Giving up on Federal .22 ammo

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IMG_6226.JPG I've been struggling the past few months to get my previously trusty 22/45 MKIII reliable again. Lots of misfires. I've cleaned and cleaned and replaced every part and spring I can think of but I now feel that the primary issue is the federal ammo I usually shoot. I shot 10,000 rounds of federal champion plated pre-Obama through this pistol and I think I maybe had one misfire. I recommended it the ammo to everyone and considered it among the best. During the .22 shortage which continues in my area I bought federal automatch and champion when I found it, and lots of other brands of ammo. I stopped buying Remington thunderbolts because every other round felt like a half charge. I stopped buying Winchester for the same reasons. Well I think I'm done with Federal after tonight.

I shot 9 mags of Federal champion and had 6 misfires. Then I shot 10 mags of CCI Standard velocity with zero misfires. Then I shot 4 mags of Federal champion and had 4 misfires AND A SQUIB. See pic attached. After driving out the bullet from the bore I fired 6 more mags of CCI SV from a different box and packaging and had zero misfires.

I had similar misfire rate with Automatch. My daughter spent more time clearing duds than she did shooting at a recent match. I would prefer to be able to trust Federal because it runs through my Ultimate Cliploader better than the CCI and is plated. But I was lucky that I paid attention to the empty case that I ejected after that squib, and cleared the pistol and checked the bore. I think right now I'd rather shoot thunderbolts than Federal and that's saying something.
 
Two of my neighbors work at the Federal plant in Anoka. Crazy busy for years they have been, trying to catch demand and making money hand over fist. Obviously quality suffers.

My experience mimics yours. CCI is all good. Others are hit n miss. All of my Winchester Super X currently on hand measures 0.225" to 0.226" diameter and not concentric. Won't chamber in two of my revolvers. Probably made on pissed out tooling. Gotta keep the production line running!
 
Well Remington supposedly retooled their .22 rimfire production in the past few years. The new ammo boxes of 325 are supposed to be this new ammo from what I have heard on line. Me I am still waiting for those that bought some to agree that it is indeed better quality ammo before I buy any though. Also I was always under the impression that the large bulk packs made by the various suspects and sold at WM especially were how the substandard lots of ammo were sold off as long as it was still safe to shoot. My thoughts about the extreme velocity variations both of us have experienced just reinforce this point. YMMV Glad you figured out your problem as well.
 
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I haven't bought any new Federal .22 ammo in awhile but I have had similar misfires when using their Automatch ammo; maybe one or two every hundred rounds. I have had a few more misfires with the Federal and Winchester bulk packs and accuracy is just so-so with all of them. If you stick with CCI's offerings, while a bit more pricey, I think you'll eliminate or else seriously cut down on the number of misfires you have. I'm gave up on Remington ammo years ago and haven't felt the need to try any of their new (and improved?), ammo.
 
Yup, federal will not run my marlin 795. Works fine in the old bolt action, just doesn't have enough oomph to work the action in the autoloader.
 
For some reason Federal seems to have re-occurring problems keeping their tooling adjusted correctly. I ran into the same squib-type problems with Auto-Match about 3-4 years ago and spoke with engineering at the plant. According to him, their problem was due to inadequate crimping during assembly. Seems that a tight crimp is needed with 22RF ammo to get good powder ignition. In any case, they were more than happy to replace all the ammo that I still had or had purchased and gave me a free shipping label to return tha balance. Guess they still haven't figured things out. I switched to CCI standard velocity and never looked back.
 
Ru4real said:
Two of my neighbors work at the Federal plant in Anoka
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I have a neighbor who works down there as well. Makes an hour and a half commute.
Anyways, Man I've shot a heck of a lot of federal automatch and I've had excellent experiences with my bolts and autos, including in my 22/45 mk3. As far as bulk packs go, automatch is my go to. I can't even remember the last misfire I had running automatch.
If I had consistent problems as you do, I'd contact federal with the lot number. Could just be that lot/lots cause I've never heard of federal under performing thunderbolts.
 
I gave up on that Fed 525 pack, because Fed Auto Match shot 3 to 4 times better in my .22s. That's been years ago. It also shot a lot better than the 333 & 555 Winchester stuff. Its very good bang for the buck when it comes to accuracy/price IMHO.

Blazer is great stuff for the price when on sale, and a good value all the time.
 
