Federal Auto Match: Bad Performance

When I buy .22 ammo in bulk pack cardboard cartons, I transfer the ammo to recycled 50 rd and 100 rd plastic boxes and store the ammo indoors. Put a box or two in the range bag for a practice session.

It seemed to me better than having loose rounds jostling about in a cardboard box in the truck bed or cartrunk or floorboard.

Another confusing issue on dating manufacture in the ammo drought price is at least one local store found boxes forgotten in the corner of the storage room or behind something and brought them out to the shelf. My son bought some "found" 9mm that way and (more to my surprise) the store sold them at the marked predrought price.

Carl N. Brown said:

bulk pack ... I transfer the ammo to recycled 50 rd and 100 rd plastic boxes and store the ammo indoors

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Good idea.

Carl N. Brown said:

... seemed to me better than having loose rounds jostling about in a cardboard box in the truck bed or cartrunk or floorboard.

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That's the down side of loose bulk pack ... rounds hitting/bumping each other during transport and handling.

I have found same ammunition in boxed packaging producing smaller groups than loose bulk packaging.

The only .22LR rounds I have complete trust in feeding,firing and ejecting with all my 22 rimfires are CCI Mini-Mags and SV. I buy other brands for bulk blasting,but usually think "you get what you pay for" when using. I might try Norma in the future though.

JohnB-40 said:

The only .22LR rounds I have complete trust in feeding,firing and ejecting with all my 22 rimfires are CCI Mini-Mags and SV. I buy other brands for bulk blasting,but usually think "you get what you pay for" when using.

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I agree that CCI Mini-Mag and SV are consistent. But in my 22LR rifles, pistols and ARs with CMMG 22LR conversion bolts, 40 gr CCI Blazer, 36 gr Remington Golden Bullet, 36 gr Federal Value (Blue and Red boxes), 38/40 gr Aguila and 36 gr Armscor all have been reliable in feeding, firing and ejecting. In fact, last batch of Thunderbolts bought in 2019 all have been 100% with no duds.

JohnB-40 said:

I might try Norma in the future though.

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While CCI SV, Aguila and Armscor all cycled the slide and properly extracted/ejected spent cases in my Gen3 Glock 22 with Advantage Arms slide kit, Norma Tac-22 stovepiped every round.

LiveLife said:

Do keep in mind that ammunition manufacturers do not have control over rough transportation/handling of ammunition once they leave the factory.

If all of your 8 bricks were "crap", perhaps they were transported/handled together to move priming compound away from the rim.

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You have quoted my post but referred to bassjams statement. If that is indicative of the scientific prowess of your "myth busting", I am not convinced, nor impressed by your so called findings. I do not do dedicated and scientifically valid rimfire ammo testing but have fired hundreds of thousands of rounds that leave me puzzled at your post, since my findings are different.

PzGren said:

You have quoted my post but referred to bassjams statement.

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I had both of your posts quoted in "nested" quotes and my two sentences were responding to both nested quotes as they are pertinent and related - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...o-match-bad-performance.909924/#post-12402274

While you post Federal Auto Match is inconsistent in your firearms and another THR member could post Federal Auto Match is consistent in their firearms. Who are we to believe

LiveLife said:

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While you post Federal Auto Match is inconsistent in your firearms and another THR member could post Federal Auto Match is consistent in their firearms. Who are we to believe?

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Are you insinuating that some members are willfully spreading wrong information or cannot identify a failure to fire? Are 28,000 thousand posts now the standard of competence?

We all know individual THR member's experience can be different due to many variables and why many end their posts with YMMV (Your mileage may vary) meaning one member's experience could differ from another member's experience.

And I believe THR supports the First Amendment of each member being free to post their own experience and opinions, however different they may be.

Case in point is Remington Thunderbolt many affectionally call "Thunderdud" due to number of duds they experience. Well, I too swore off Thunderbolt several years ago because they produced too many duds in my older 10/22. Then in recent years, THR members posted they were getting decent groups and not experiencing the duds of years past so I bought some to test.

