Why has all brands of .22 rimfire gone bad. I have FTF's with remington, winchester and federal. This is running it through a lot of Smiths, Rugers, Winchesters, Brownings and Marlins. This evening I was shooting the last of a brick of federal 750's and several smoked like a muzzle loader when they fired and felt light. Tonight I broke open a brick of WW experts and there were several EMPTY primed cases in the bunch. IN a recent box of wildcats 2 of the bullets were almost fluted like a drill bit. I've got a handful of FTF's of all brands on my shooting bench.
Do the mafanufacturers not care about quality anymore? Don't tell me I have to shoot high $$ ammo to get consistancy. In my youth(1960's) all brands of .22 ammo was good. I don't recall FTF's and bad bullets and I shot a lot then too.
I don't find these problems in any of the centerfire ammo I shoot.

Mike, my experiences, as well as what I've read here, have led me to the conclusion that many, if not all, of the major ammo manufacturer's QC is in the toilet. That's not just regarding rimfire ammo either. With rimfires I have no choice, but with centerfire ammo I intend to use handloads exclusively for everything including defense as I no longer trust ammo makers products when my life is on the line. When my remaining stock of factory stuff is gone, good riddance. It's ridiculously overpriced anyway.

I use Eley Subsonic Hollow Points in my .22 rimfire revolvers. I do occasionally shoot Power Points in my rifles when the situation calls for a high velocity hollow point.

I've shot hundreds of rounds of Federal bulk .22 lr in my 617s without any problems. They burn relatively cleanly, seem to always go "bang" and are quite accurate. On the other hand, the much more expensive CCI minimags turn my revolvers black after about 100 rounds and fail to fire at about a 1/12 rate.

I very rarely have FTF's with bulk ammo in my 617's. I have a lot in my auto's.

Dr.

I have FTF's in my 617, 18 and pre 18. All m-springs are tight. I've even turned the cases and hit them in several different places on the rim. Bottom line.....there's crappy RF ammo out there.

Try Golden Eagle Match Rifle. No ftf and great accuracy from my 17 at 25 yards. I got mine from Midway USA but you can also get a good price from the CMP. Picture of my 17 and a target someplace here on the ammo forum

I haven't had any FTFs but have noticed some difference in the report made with bulk Remingtons. Some loads go bang and others go poof like a light powder charge.

My experience with bulk federal has been great and Remington has been fair this year. After I matched best performing brand of today’s 22LR ammo to each of my firearms I have had minimal problems.

I do agree that QC should become a priority for all manufactures no matter what the product is.

Talking of 22 ammo, anyone have experience with Aguila's 22 Colibri?

This is a 20 grain bullet at about 400 FPS and, per the box, powered just by the priming mixture as it says "No gunpowder". Listed as only for pistols as it warns that bullets could stick in rifle bores.

I figure that my 22 bullet trap ought to last forever shooting this stuff. Probably even a pellet trap would handle it.

I'm guessing that they'll regret offering such a load. It's many accidents waiting to happen. IMO a manufacturer should never offer a load that will "sqib out" in longer barrels.

SK brand German-made ammo has never let me down. It is also sold under the Wolf brand.

My experience with 22 ammo has been mixed. In my Remington auto rifle, Winchester works best and Remington "golden bullet" (ironically enough) is by far the worst. Remington's "hyper velocity" Yellow Jackets and Vipers work well, though. But then again, you pay a premium price for those rounds.

In my Ruger Mark III pistol, anything but Remington bulk works very well.

My conclusion is that 22 ammo today is generally poorer quality than it was several decades ago, regardless of the manufacturer. Currently, Remington's bulk is the world's worst. Far lower quality than anything else Ive used in the past 10 years. I'll never buy it again.

Seems that (almost) every manufacturer offers bulk, inexpensive, "ruger mini-14" ammo and some better stuff.

I try NOT to spend any more on .22rf ammo than I have to.

Aside from the Remington yellow jackets, which are spendy, I've had mostly good luck with Winchester X22LRPP, CCI mini-mags and the CCI "standard velocity" rounds (now about $7.00/100). I've also used the Federal bulk pack on occasion, but not in ~ 2 years. Almost every bullet I've ever tried had a run of junk, including, within the last ~ 8 yrs, mini-mags key-holed, the X22LRPPs leaded fiercely (no lube in that batch), the Federals and CCI Blazers were hideously dirty and left lots of lead fouling. When I run into a batch of junk, I send 'em back for a swap-out, then I switch bullets, then switch back when I feel comfortable, again. If the manufacturers give a care, they'll watch the QC and build some customer loyalty (yellow jackets aside- I've never had one not fire, and no more than one in a thousand has been underloaded, though they hit the same place at 50 yds).

Another consideration, and the following is no exaggeration:

I often pick up (and wipe down) rounds dropped and otherwise discarded by other shooters. Many have a dimple in the base indicating that the original owner tried unsuccessfully to fire them. I used to find so many that I kept them as "spares" or for testing. From about the last 200 freebies I've scooped up off the ground, maybe 4 didn't fire out of my k-22. This includes lots of the "garbage" Remingtons, Wildcats, and what-have-you.

I'm thinking, lots of times, the artillery is slightly deficient.

1x2

I have the least issues with CCI green Tag and Remington Target.
I shoot my 10/22 space rifle the most and it has its favorites.
I shoot the bulk ammo (what ever is the cheapest) out of the rest
JC Higgins 28,29,30,31 Savage,Marlin,Remington,Winchester.I rarely have
a problem in the bolt guns. I have found that most of the time
the auto are just dirty, when I get a dud I know there many more
coming up. I keep a dry clean tooth brush with me and
scrub the bolt and barrel face, pull a bore snake through it and I'm good
to another 500 rds or so.
I cain't remember having any issues out of Single Six, I'm sure I have though. Very few FTF with my Colt auto's.
My last trip to range I found a box of Remington under the seat, It had to be there 2-3 months. I only had 2 or 3 that didn't go bang, and they had cooking in car.