1KPerDay said:
View attachment 769152 I've been struggling the past few months to get my previously trusty 22/45 MKIII reliable again. Lots of misfires. I've cleaned and cleaned and replaced every part and spring I can think of but I now feel that the primary issue is the federal ammo I usually shoot. I shot 10,000 rounds of federal champion plated pre-Obama through this pistol and I think I maybe had one misfire. I recommended it the ammo to everyone and considered it among the best. During the .22 shortage which continues in my area I bought federal automatch and champion when I found it, and lots of other brands of ammo. I stopped buying Remington thunderbolts because every other round felt like a half charge. I stopped buying Winchester for the same reasons. Well I think I'm done with Federal after tonight.

I shot 9 mags of Federal champion and had 6 misfires. Then I shot 10 mags of CCI Standard velocity with zero misfires. Then I shot 4 mags of Federal champion and had 4 misfires AND A SQUIB. See pic attached. After driving out the bullet from the bore I fired 6 more mags of CCI SV from a different box and packaging and had zero misfires.

I had similar misfire rate with Automatch. My daughter spent more time clearing duds than she did shooting at a recent match. I would prefer to be able to trust Federal because it runs through my Ultimate Cliploader better than the CCI and is plated. But I was lucky that I paid attention to the empty case that I ejected after that squib, and cleared the pistol and checked the bore. I think right now I'd rather shoot thunderbolts than Federal and that's saying something.
Click to expand...


before spending a lot of money or time, I "ALWAYS" try other brands/types of ammo first.
 
i don't have much issues with automatch. before, I'd get some stovepiping occassionally but that hasn't happened recently. i must get some duds but i honestly can't recall when the last time was. when i do i reinsert the round to have the firing pin strike it in another spot and it then goes off.

i agree cci is very reliable but it's also more expensive and i don't notice any difference with pistol at 25 and 50 yrds. I'm sure with a rifle at 100 or more yrds there's more of a difference.
 
I've had good luck with Federal 22 in the past. I bought three bricks of game shok recently but haven't shot any of it yet. Hope it runs ok.
 
I've bought a fair amount of 22 RF of different brands during the end of the Obama years as the supply became available and the prices got more reasonable. My experience has not been great making wonder if the quality control has suffered in the attempt to get out volume. I have some 22 RF that works in my revolvers and not semi-autos, some that works in my semi-autos and not my revolvers.

By "works", I mean chambers, fires and ejects without issues.

So, I would not be surprised if Federal 22 RF was showing problems although I do not have any at the moment.

I've had the best success with recent production CCI 22 RF.
 
I shoot a lot, and I must say that of all the brands I have used, the Remington Thunderbolts were the worst, and the CCIs were the best. Can't remember ever having even ONE misfire.
 
Check out Champion's Shooters Supply for brands not listed above and good prices!
 
mljdeckard said:
Spoiled to CCI. All of my .22s are autoloaders and/or conversions, I need the extra oomph to cycle the actions.
Click to expand...
You might try remington golden bullets. They are similar in power to CCI Minimags IME and I've had good luck with reliability. My 1911 .22 conversion specifies either golden bullets or CCI minimags and both run flawlessly.
 
Hate to hear that. Those value packs were my bread and butter .22 ammo pre obama. I had several but used them all during the shortage/panic years. I still have several bricks of 510b left over, these shoot more accurately than the bulk. They have a nice lead bullet with a very good lube on them, which is why they are individually packaged. I also stumbled across several bricks of cci blazer for $21.75 at a local gun shop 3 years ago, and bought 11 bricks. These shoot well, but not as good as my 510b. The most accurate I have is a pre obama brick of wolf match target. still have 5 boxes of that left. I have not used any remington .22 in 20 years due to quality issues. Hope all of them get the quality under control. nothing more frustrating than dealing with misfires, especially squibs.
 
I've never had a bulk pack of ANY brand of .22lr that didn't have at least a few misfires. But I've never had a single misfire with any type of CCI, to the best of my memory. I plink with bulk pack and hunt with CCI.
 
Threads like this give me pause with the bulk boxes. I've not run any of the above through my .22's except the CCI and those have been good. Bought some of the Browning BPR bulk stuff and that has been doing well so far. The Aguila SE Extra or the regular velocity has worked really well for me.
 
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