I have no idea why you guys want to focus on the powder. They store smokeless powder under water during the manufacturing process to keep it from burning. All the powder you own, or have fired in the past, or will fire in the future has been exposed to water with no ill effects. Hint: its not the powder.
But just in case you're a hard head and need proof, I agree you do need to disassemble the cartridges that you say failed. I normally just rotate them 180 degrees and hit them again. Sometimes they do fire, other times not.
So you've already decided it was the powder that failed. Nothing like deciding how something took place and then looking for facts to maybe back up the decision. Sounds like a corporate world kind of thing.
A better approach would be to look and learn. Find yourself 2 pairs of pliers. You grip the case with one set and the bullet with the other, then bend the thing to one side. The bullet kind of smears out of the case. Put the bullet down. Now pour the powder someplace where you can look at it. Want more fun? Take a kitchen match and light it off. Yes, it flashes but there's so little of it there isn't much danger. Now look in the case. If you did this little exercise outdoors (where its smart), find the sun and use it for light. Look down in the case. Different manufacturers use different color priming compound. But what you should see is a yellow or green or even a pink substance down around the rim. If its not there, it just means you got a bad run of ammo. Sometimes you'll find it only around part of the rim. Again, a bad lot but at least the machinery tried to build a functional round. In my experience when I have a real dud, I find there's not even any primer in the rim. You could rotate it all the way around and you'll still not get a bang.
Another, back woods method is to just put the case on an anvil, put on your apron (the heavy leather one) and whack it really good with your 4# hammer. If you did that with the powder still in it, you may get a satisfying snap. Or not.
Now if the OPs theory about sweat infused powder was correct, and I doubt it, when you disassemble the case you should find ugly powder but a burned rim where the primer did go off. In my experience, often a primer will propel the bullet out far enough to tie up a cylinder and lodge in the barrel. I don't know if a rimfire cartridge will do that or not.
We all have theories, just like some unmentionable body parts. And they all stink. In the past 22 ammo was fairly well made. At least thats how I remember it. Some was better than others, some much better. Current production seems to yield duds in every bulk pack. Test that yourself if you want, but most folks who shoot bulk packs grumble about it and comment you get what you pay for. Have you ever bought an new gun and started using it for CCW when you've never bothered to test the gun and the ammo together? We call that "not very smart".
So if you value your life, or the lives of those you want to protect you probably should do some tests. Doesn't need to be scientific. Just step out the back door and fire a gun load or two (but probably not in the city.)
Match ammo or match grade ammo seems to deliver much more consistent ignition. That means it goes bang when it should. These days you don't have the luxury of buying boxes of 22s. If you can find even one store with any, you feel lucky. If you have some older stuff, do the test with it. I have a scatterbrained theory that the newer and much faster production equipment doesn't always deliver the priming charge. Or if it does, it doesn't "spin" it into the rim as it should. A little more time and effort is spent on match grade ammo. Maybe it would be smart to pack match grade ammo for self defense.
Most of us have learned to hate Remington ammo and particularly bulk. It used to be some of the best, but not anymore. I've never had what I consider bad luck with Federal ammo. Of any caliber, particularly shotgun shells. But their centerfire seems to be first rate. I've liked the bulk pack too. But I don't get upset over 3 or 5 misfires in a carton.
I think we have way too little information in this thread to draw conclusions.
