.22LR ammo decision

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Babarsac

Babarsac

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I've been looking to order a big case of .22LR ammo to last me a while and I've narrowed it down to two manufacturers. It's either a case of Federal Champion 36gr or Blazer CCI 40gr. For about 5000 rounds the Federal demands a $25 premium over the CCI. I don't do any precision shooting and this would just be for plinking/teaching. Any reccomendations yall can give me as to the pros and cons of these manufacturers? I would be shooting the stuff throught my new Marlin 60 and whatever .22LR pistol I buy soon (nothing high end).




On an amusing note I called my local Walmart sporting goods department for a price check and it went like this:

ME: Hello I was wondering how much your cheapest .22 LR ammunition is?

THEM: Im sorry sir we do not sell firearms sir just ammunition.

................:banghead:
 
I just bought 2 of the federal value packs but have not tried it yet. Last weekend i put 200 rounds of CCI blazer through my Marlin model 60 without a problem. Dont buy the remington thunderbolt ammo it wouldnt cycle my gun.
 
Might want to check in over at rimfirecentral.com, but I've been really happy with the Federal Champion 36gr HP's. Very few FTF FTE in my experience. I am also looking at a big .22lr order. Where have you found the best prices?

T2E
 
I've had good luck with the CCI blazer stuff. Will cycle everthing except my Advantage Arms 22 conversion for my Glock. No duds in the first 5K rounds, working on the 2nd 5K now.

That said, if you have a =particular= autoloader you are planning in running it in, I'd try a couple of boxes before I go out and buy a case.
 
Some folks claim that they are both exactly the same ammo. You know the parent company is the same, don't you?

For general shooting, I don't think you will be let down by Federal Champion 510's. They are the same ammo that was packaged as Federal "Lightings" years ago.
 
For cheap shooting, I would recommend you go in to that local Wally World and just point and grunt at the box of 550 Federal Bulk stuff until they get you what you want. Last I checked it was $13.47 at all the stores around me. This has been in the last couple of days by the way.
 
I have personally found that Champion shoots better out of my bolt rifles than anything under $10 a box. In semi autos it seems a little under powered and I have had problems with it cycling reliably. I find that the regular bulk pack Federal cycles better than Champion. I would pick a brick of both the Champion and the Blazer up and see which does better in at least what firearms you have now and go from there.
 
The Federal Champion 510 is only slightly more than the bulk at Walmart and shoots better in every .22 I own.
 
I measure my costs per 50 rounds usually; $1.47/box or if it pleases you $0.0294/round for 510's at Walmart. Frankly I don't see much difference in the practical world unless you are talking about centerfire ammo.
 
Find what shoots best and then stock up on it. Most .22 lr is cheap enough that you can afford to spend a little more if need be. I personally like American Eagle and I think that's made by Federal. I don't like anything made by Remington.

Wolf is great stuff, but a little pricey for me.
 
also a cheapy but goody, very goody, look for american eagle, red box,
which is made by feddy as well. It is a hi velocity flatbase bullet, that is surprising accurate, in a great many 22's out there; both that I have personally shot, or reccommended to others. It's also got kinda an american Indian looking pic of an Eagle on the front.
I am not a big fan of CCI bulk; it is pretty inconsistent, dirty, and stinky. I rate it just above anything remington puts out, besides remmy orange box, or yellow box, and I refuse to buy anything else in 22 ammo by remmy, so I don't get CCI bulk.
 
As an aside, since cci makes their own primers, and so does federal, and on the outside of the federal ammo boxes, it allways says, " a Federal Cartridge Company", I sincerely doubt that cci and feddy make the same ammo, or are the same. Maybe ballistic tip stuff is shared, some or a certain bullet, but I doubt that case/powder/primer are ever the same.

I mean, Cerberus corp. owns, remmy, marlin ,dpms, and bushmaster, and no one would call their products the same. ATK industries owns, Speer, and Federal, but they are primarily a Defense and Aerospace industrial leader. i doubt that Speer and Federal share much of anything else.
Plus ATK doesn't claim to own or do anything with Feddy's rimfire division, just centerfire, and mostly fusion, and miltary apps. They also own Ramline stocks, rcbs reloading, shooter's ridge bags/rests/ vices, outers', gusnlick, Weaver mounts ; I think they are just hogging up as many name products as poss.
 
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I generally shoot the Federal Bulk Pack stuff from Wal-Mart. It may not be the "best" in any of my guns, but it's good enough in all of them. The same goes for the Federal Champion in the blue box, really. I did a side by side shootout one time using the same gun. I coudln't see any real difference. It's easier to get the brown box stuff from Wal-Mart, so that's what I shoot the most.

I used to shoot the American Eagle at the range and it shot great in my handguns, so I've picked up a couple of bricks of that recently, but haven't shot any. Plan to change that tomorrow.
 
I seemed to get quite a few FTF's out of Champions (usually around one out of 50). Slightly more with the Remington Target stuff. I'd pick up a couple of hundred rounds to test fire before plopping down big bucks for thousands of rounds.

It's more expensive, but I've had great luck with the Federal Auto Match in my .22's: Remington 597, Ruger MKIII Competition Target, and Marlin 2000L single shot bolt.
 
Wally's $13.47 Federals

Honest, it's a good deal.

I've had problems with Blazers over the years - most of them FTFs, and I mean way off - you should NEVER get 2 FTFs out of 50....

Those Blazers were "old ammo," meaning they've been in a locker a few years, but the other brands in the same locker and vintage have done better.
Maybe they're past that now... but if the economics is that important, go ahead and calculate the Blazers @ 49 rounds per pack instead of 50....

Either is a good deal, but I've been through many bricks of both, and like the Feds better. Blazers and Federals at other big chain stores are usually way more than what they charge at Wally World - which has the best price I've seen in many years.
 
You really need to get a couple boxes each of the stuff that you're considering and shoot them to see which groups best. Then make your decision.
I've found that sometimes there are big differences in what your rifle may like.

NCsmitty
 
I bought some Winchester bulk packs at Walmart for less than $13 for 500. Comes to about $.026 per round and so far they are great. I bought 1500 rounds and need to go back for some more.
 
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