When I was young.........ALL brands of .22 ammo fired 100%. I don't ever recall a dud in the 60's & 70's. Apparently Quality was more important back then.
Federal .22 LR Bulk Packs
- Thread starter GypsmJim
- Start date
MTC(SS)Ret
US Veteran
If I am just plinking or target shooting for fun and have a few flyers it won't bother me as much paying only 8 cents a round for Aguila or Winchester as it would if I was paying 25 cents for CCI or even more for Eley or RWS target ammo.
Maybe one of these days we will get back to "normal" prices.
Maybe one of these days we will get back to "normal" prices.
THE PILGRIM
Member
The first bulk 22 I recall was the Remington in the Milk Cartons.
A while back I was shooting some in a Ruger Mark II.
It didn't go well!
I told my Buddy about it.
He asked what ammo?
I told him and he replied Don't shoot that ****!
Get some decent ammo!
A while back I was shooting some in a Ruger Mark II.
It didn't go well!
I told my Buddy about it.
He asked what ammo?
I told him and he replied Don't shoot that ****!
Get some decent ammo!
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It might be pointless to post this because of the lot-to-lot variance in cheap bulk ammos, but...
About three years ago, I used two pretty much out-of-the box .22 rifles and fired five, five-shot groups at fifty yards with about twenty-five or so .22 long rifle ammos, standard and high-velocity. No expensive target ammo was used. Instead, I tried the sort of ammunition most of us might buy.
CCI-SV was my standard for judging the other ammunitions' accuracy. Average for both guns (ten groups) was .67". One rifle was a Winchester 52 reproduction with a 6X scope, the other a Ruger 77/22 with a 4X scope.
I had heard others whine about how Federal AutoMatch and Remington Thunderbolt were horrible ammos. The AutoMatch did .68", the Thunderbolt .90". Remington Golden Bullet did 1.12". Winchester Wildcat, the very worst, averaged 1.44". Winchester "235" did 1.06". These are all "bulk" ammos. I'm sure there were flyers in a number of groups. Without them, of course, groups sizes would have been smaller, but I was quite surprised at the accuracy of Federal AutoMatch. Perhaps I got hold of the only good batch of this ammo ever produced.
When the shortages are over and you're looking for the best accuracy from bulk ammo, you have to try many in your gun. If you find one that groups well, see if you can get more of that same lot. Worth a try. Or, buy better ammo.
About three years ago, I used two pretty much out-of-the box .22 rifles and fired five, five-shot groups at fifty yards with about twenty-five or so .22 long rifle ammos, standard and high-velocity. No expensive target ammo was used. Instead, I tried the sort of ammunition most of us might buy.
CCI-SV was my standard for judging the other ammunitions' accuracy. Average for both guns (ten groups) was .67". One rifle was a Winchester 52 reproduction with a 6X scope, the other a Ruger 77/22 with a 4X scope.
I had heard others whine about how Federal AutoMatch and Remington Thunderbolt were horrible ammos. The AutoMatch did .68", the Thunderbolt .90". Remington Golden Bullet did 1.12". Winchester Wildcat, the very worst, averaged 1.44". Winchester "235" did 1.06". These are all "bulk" ammos. I'm sure there were flyers in a number of groups. Without them, of course, groups sizes would have been smaller, but I was quite surprised at the accuracy of Federal AutoMatch. Perhaps I got hold of the only good batch of this ammo ever produced.
When the shortages are over and you're looking for the best accuracy from bulk ammo, you have to try many in your gun. If you find one that groups well, see if you can get more of that same lot. Worth a try. Or, buy better ammo.
Riverboys
Member
In these precarious times, I'll take my 6 boxes of Federal Bulk 22 over Zero boxes of Unicorn ammo any day.
I recently had the same problem with the Federal 335 bulk pack - about 2 of every 10 were squibs. Federal quickly replaced them. Said they had a recall for a crimping issue. I haven't tried the replacements.
Pre Obama 22 ammo was $10-$15 per 500, bulk & brick. Very seldom did you have a dud. Some ammo was better than others but if you bought the premium line from American manf. It was quality and uniform stuff. Not match grade but close. Most people don't have match grade firearms so the manf premium lines were about as good as it gets. Much of the bulk was nothing more than over run. The problem now is that manf have poor quality control. The reason it's not fixed is they don't want to shut down a line long enough to make adjustments. The buying public can stop this by refusing to buy this stuff. Also keep duds and complain to dealer and manf Insist on rebate or replacement. It's the principle of the thing and enough people complain they might fix the problems.
Green Frog
Member
I was waiting for mention to come up of Federal's Auto Match. Approximately 15-20 years ago I was introduced to this ammo (1 or 2 box changes ago) and found it to be consistent and acceptably accurate. I tried to keep it "in stock" and buy more as I found it through the Obama Ammo Drought, but I seem to notice that now I'm getting misfires where I never experienced them before. It works OK for plinking but I fear I'll have to pay more for serious shooting. 
The good news is that I built up a nice backlog of about 7-8000 rounds of the stuff so I can plink and practice a lot!
Froggie
The good news is that I built up a nice backlog of about 7-8000 rounds of the stuff so I can plink and practice a lot!
Froggie
I just looked and I have been shooting Federal 1100 Black Pack 38gr. HP, and have not had a failure to fire in about a fourth of the bulk pack. Just shot a grey digger (Ca. ground squirrel) about an hour ago and it worked fine. I have quite a bit of .22 ammo, bought thru the years, and seldom have a misfire. Now, I did find a ziploc bag of about thirty rounds of the same looking Federal ammo, but very corroded and dirty, and had about thirty % misfires, but very old and not taken care of ammo.
