.22 LR ammo question

[22-rimfire]

You might have hit on something there. I shoot the bulk pack golden bullet. What's the difference, exactly?

That is a $50 question. Nobody seems to know if the load is the same and the packaging is different or there is higher QA/QC applied to the non-bulk pack ammo at Remington.

 

[CraigC]

As far as I'm concerned, the sooner they stop making that crap, the better.

Bite your tongue! If you've have bad experiences with the stuff, move on and find something else. I burn through 2000-3000rds of GB's every month and wouldn't if it didn't work. We're not talking one or two guns but two dozen.

 

[skoro]

Remington 22LR ammo

The problems with Remington's 22lr ammo go back more than a decade. I've purchased thousands of rounds over the past two decades, mostly for use in Remington 22 rifles. I've experienced every kind of ammo related failure there is with this stuff, and far too much of any of it. Remington has chosen to not rectify the problems, as they've been awful since the late 90s.

Federal, Winchester, Aguila and CCI all make good 22lr ammo. There's no reason to take a chance on Remington. Having said that, Remington's 22wmr ammo is good stuff. I find it hard to imagine why they won't fix the process problems with their 22lr, but they won't.

 

[BeerSleeper]

It's rimfire ammo. It's not going to go bang everytime. It's to be expected. Seriously, how much quality do you expect for 3-3.5 cents each?

I buy whatever's available. It's 22LR, it's not a hunting or defense round, and clearing duds it good practice of proper firearm fundamentals.

That said, when I have duds, it's usually one of two things...Remington ammo, or time to clean the firing pin again.

 

[GLOOB]

It's rimfire ammo. It's not going to go bang everytime. It's to be expected.

I wonder why this should be the case. I expect my 22LR to go bang every time. I never understood the "rimfire's are unreliable" thing until I tried GB's. Rimfire ammo doesn't get a pass because it's cheaper. It's cheaper because it's easier to make and uses less materials, not because it's harder to make it halfway reliable. I mean, it might be inherently less reliable, but it seems like some ammo makers have figured out how to make reliable rimfire ammunition. Even Remington seemingly makes reliable .22 WMR rimfire ammo.

 

[TH3180]

This thread has taken an intresting turn. Since March of this year I have shot around 5000 rounds of .22lr. I have had a problem twice. Both times the round did not feed right in my Buck Mark. I expect all ammo to work.

 

[millertyme]

I like the CCI Velocitors.

 

[BeerSleeper]

I wonder why this should be the case. I expect my 22LR to go bang every time. I never understood the "rimfire's are unreliable" thing until I tried GB's. Rimfire ammo doesn't get a pass because it's cheaper. It's cheaper because it's easier to make and uses less materials, not because it's harder to make it halfway reliable. I mean, it might be inherently less reliable, but it seems like some ammo makers have figured out how to make reliable rimfire ammunition. Even Remington seemingly makes reliable .22 WMR rimfire ammo.

You have a point about the .22WMR. Then again, the last time I bought a box of .22WMR, it cost as much as a box of centerfire ammo. Maybe it comes down to cost rather than priming method. To think on it further, I don't think I've ever had a misfire on a round that cost me more than 5 cents, rimfire or otherwise. I've never had a misfire from a box of premium .22LR ammo. A 5 cent round (box of premium .22lr ammo), vs a 3 cent round (cheapie 500 ct. bulk pack round) may only be 2 cents difference, but that 2 cents means that premium round costs 66% more. 66% more buys some qc you don't get in the cheap line, you get what you pay for.

Anyone ever pick their duds up and try them again, or in a different gun?

 

[GLOOB]

I tried the first few duds (from the first 3 mags, no less) several times in the same gun, and none fired. So I stopped checking. Ruger MkIII and the FP marks were deep.

66% more buys some qc you don't get in the cheap line, you get what you pay for.

If this is the your baseline, then it appears a lot of us are getting more than we're paying for when we buy the Federal bulk packs!

 

[BeerSleeper]

That may be. I have experienced more duds in remington than I have in winchester or federal, but none have been dud-free.

I've had some duds that will take two or three strikes on one side and not fire, but if spun 180 degrees and popped on the other side, they light off just fine. That says to me, someone's getting stingy with the priming compound.

 

[mboylan]

It's rimfire ammo. It's not going to go bang everytime. It's to be expected. Seriously, how much quality do you expect for 3-3.5 cents each?

I buy whatever's available. It's 22LR, it's not a hunting or defense round, and clearing duds it good practice of proper firearm fundamentals.

That said, when I have duds, it's usually one of two things...Remington ammo, or time to clean the firing pin again.

This was not true before the bulk crap came on the scene. .22 was pretty much expected to go bang every time

 

[BeerSleeper]

I've never seen .22lr be solidly reliable, but I will acknowledge the point it is less so than it used to be.

I think a lot of duds are unfairly attributed to the ammo, instead of the gun. When I bring home a bucket of brass from the range, it will produce a handful of duds when sorted (centerfire included). the duds for calibers I own get loaded up and tried again. About 8 out of 10 go bang. This is a statistically small sample, but says to me, 80% of those duds were fault of the gun.

