weak crimp in the bullet. Putting them in the bucket causes them to tumble around over time and loosen the projectile. This can cause FTF or the powder can be exposed to humidity, causing a stuck bullet in the barrel. I've experienced this, with the projectile wobbling in the cases,, even to where I could pull the bullet out. If used up in a timely manner, negative experiences can be minimized.