Giving up on Federal .22 ammo

[ColtPythonElite]

I hope thinks have not changed with Federal 36 gr plated bulk ammo...Pre-Sandy Hook I was shooting .22 guns almost every day. The 36 gr plated was my ammo of choice for my Ruger MK II guns. I rarely ever found a dud. I shot several cases of it....I have not been able to find it easily, particularly at a bargain since Sandy Hook. I am down to my last case of the old. I hope the new isnt poor quality.

As far as Automatch goes, I shot several cases of it Pre-Sandy Hook out of CZ bolt guns. I don't recall a misfire, but probably did have one. I hope it hasn't changed as well.

 

[TheOwl]

I bought a bunch of the blue federal 525 boxes and have had problems with them. They were from the pre-obama era. I'm in the process of asking customer service to fix it. I think it might have just been a bad run.

These things failed to ignite on 2x 10/22s, 2x SW M&P 22 compacts, and a Ruger MK III. I had some rounds that we struck multiple times on multiple guns, and they would not ignite. They also failed to cycle the action sporadically. This affected almost every magazine.

The thing that was really strange to me is that I had a range buddy shooting Remington golden bullets with no problem, but he put these in his 10/22 and they were terrible. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. I guess Remington fixed their golden bullet line. I hope Federal fixed these because they were very good previously.

I'll post an update on how Federal handles it.

 

[TheOwl]

Oh, and by the way, I pulled out another Federal red box of 325 (I think that's how many were in it, it was 300 something), and fired the whole box through my 10/22 with no problem. Maybe that was from a different line, or maybe it was the same line with a different lot #.

 

[RecoilRob]

I was having misfires with a brick of Remington GB's many years ago. The typical inconsistent sounding report and some needing a second hit in another part of the rim to fire...so I pulled a bunch of projectiles to inspect the priming. Yep...found several out of the 20 or so taken apart where the compound didn't go all around the rim....so if you happened to hit the empty spot it obviously wouldn't light. And even on the ones with priming all the way around the thickness varied greatly which probably was responsible for the varying report and velocity differences.

Back in the 'Old Days'....some .22's had dual firing pins for just this reason. Not a bad idea when ammo consistency is less than perfect and you're counting on the thing actually firing.

 

[Merle1]

I was having misfires with a brick of Remington GB's many years ago. The typical inconsistent sounding report and some needing a second hit in another part of the rim to fire...so I pulled a bunch of projectiles to inspect the priming. Yep...found several out of the 20 or so taken apart where the compound didn't go all around the rim....so if you happened to hit the empty spot it obviously wouldn't light. And even on the ones with priming all the way around the thickness varied greatly which probably was responsible for the varying report and velocity differences.

Back in the 'Old Days'....some .22's had dual firing pins for just this reason. Not a bad idea when ammo consistency is less than perfect and you're counting on the thing actually firing.

it wasn't only .22 rimfires that had dual firing pins - some larger calibers did too - guess it really mattered if that was your defensive rifle......

 

[Slamfire]

I looked at the other thread, and I am of the opinion that the OP has either a firing pin problem or a mainspring problem. I had to replace the firing pin on my MKII SS as the rear end peened, shortening the firing pin. With 15,000 rounds through the pistol there is a very good chance the mainspring has weakened. Don't trust what looks to be good firing pin hits, the dent on the rim is not a reliable indication of firing pin energy.

As for replacing the mainspring, I looked that up on the web and came to the conclusion that it took fixtures and was too much of a bother for me. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/legacy388074/ruger-mkii-mainspring-t2925.html Call Ruger, tell them the problem you are having, see if they will sell you or send you a new back a new mainspring housing, fully assembled. http://www.ruger-parts.net/factory-...d-mkiii-22-45-blued-polymer-frame-only-69-99/

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I don't shoot enough 22lr not to buy the good stuff. I pretty much just buy CCI now.

I've had 1400 rounds sitting in a box for like 5 years. Still trying to use up the last of my Federal Crap. In general, I'm not a fan of Fed ammo.