.38SuperMan
Member
Over the past twelve months my wife and I have probably shot two dozen bulk packs (550) of red box Federal we bought at Walmart. We've also shot a good amount of various other brands. We have probably More than a dozen rifles ranging from new Henry carbines to Winchester 62A's and Ruger 10/22's and some old Remingtons. We also shoot out a variety of S&W, Ruger & Browning auto pistols and Ruger and Smith revolvers. We're just plungers basically shooting steel and some paper. Just guessing we might have had a half dozen failures with the Federal. Pretty much all others have been equally reliable. The only obviously low power round was a single round of Federal my wife fired a week ago.
Accuracy seems, at least for us, to be more a function of the gun/barrel we're shooting out of. Just like other guns some ammo groups better out of one one and not out of another. Each of our guns seem to have favorite ammo that performs the best. Some guns it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference as far as accuracy and others are really finicky.
Just recently I've gotten into shooting a Ruger precision 22wmr. I tested about 10 different brands and loads and I was stunned at how much difference accuracy carried. At 100yds Hornady v-max 30gr shot a sub 1/2moa and Federal patterned like a shotgun giving about a 4" group of 5 shots. CCI v-max was close to the Hornady and Winchester a close 3rd but had poor QC issues.
Accuracy seems, at least for us, to be more a function of the gun/barrel we're shooting out of. Just like other guns some ammo groups better out of one one and not out of another. Each of our guns seem to have favorite ammo that performs the best. Some guns it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference as far as accuracy and others are really finicky.
Just recently I've gotten into shooting a Ruger precision 22wmr. I tested about 10 different brands and loads and I was stunned at how much difference accuracy carried. At 100yds Hornady v-max 30gr shot a sub 1/2moa and Federal patterned like a shotgun giving about a 4" group of 5 shots. CCI v-max was close to the Hornady and Winchester a close 3rd but had poor QC issues.
Frank46
US Veteran
I was in wally world last week. No 22rf, very little of any centerfire rifle ammo and even the value packs were looking pretty bad. Bought 4 boxes Federal game loads and some dummy stole two rounds out of the box. So instead of 100 rounds now down to 98. Those were the last 4 boxes #4 shot. Even the dvd and games section looked cleaned out. There was a rumor that our store was going to be closed and another one opened near a major highway. They actually had to put steel one way gates up as people were walking outwith shopping carts full of food and not paying. Was a nice store when they first opened, now looks like a dump. Real shame. Frank
I was waiting for mention to come up of Federal's Auto Match. Approximately 15-20 years ago I was introduced to this ammo (1 or 2 box changes ago) and found it to be consistent and acceptably accurate. I tried to keep it "in stock" and buy more as I found it through the Obama Ammo Drought, but I seem to notice that now I'm getting misfires where I never experienced them before. It works OK for plinking but I fear I'll have to pay more for serious shooting.
The good news is that I built up a nice backlog of about 7-8000 rounds of the stuff so I can plink and practice a lot!
Froggie
I've also had good results with Automatch. Stocked up a few years ago, so can't comment on recent batches, but it's worked well in all my 22s.
Ever since I was a kid I always bought Remington Golden .22s or CCI Mini-Mags. We shot a lot of Olin .22s on the rifle team.
I've always liked Federal's centerfire ammo but never really liked any of their rimfire rounds, AutoMatch included. I dumped all of my random boxes and bulk packs of .22 ammo at a dime a piece and bought a case of CCI SV at a dime a piece--worked out to be a near-dead even swap and I've got a good supply of ammo that I like. I'll take that deal anytime!
I've always liked Federal's centerfire ammo but never really liked any of their rimfire rounds, AutoMatch included. I dumped all of my random boxes and bulk packs of .22 ammo at a dime a piece and bought a case of CCI SV at a dime a piece--worked out to be a near-dead even swap and I've got a good supply of ammo that I like. I'll take that deal anytime!
scattershot
Member
"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?"
Yes.
Yes.
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gregintenn
Member
I have had good luck with the Federal bulk packs. I will admit the ones I am using were purchased 20 or so years ago.
THE PILGRIM
Member
Just the other day I bought some 300 rounds 38 Special PMC Battle packs.
Apparently meant for us guys who plan to go into battle with our 38s!
That's 6 boxes in a sealed plastic pouch.
Apparently meant for us guys who plan to go into battle with our 38s!
That's 6 boxes in a sealed plastic pouch.
22 ammo
I have two Victory 22's. I use one with a red dot and one with open sights. Started out using Federal Auto Match ammo. Both pistols ran great thru several boxes. All at once both pistols started having the same problem. Just would not cycle properly. I had two boxes with the same lot numbers giving me the same problem. I switched to CCI MM and again they both ran fine. My last outing I tried some Remingtons and they ran fine with no problems. Was saving my CCI. I think we get some bad rounds in most brands. I usually save the Remingtons for my 617's.
I have two Victory 22's. I use one with a red dot and one with open sights. Started out using Federal Auto Match ammo. Both pistols ran great thru several boxes. All at once both pistols started having the same problem. Just would not cycle properly. I had two boxes with the same lot numbers giving me the same problem. I switched to CCI MM and again they both ran fine. My last outing I tried some Remingtons and they ran fine with no problems. Was saving my CCI. I think we get some bad rounds in most brands. I usually save the Remingtons for my 617's.
