I am somewhat new to shooting. having said that, heres' the deal:
I was racking the slide on my 22a, chambering the round and then immediately dropped the mag, racked the slide to eject the round. I noticed that the lead slug portion of the round was a bit skewed from the brass. It was pretty loose. I could wiggle it freely although it did not appear that it was going to separate from the brass from just wiggling it. I examined another round (never been chambered) from the same box and the lead was more solidly seated in the brass. I loaded the new round in the mag, chambered it, ejected it and the lead was more loose the before chambering it. Name brand ammo and it was a freebie with a ticket to a gun show (Full disclosure ). Is this normal or a concern? It does not seem right. I am concerned with safety first but am not schooled in ammo-ology. Please advise. Thanks.

The .22 rim fire uses a heeled bullet, IE. the bullets diameter outside the case is the same as the case diameter but the part inside is of smaller diameter. Because the bullet is the same diameter as the case it aligns in the chamber which is all the same diameter. The bullet doesn't need to be held in tightly to work though it usually is. Below you can see a .22 LR bullet that's been pulled out of the case and the "heel" is visible but a rather small amount of the bullet to be held by the case so the bullet may not always be held tightly.

Attached Images

22LRdissasembled.jpg (19.1 KB, 1250 views)

While your rifle or handgun will shoot 22 LR ammo with the bullet rather loosely held by the brass cartridge, the point of impact will vary considerably from those intact cartridges that are tightly held with uniform neck tension. ............ Big Cholla

Outstanding!
Thanks Steve, for your excellent explanation.

Thanks Big Cholla. Judging by the time stamps, we were typing replies at the same time, didn't want to appear to be snubbing you. Thanks for the reply.

Always a problem with .22s . When I shot competition we bought the best ammo and checked each round. Also, if you carry a .22-periodically empty the mag or cylinder-a tiny bit of oil, moisture, cleaner- can make a round go pffffft. Been there, done that.