 

[Schwing]

I don't think I shoot nearly as much .22 as most of you but I have gone through many thousands or tens of thousands of bulk Federal and have never had a misfire or squib. I can see the misfires being the fault of the gun but not the squib. In my mind, you get a squib and the ammo is at fault period.

 

[1KPerDay]

I looked at the other thread, and I am of the opinion that the OP has either a firing pin problem or a mainspring problem. I had to replace the firing pin on my MKII SS as the rear end peened, shortening the firing pin. With 15,000 rounds through the pistol there is a very good chance the mainspring has weakened. Don't trust what looks to be good firing pin hits, the dent on the rim is not a reliable indication of firing pin energy.

Thanks, but I have replaced the firing pin 3x (factory, modified/sharpened factory, and VQ), and the mainspring (factory, polished), and the extractor (Factory and VQ), and the LCI (LCI filler), and the rebound spring 2x, and the rebound spring plunger. Only thing I haven't tried is a new hammer but I can't figure out why that would matter.

 

[1KPerDay]

I don't think I shoot nearly as much .22 as most of you but I have gone through many thousands or tens of thousands of bulk Federal and have never had a misfire or squib. I can see the misfires being the fault of the gun but not the squib. In my mind, you get a squib and the ammo is at fault period.

So did I, as noted above. It used to be my go-to ammo and I shot more than 10,000 rounds through this pistol with zero problems. That was all made prior to 2008. Recent lots are iffy.

Tried a recent lot of Federal 325 36 grain plated today and got 3 near squibs in 60 rounds. Didn't cycle the bolt enough to eject the case. the bullets cleared the barrel but just barely.

 

[Schwing]

So did I, as noted above. It used to be my go-to ammo and I shot more than 10,000 rounds through this pistol with zero problems. That was all made prior to 2008. Recent lots are iffy.

Tried a recent lot of Federal 325 36 grain plated today and got 3 near squibs in 60 rounds. Didn't cycle the bolt enough to eject the case. the bullets cleared the barrel but just barely.

About 1/2 of my .22 cache is pre-panic.... You're making me consider taking some of the new stuff out for a spin to make sure it is useable.

 

[1KPerDay]

Probably a good idea. Of course your luck might run better than mine. You'll likely have zero issues.

 

[roval]

i found a federal bulk 550 rds at Walmart yesterday for $22 and because of this thread decided to try them out in my 2 pistols a s&w victory and a ruger mark 2 i shot about 200 plus rds and had not a single malfunction or dud. i had several failure to feed with some left over cci ( the one with a black bullet) on the ruger out of about 30 rds left over. those still shot well once reinserted in the magazine.

ill go buy a couple of the boxes if there's some left. your experiences may be more with the lot you had bought.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

(staying on the topic of Federal Bulk Pack)

I have not bought Federal .22 lr 36gr cp hp hv in a blue bulk box. The Federal .22 lr 36gr copper-plated hollow point high velocity (1260 fps) bulk pack I've bought has been in red bulk boxs. I am not sure what the diff in color means. With most of my guns it has a good record. The bullet nose is full .22 LR length with a tapered nose. It feeds well from a 25 rd Mossberg 702 magazine I modified to fit my CBC 7022 and from a 12rd Ramline magazine in my Ruger MkII; some .22lr bullet styles don't.

When the ban panick thawed Black Friday 2016 (repeat last year) I broke down and bought three cartons of Federal AutoMatch (325 rds each at $14.95) which proved to be a good .22lr 40gr lead rn hv (1200 fps) in the pistol and rifles I tried it in.

(cutting off my comments on not-Federal .22 bulk pack)

 

[roval]

the federal bulk box i got had 550 rds (36 gr hp with a copper coating)and was red. the bullet seemed to have a lot of oomph as i used it on my 22 lr action target dueling tree at 25 yrds , sometines the paddles bounce back to the same side. i have no problems with fed auto match but i like this better.

