What is the difference between Federal American Eagle, Federal Champion (brass casing), and Federal Range Target Practice (RTP) ammo? I have used all of them in 38 Special, 130 gr, in my 686 Plus, and all work well, but sometimes the price differential can be substantial. Anyone aware of any differences in manufacturing among the three types? Has anyone observed any difference in performance? I mainly shoot Steel Challenge, so I'm not necessarily looking to get really tight groups at 50 yards. Thanks

The main difference seems to be in the promised quality control during manufacture and the packaging! For Steel Challenge distances, I doubt whether there would be a noticeable difference for most of us. JMHO, though since most of my 38s have been hand loads for the last 35-40 years.

Froggie

AFAIK American Eagle and Federal .22LR are pretty much identical as long as you are comparing the same spec's. and grain weights. The more brand names they have the more market share they'll get.

I do believe that even though CCI is really the same Company as Federal and AE, their products are a bit better. I find that the CCI has less failure rate and shoots more accurately in my high end target guns like the M41 and the CZ 453 American.

For informal plinking use what ever is on sale. For serious target work, use CCI.

Vista outdoor owns those brands along with Speer, Blazer, Independence, CCI, along with many more non-ammo brands.

The brass and the bullet are the most expensive part of the cartridge. The biggest difference are going to be case material - brass, steel, aluminum, etc and the type of bullet. The quality control might be better for the the more expensive rounds but that's just a guess.

There must also be something different in the plating process they use; I was told by Vista's cs that i should not use their Fed Champ line in my PC Shield (ported) but i could use their American Eagle ammo.
CCi/Speer has similar feedback with their rounds so i can only assume however they plate them (thickness, process, etc) can vary by line.