Federal .22 LR Bulk Packs

[GypsmJim]

Earlier this year I happened to be in WalMart and saw they had ample supplies of Federal .22s in the newly designed red box. They were at pre-Obama pricing so I bought a couple.

A few days later it was becoming quite clear that they were about to declare a Pandemic and my thought was "Oh, no, not again". So I went to all 3 Walmarts in the area and bought out the entire supply. I was proud of myself until just recently when I started shooting some of the stuff. In my last 2 outings about 80% went "boom", 10% a mere "pop", and the other 10% made a noise half way in between.

When I open a brick I always transfer the ammo to the gold colored plastic 100 round CCI Minimag boxes that I started collecting back in the 1970's. Thus, I don't have the paper boxes any more and don't know what the lot numbers were.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed in federal. It's not the gun....it happens in several handguns and rifles. When they only pop, its not enough to cycle the slide in a semi.

So much for being prepared!

 

[Sikiguya]

You are going to get a lot of people purporting they have no issues with bulk ammo by manufacturers. I find the result of most is what you experienced.

For the most consistent ammo, I have found CCI standard and mini mag to be it.


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[mikerjf]

My exact numbers:

Federal 550-unit boxes, 36/1260
Total shot: 1442
2nd-strike-needed: 8

CCI, all types
Total shot: 1546
2nd-strike-needed: 9

 

[mgriffin]

Karma for hording.......lol

 

[Sikiguya]

I don't have exact numbers but I coach a SASP team. Every week, we shoot about a couple of thousand rounds. Every time we have a malfunction, we inspect the case after. It's almost about 8-1 everything else vs CCI. They have issues too. We had a bad batch a year or so ago. But otherwise, that's about all I buy any more.


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[max503]

I'm now thoroughly enjoying shooting up the $14.98 cartons of Thunderbolts I bought from WM a year or so ago, that so many on the internet vehemently despised at the time.
Yea, there's a couple "pops" now and again. But who cares? I'm able to plink with my Marlin Model 60 while others are hording their precious stock of CCI's.

 

[Valmet]

I've found the Federal "Black Pack" ammo to be less reliable that the Champion stuff.

 

[Riverboys]

I just found 2 boxes, One Federal .22 333 box and Winchester 333 box at a Walmart, both for $17.95

 

[rockquarry]

I've bought only CCI-SV for a while now; out of several cases, I've had one cartridge that didn't fire the first time. I've tried most of the cheap bulk stuff over the years and I did get an occasional round that didn't fire on the first pull of the trigger with most of that ammo. However, I've never experienced close to the rate of misfires that others have. One exception: a batch of Aguila I bought about fifteen years ago. Perhaps just a sorry lot, but I probably had 10% that didn't fire the first time.

Triggers in my .22 handguns and rifles are as they came out of the box. I don't replace or tamper with them except for the externally adjustable triggers on my Winchester 52 reproductions.

 

[scattershot]

My results are similar to yours. I find the Federal bulk pack .22 is basically junk. I have come to rely on Minimags.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I also prefer MiniMags.
But the last time I saw 22 for sale , this is what it was and I bought some.

 

[wetdog1911]

My results are similar to yours. I find the Federal bulk pack .22 is basically junk. I have come to rely on Minimags.

Bulk ammo is, mostly junk and just gets used for blasting tin cans. Not what I call serious, or rainy day ammo.

But, trying to make bulk ammo perform like serious ammo is a fools errand.

Serious ammo IS going to be more expensive, but that doesn't mean you have to shoot it exclusively (unless you can afford to), just have a sufficient quantity for when you need 'The good stuff'.

Just sayin...

Rob

 

[GypsmJim]

I DO have serious ammo that naturally gets used whenever I shoot a relay. And, the bulk stuff is always reserved for non-serious plinking at camp shooting tin cans and the like. However, I would never have called the bulk Federal "junk" by any means. In fact, my experience has shown that for me it has been consistent enough for the intended purpose.

If I shoot a brick and have a few that require a second strike, I don't consider that to be an insurmountable problem. I can live with that. However, when I shoot a 10 round magazine and have 2 rounds that are so weak that the slide won't go back, THAT's a problem and its not what I have come to expect.

 

[Jerry in SC]

I also prefer MiniMags.
But the last time I saw 22 for sale , this is what it was and I bought some.

We have a few tubs of it. Surprisingly it ran fine through the 617. Not a FTF so far.

 

[peterdeb]

What you say Federal, do you also include Federal American Eagle 22lr as junk, bulk ammo?

 

[rockquarry]

Best solution is to spend a little more and get good ammo.

 

[GypsmJim]

Best solution is to spend a little more and get good ammo.

Sometimes easier said than done.

In the 1970's I bought a box of CCI MiniMags every Saturday morning at KMart. Now there are no more KMarts.

I also used to buy them at 1 of 2 local gun shops. They are both closed.

Cabelas and WalMart are what's left. They have no inventory as we speak.

For all the dozens of bricks of bulk .22s I bought over the years, it may not have been "good", but it was good enough.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I guess there is something I don't understand here regarding so called "bulk" 22LR ammo versus "regular" ammo.
What are you all referring to when you call it "bulk" ammo? Is that the boxes of 250, 333, 525 rounds that are just loose packed rounds?
Is a 500 round "brick" with ten 50 round boxes bulk ammo?
I recently purchased some Aguila Super Extra 40gr CPRN from two different online sources, a 500 round "brick of 10 boxes" from one store and 2 250 round loose pack "bulk" boxes from another store. I find it hard to believe there would be a difference in the ammo besides the packaging as it surely must come off the same assembly line.

If CCI, which I agree is a superb ammo, were to package it's ammo in bulk packs would that it make it inferior to the 100 round plastic boxes?

I know if you ask 20 people their opinion on the different brands of 22LR you will get 20 different answers. Up til now my shooting has mostly been with CCI and Blazer but things being the way they are with it being in short supply I buy what I can find at reasonable prices. The Aguila 250 round boxes I bought within the past 3 weeks and paid 8 cents a round. I also got 2 333 round boxes of Winchester 36gr CPHP at the same price. Since then I haven't seen anything less than 15 cents and CCI is at least 25 cents.

 

[SweetMK]

Paul Harrell has a LOT of videos on YouTube,, and he shoots in every one of them,,

Watch some, it won't take long, he will be shooting a nice group, then one round is an inch below the rest.

Paul typically says,
Did you notice when I was shooting, the sound of one round was lower than the rest,,?
that is what caused the flyer down low.

He shows that often, and mostly with centerfire ammo.

So, if centerfire ammo is gonna have underpowered rounds occasionally,
SURELY , we gotta expect the lowly 22LR to go poof instead of BANG, on occasion.

 

[rockquarry]

Even if all the rounds in a bulk pack of .22 ammo go bang, you'll likely have regular flyers. It has to do with quality control (or lack of it) with the real cheap stuff. You'll have fewer flyers with better ammo. You can quickly find this out on your own; no need for YouTube.

I realize .22 ammo and everything else is hard to find, but the wait might be worth it.