Guess what?

The new boxes I bought were 100% reliable with pretty decent accuracy in my new 10/22, T/CR22, GSG 1911. So now I changed my position and post "new" Thunderbolts are 100% reliable in my "new" firearms < 10/22 now has 6500 rounds shot through so no longer "new" >. Of course, despite my experience and posts, there are THR members who will continue to post Thunderbolts are "Thunderduds" ... And they are free to post their experience and opinion.

PzGren said:

If that is indicative of the scientific prowess of your "myth busting", I am not convinced, nor impressed by your so called findings.

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I never claim that my "myth busting" is scientific. In my previous "myth busting/confirming" threads, I simple make measurable, repeatable data collection using my tools verified by standards I have and post my findings. That's all.

I'm both Surprised and Saddened by the news that Federal Auto Match performs so poorly .
A few (several) years back a local dealer had a big Federal Ammo sale and the shelves were filled and I have never bought any Federa before ... the AutoMatch claimed target grade performance and optimized for semi-auto performance ... no limit on the 325 round boxes . so I bought 4 boxes !!!
I haven't shot any because I been saving (hoarding) them ... But , you know
I have two DA 22LR revolvers , two 22LR semi auto pistols and a Ruger 10/22 rifle and ...
Last year I snapped up a Ruger Wrangler SA 22 LR revolver ...
Now ... I should be able to find one gun out of those 6 that will shoot those danged things ...
or at least I hope one will !
Gary

As far as 22lr ammo. CCI MIN-MAG is my favorite when it comes to reliability and accuracy. I have also had good luck with Browning BPR 40 grain.
I have a box of Federal AutoMatch that I bought at Walmart when ammo dried up a couple of years ago. I will need to break into it for some testing....

I had bought several bulk boxes of Auto Match during the last 22lr shortage and had nothing but troubles with them. While they functioned okay for the most part they were very inconsistent on accuracy. I also had quite a few duds with those boxes too. No where as many that I had with Thunder-duds. Any ammo that won't cycle in a Marlin Model 60 or Ruger 10/22 is just junk and I had issues with both Thunder-duds and Auto Match. I haven't shot either in quite some time.

My go to for best reliability and accuracy is CCI Mini Mags, CCI AR Tactical, CCI Standard, After that Aquila Super Extra 38Gr HP and 40 GR RN both do well as does Federal Champion 36Gr HP and 40Gr RN. All of these function great in my AR 22 rifles and pistols, Glock G44, S&W 22A, and Kel-Tec CP33. the CCI AR Tactical is very accurate and functions 100% in my AR pistols and CP33. My AR22 with the 16" heavy barrel shoots best with CCI Standard.

WisBorn said:

As far as 22lr ammo. CCI MIN-MAG is my favorite when it comes to reliability andaccuracy.

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I, too, have found CCI Mini-Mag .22's to be the most reliable recent production ammos. I've tried a handful of ammos, but not an exhaustive amount... but everything circles back to CCI being the most reliable.... that in .22 semi-auto pistols, and all of my .22 rifles.

I've had more problems with CCI SV failing to ignite than I have with Fed AM (not even counting the part where they won't cycle certain semis) I've got about 20 of the 325 round boxes of AM and it's what I grab every time I'm shooting pistols. They've been as accurate as anything else I've used that's just dumped loose in a box...but I did see a couple 10/22's struggle to set them off. Put those same duds in a Rem513T and they all went off.

Howland937 said:

I did see a couple 10/22's struggle to set them off. Put those same duds in a Rem513T and they all went off.

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If the same ammunition will reliably ignite in a different firearm or same type firearm that's newer/cleaner, then is it ammunition's fault?

LiveLife said:

If the same ammunition will reliably ignite in a different firearm or same type firearm that's newer/cleaner, then is it ammunition's fault?

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Agreed. Which gives wonder to why some ammo works acceptably for some and not so much for others.