 

[Motodeficient]

I use Federal or Winchester Bulk. Federal whenever possible though. Bought one box of Remington Golden bullets, those were junk. My ruger 10/22 shot most of them, but it seemed like each round had a different amount of charge, very easy to spot with the ear.

 

[sansone]

CCI is my favorite rimfire

 

[Deus Machina]

For cheap plinking ammo, I haven't had much bad experience with Golden Bullets aside from inaccuracy, but I much prefer the Federal brick.

For actual trying-to-hit-something-right shooting, I have yet to find anything better (for my guns) than the Winchester Dynapoint HT bulk pack I can get from Dick's.

 

[wally]

I think a lot of duds are unfairly attributed to the ammo, instead of the gun. When I bring home a bucket of brass from the range, it will produce a handful of duds when sorted (centerfire included). the duds for calibers I own get loaded up and tried again. About 8 out of 10 go bang. This is a statistically small sample, but says to me, 80% of those duds were fault of the gun.

No its the ammo, if I bother picking up the dud and running it thru the same gun again, it almost always goes off the next time as long as the firing pin hits in a different spot on the rim.

 

[danprkr]

So, the answer to my question would be to try CCI and Federal next. Thanks.

I'm not much of a 22 shooter, but I have one gun in particular an old Ramline Exactor that simply will not fire or feed the Remington Golden Bullet Bulk packs more than 7 in 10 times. And, my 10/22 wasn't doing much better, but a new mag fixed part only PART of that. Then a collector of the Exactors told me that they hate that ammo. So I'm shopping for different ammo, but want to stock up now while prices are down. You know the old formal buy low sell high. Well, I don't intend to sell, but buying high ain't in that formula for me

In the meantime enjoy the free for all. It's great reading. And thanks for the information.

 

[FROGO207]

I have more than a full dozen .22's and without an exception the single box of Remington Golden crud I recently purchased was nothing but problems. like 1 in 10 with most of my MK II Rugers and 1 of 12 in my several revolvers. I had more than 50 in a 550 bulk box. Most of the duds would not fire in my single shot Glenfield using multiple strikes around the rim. Took a good one apart and full ring of primer. Took the duds and almost no primer/no primer compound at all in shell. All had propellant and looked to be about the same amount but I did not weigh them to find out. I guess for now I will not spend any more $$$ on Remy .22 ammo. I will leave it for those that can use it all without problems but thinK you will also have problems soon as the bad stuff reaches you IMHO.

 

[22-rimfire]

So, the answer to my question would be to try CCI and Federal next. Thanks.

That is pretty much right in the moderately pried 22 ammo. CCI Mini Mags are almost always very reliable. You pay more too. Accuracy will vary from firearm to firearm with a given ammunition and if you want to be precise about it... it will vary from lot to lot in the same brand.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have more than a full dozen .22's and without an exception the single box of Remington Golden crud I recently purchased was nothing but problems. like 1 in 10 with most of my MK II Rugers and 1 of 12 in my several revolvers. I had more than 50 in a 550 bulk box.

Same here -- I have two .22 automatics, a revolver and two .22 conversion kits for the M1911, plus six .22 rifles. And not one of them will go 25 rounds of Remington bulk pack without a misfire.

 

[fortyfiver]

I prefer federal 550 bulk boxes they produce none to very few misfires per box. If there are no federals available. I will buy remington 550 bulk ammo. I bought americam eagle in a brick one time. I found several bent cases in the brick in different boxes. Im all my years of buying .22 ammo this was a first for me. I was very disapointed with american eagle cause I paid much more for this ammo than the federal or the remington ammo. Needless to say I will not buy the american eagle brand of ammo again. I do like CCI mini mags I have never had a misfire with it. You get what you pay for with CCI products.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

You get what you pay for with CCI products.

As opposed to Remington rimfire ammo, where you don't get what you pay for.

 

[possum]

.22's in my experience are really picky about ammo. I currently have 1 .22 and that is the .22 conversion kit for my ar. it hates remington, but i have found that it loves the winchester 333rd and 55rd value packs from wal-mart.

 

[fortyfiver]

I give up vern you win. I didnt come here to argue.

 

[CraigC]

As opposed to Remington rimfire ammo, where you don't get what you pay for.

Got no problem with folks relaying their poor experiences with a product but when they damn the whole product line due to their singular experience I have to speak up....and loudly. This is why I always urge folks to try them for themselves to see what their guns likes best. Nothing speaks louder than a few good pictures. These were shot this afternoon. Ammo was Remington Golden Bullet 36gr HP's bought from Dick's Sporting Goods in bulk-packed 525rd boxes a few months ago. This was not staged. I did not fire 20 groups and pick the best 5. I traded for the rifle yesterday, a CZ model 452FS. I mounted the Leupold VXII 1-4x in Burris rings this afternoon, sighted it in and fired these five consecutive five-shot groups at 50yds. They measure, from left to right, 0.55", 0.25", 0.65", 0.50" and 0.50" for an average of 0.49". Yes folks, that is a quarter inch group in there, no flyers. Federal bulk did not fare as well and thus was not included. Can't wait to see what Wolf MT does out of this amazingly accurate little rifle.