The "Wildcat" line of .22 rimfire ammo was a promo brand of the 1980s period. Moderate pricing, packaged in the traditional 50-round boxes and 500-round bricks, widely available at the Big Box stores.
Until the 1970s many large retail store chains offered .22 ammo under their own house brands (Western Auto-Revelation, Sears, Montgomery Ward-Hawthorne, and many others). Mass produced by the major ammo companies, packaged in the company's preferred brand labels.
Also, the major ammo makers frequently offered several quality levels under different brand names. Federal's "Monarch", Winchester "Wildcat", Remington "Thunderbolt" and others. Frequently less performance (accuracy, reliability) so less critical in the manufacturing processes, at a price point that appealed to many casual users.
As a kid in the 1950s I had access to a .22 single-shot rifle and by 1962 I had one of my very own. Purchased a lot of .22LR for 29 cents per box, but shot more .22 Shorts at 27 cents per box. By the mid-1960s the CCI Mini-Mag ammo came on the market with big performance claims, but it was 79 cents per box and that was a major consideration at the time.
My first .22 rifle came from the S&H Green Stamps Redemption Store, acquired with books and books filled with trading stamps from my mom's grocery shopping. Got my first shotgun the same way, but they made me bring in a parent to pick that up (no one thought anything about a kid getting a .22 rifle!).
any one else have any