 

[Elkins45]

.10/rd for CCI SV locally. I'm not paying that. This is ridiculous.

Are you signed up to buy from CMP? I bought a case of the Eley standard velocity bulk pack they just started offering. That’s $354 for 5K rounds on Eley delivered to your door, or $35/brick. Since I was paying $39/brick for CCI SV it seemed like a pretty good gamble to me.

This is from my 10.5” SBR 10/22 at 25 yards. I don’t think I am capable of much better.

 

[RA40]

We see some variation between shooters. I've been shy about bulk offerings but considering how CA ammo is changing soon, I'll pick some up and see how these do.

 

[Sarge7402]

Have two foreign made autos (Walther PP Pre war and an FEG SMC 1990's era) that seem to want to go full auto when fed Federals. My guess is that rather than tightening quality control (like CCI does) they've loosened it up to the max SAAMI allows and it shows.

Both guns love CCI (both standard and HiVel) as well as Thunderbolt

 

[Elkins45]

https://estore.thecmp.org/Catalog/Item/4C22ELYSTD-5000 for the case of Eley from CMP.

 

[Delford]

I run a Marlin Model 60 and a Beretta Neos just for grins. Sometimes I set up golf balls on strings, mostly paper from 7 yards to 100 yards. I just finished a box of 325 Automatch and it performed flawlessly. I opened a 555 Winchester WB and in the first 30 rounds I had about five jams or squibs. That was through the Model 60. I'll see how they do in the Neos next time out.

I dislike Thunderbolts but Golden Bullets have always performed well for me.

I've never tried Champion and considering this thread I won't bother. 325s are readily available for $.045 a round.

 

[cp1969]

Never had a problem with bulk Federal in the .22/45 but mine definitely had a problem with Winchester X-Pert. About 2/3rds of the Xperts would cycle the action far enough to re-cock the hammer, but not far enough to eject the empty brass or strip a live round toward from the magazine.

Oddly enough, this never resulted in a jam. It would always put the fired shell back in the chamber, resulting in a 'click' the next time the trigger was pulled.

I'd always considered the .22/45 the 'garbage disposal' of .22 ammo--it would eat anything. Up til I tried X-pert, that gun fired anything unless it was a dud, which wouldn't fire in any other gun, either.

To my surprise, the X-pert ammo function just fine in a Browning SA-22 and Nylon 66, so I no longer consider the .22/45 infallible.

 

[Steve51]

I have and continue to use Federal bulk 36 grain copper plated hollow points and Federal auto match 40 grain round points in my Mark IV, Taurus 992, Ruger Single Six, and two Henry rifles. I have had no problems. Might avg a fail to fire once in 700 or 800 rounds. I have several boxes on hand so I may have problems in the future but so far, so good.

I had problems with Remington golden bullets several years ago and have never purchased anymore. I also had problems with Winchester .22WMR dynapoints once. Contacted Winchester and they had me send the remaining rounds to them. They never gave me a reply or replaced the faulty ammo - so I have never purchased anymore Winchester .22WMR.

I have never had problems with CCI .22LR or .22WMR and have never had problems with Remington .22WMR.

 

[milemaker13]

I didn't have any duds, but the federal bulk would not feed in my Marlin 88. After the first shot, the next bullet would get knocked sideways in the case, resulting in a jam. What a pain to clear in that rifle.
Remington and Winchester didn't cycle well, but not as bad as the federal... Anything CCI fed reliably. Mini-mags, stingers and Blazer.

 

[cp1969]

I don't shoot enough 22lr not to buy the good stuff. I pretty much just buy CCI now.

I've had 1400 rounds sitting in a box for like 5 years. Still trying to use up the last of my Federal Crap. In general, I'm not a fan of Fed ammo.

Five years is nothing. In 1980, I bought a case of Peters Victor .22 LR. Still have some of it left. Occasionally, I'll shoot a box of it and haven't had any problems with it yet.

 

[1KPerDay]

I've still got some remington/peters golden bullets from the 60s. They work great.