Federal .22LR Quality?

[RioShooter]

I've gone through 1100 rounds in the last month and have had ZERO problems with it. Including fellow shooters, I've seen approx. 4 thousand rounds shot (in September) and no one seems to have problems with it.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Is anyone else seeing a recent drop in quality on Federal ammunition? Specifically standard load .22LR?

I have yet to see any Federal .22 ammo that was worth a (bleep). I have shot about a thousand rounds over the last ten years and - none - of it was really "satisfactory".

Big bore stuff seems fine. The .22lr seems to be junk.

 

[XD-40 Shooter]

I like the Federal bulk packs at wally world, my Ruger 22/45 eats it up, its plenty accurate enough, I'm getting 1-2" groups at 25 yards off hand. I've had very few failures with it and I'll keep buying it.

 

[don]

XD40 shooter, I use the same pistol and agree 100%. My 22/45 will not eat Winchester Xpert rounds at all.[bulk package, white box] If you can shoot 1-2 inches at 25 yds, you are a far better shot than I. I feel good if I can hit 3-4 inches at 25 yds.

 

[csmkersh]

Federal 710s fired at 50 yards with a CZ 452 American and Mueller scope.

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[JCMAG]

I've had no issues with Federal 550 ct. from Wal-Mart. Rather, I should say that I have maybe 5 rounds per box that do not go bang the first time. Since I shoot them through a revolver, that isn't that big of a deal.

It's hard to beat for plinking ammo. Dirty, but it serves its purpose.

 

[lions]

I haven't had any problems at all with the Federal 550 value packs. My 10/22 and Mark II absolutely love that stuff. I guess this just means more for me!

 

[tigre]

At Appleseed this weekend my friend was shooting the Federal 550 Bulk Pack and had 10-15 fail to fire. I was using Federal Automatch and didn't have a single problem. For just plinking and having fun at the range it's not a terrible failure rate, but I'd use something else when you really need reliability.

 

[OAKVILLE SHOOTER]

I found the Federal Champion in 325 round boxes and the 550 bulk pack when Wolf Match Target seemed to be harder to find. I have shot countless boxes of both of these in my 10/22, Nylon 66, Mark II, and a couple of revolvers. I can't recall ever having a problem with any of them. Remington Thunderbolts on the other hand....

 

[Boomerang]

I don't think the bulk packs really need to be considered for their quality. It's not important if the bulk pack isn't accurate or doesn't go bang. It's just cheap fodder and that's all it should be thought of.

Federal made some great ammo back when Launi Meili took gold with their ammo. After that they stopped making good 22 ammo. the 711B was once good, but it's not even up to what it once was.

It was an exercise in making the best 22 ammo possible, competing with Eley Tenex and Russian Temp, but nobody bought it, so they stopped making it.

 

[subierex]

I have the worst luck with the Rem green box. While not perfect, the Federal bulk pack seems somewhat better. My Savage 64 likes to be cleaned though, gets cranky when even moderately dirty.

 

[.380awsome]

nope ive never been through a whole box of federals without a misfire

 

[searcher451]

I picked up a couple of boxes a month or so ago (after a sale at Wally World) and have spent some range time of late shooting it up in a new-to-me Walther PP, a recently purchased Ruger Bearcat, and a Ruger 10/22. The ammo has been flawless.

 

[Big Daddy Grim]

The only thing all fire federal bulk from Walmart in is my Blackhawk. I have had a load of crap from the first and only pack I bought from Walmart. Do seem to be fine when the same bulk pack comes from Sportsmans wharehouse I wonder is Walmart really buying the crap bullets?

 

[John Wayne]

Bulk pack Wal-Mart ammo I have bought recently includes:

-Federal Auto Match
-Federal 550 rnd. bulk pack
-Remington Golden Bullet HP's
-Winchester Super X HP's
-Remington Thunderbolt LRN

Thunderbolts are the worst, almost as bad as throwing rocks. I get a FTF 10-15 times per 500 rounds (and this is with a healthy dent in the primer). Accuracy is worse than reliability.

The Auto Match and Golden Bullets are my favorite bulk pack ammo. They cost a little bit more but I've never had a problem with either. The GB's are probably my favorite, simply becaue the coating keeps my fingers from getting lead all over them loading mags.

The regular Federal and Winchester bulk packs are sub-par, IMO. They're better than the Thunderbolts (fewer FTF's), but even for casual shooting I would rather pay the extra $1-3 per brick.

I usually keep 1k-2k .22 LR bulk pack rounds on hand and 100 rounds of good quality ammo like CCI Mini-Mags or Stingers for when I actually use them on game.

 

[Squeaky Duck]

FTF with the bulk ammo? Hmm...I RARELY have that problem and the only time I had a run of that was with cheap Chinese made ammo many years ago. I have a Ruger MK I pistol and a Remington Nylon 66 that always fired all kinds of bulk ammo without any problems whether it be the cheap Wildcat ammo or the premium CCI Stingers. And that included all of the CCI, Federal, Winchester and Remington from Wal-Mart that some people think is junk ammo.

If you are having failure to fire problems using bulk 22 ammo, you might consider getting you firearm checked for weak springs, examine the firing pin for wear... then there is the most obvious, God forbid - when was the last time you CLEANED and maintained your firearm???.

 

[MIL-DOT]

I've just been getting into the .22 thing the last couple months,with a stainless marlin 60 and lately a CZ 452.
We liked the wally World Fed bulk at first, but then started noticing the lightly, or hotly loaded rounds, and all the flyers. I'm seeing a FTF every 100-200 rounds.
The Winchester 333 seems much more consistent, we actually like this stuff pretty well .I'm not very impressed with the Federal Auto match so far.
My CZ seems to like the CCI standard velocity best right now, even better than Wolf target match.
From what i've read, here and around, I'm not getting anywhere near Remington stuff, so can't report first hand.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

After a spectacular failure to stop a squirrel demonstrated by Remington's subsonic load, and the undependable nature of the "Golden Bullet" Remington value pack in my rifle, I decided to try another maker's product. I had been told to try Federal, and while they may have improved, when I last tried them they were as bad as, or worse than, the Remington stuff.

So, that left the Winchester in the white box.

I could rave about this, but suffice it to say it's extremely accurate from my rifle (see photo), it shoots cleanly, it's consistent, not overly loud, and has a gaping hollowpoint that blows apples to applesauce.



I got it sighted in at 50 yards today, and I hope to see where it shoots at 100 yards tomorrow. I do need to find the ballistics on this; if it's supersonic, it's just mildly so.

I think I found my huntin' ammo. It doesn't hurt that it's probably the cheapest stuff out there either!

Josh <><

 

[CRITGIT]

I've gotten to where I don't shoot anything but Federal Bulk Pack from Wal-Mart. I've got 14 22 rifles and handguns, and while Federal BP may not be the "best" in any, it works fine in all of them. I don't remember the last time I had a missfire.

(Note: One exception. My wife's Bersa Firestorm really likes CCI mini mags so I keep a couple of boxes around for it.)

Just yesterday I sighted in a 77/22. I tried both CCI mini mag, and WWFBP. That's what I happened to have at the house. The FBP shot slightly better groups to my surprise.

I'm quite happy with it.
__________________

I agree with CB! I must say though I liked it a whole bunch better just a year or so ago when it was priced at 8.96 instead of 13.47.
However, there have been complaints with Fed regarding recent lot numbers.


The company is very good at responding to complaints.

CRITGIT