Some of you have seen my thread about my 617 misfiring. What are some good reliable brands/types of 22 ammo I could shoot in it? I'm tired of the Wally world stuff and ready to buy/order some of the good stuff. What do you use?

I use it all, what ever I run across on a pretty good deal. I really like Winchester super X, you will find many different responses to your question. so many you will feel like you are just as confused as when you started.

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May God Bless The USA

I would pick up a box or two of different brands, and whichever your 617 likes best is your answer.

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Misty

In my 617 I use the Federal 36gr and it works great. One FTF in over 500 rounds.

The 40 gr... not so much. Several FTF and the 40s are REALLY hard to eject for some reason.

I've never had a problem with the 36 ejecting easily.

I haven't had a problem with CCI Minimags, Velocitors, Standard Velocity or Wolff MT. As they are more expensive though and I've probably only shot approximately 500-1000 rounds of each through the 617. I've shot thousands of rounds of bulk Federal through it, but usually get a few misfires per box. They do give decent accuracy though for a bulk ammo.

Trusting someone elses experiences isn't real smart. Each gun is different, or the one's I've owned have been. Best and then most reliable are two different animals. Best to me is cheapest, as long as the FTF rate is acceptable to me. If I get one or two per 550 bulk pack of Federals, I'm a happy camper. If you want the most reliable, pay a fortune and pick up some match grade ammo. QC on that stuff is pretty good, and almost all of it has priming compound spun into the rim.

Next time you decide you want to answer the question, go buy a box or two of every different brand/ bullet weight/ velocity ammo you can find. Its not going to be a cheap experiment. Then just go shoot a little. What I think you'll find is some is clean, some is dirty. Some is remarkably accurate, some isn't. Most of it will fire most of the time. If you ever get a misfire, take two pairs of pliers and bend the bullet out of the bad round. Dump the powder out on the grass (its good fertilizer) and then look inside the case. Almost always there is no priming compound in the bottom. Most of us rotate a bad round and try it again, but almost always it won't go off. If it does, you've got a gun problem.

With center fire ammo, most of us select Federal primers if there is any question of the strength of the hammer fall. I've never seen a problem with rifles. We've generally concluded its due to Federal using softer brass that's easier to crush (either primers or case rims.)

Difficulty extracting is a different animal. The idea behind using a brass case is that it has "memory" and after firing it expands to seal up the chamber, but then springs back to a shape close to its original. If you have brass (or a lot of brass) that doesn't do that, move to a different brand. With rimfire ammo, you could easily have a dirty chamber, or a rough chamber. It kind of locks the fired case in the gun. When it won't extract, you're trying to move either 6 or 10 cases at the same time and on the same stroke. An experiment you can play around with is using only one charge hole and seeing if its hard to extract from. Then move to another and repeat. Sometimes one of your 6 (or 10) is the problem.

I think difficulty extracting is more a gun issue than an ammo issue. You can polish the chamber or chambers if you like. Commercial items like JBs bore paste on a swab, chucked into an electric drill can work to clean up a powder/lead fouled hole. Its not quick, but then you don't want it to be because you could do damage if you went to sleep on the drill.

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Dick Burg

Remington catalog number 1522. It is cheap and good. If your 617 is having a lot of misfires, it is another problem.

Are you sure some idiot did not do an amateur trigger job, loosen the strain screw, or put in a too light mainspring? Could be too much headspace. Could be a dirty gun not allowing rounds to be fully seated so that the first hit of the firing pin seats the cartridge instead of firing the cartridge.

I've used LESS EXPENSIVE 22's but not the cheap stuff. My 617's have no problem with American Eagle in the 40 round boxes(I use the hp's but solids come in 50's). Winchester Power Points are the most accurate I've shot and CCI Mini' Mags do well also with no misfires. My 617-6 went to Smith once because of misfires and they returned it with the notation "Returned to our specs." Since I bought it new and hadn't changed the hammerspring tension I assume they put a new firing pin in it. Several thousand through it now and no trouble.....not once! The 617-1 will fire anything with an unbelievably light trigger. Go figger!

Every gun is different, but I have had good experiences with CCI Mini-Mags across the board, in everything from 1911 conversions to revolvers and rifles.

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Aaron Terry

.22s are famous for each gun having its own unique tastes in ammo. As already suggested, you just have to try different types and brands to find out what your gun likes.
I pretty much buy and use alot of the cheap bulk stuff. But for quality ammo I've settled on Winchester Super X. While some of my guns may like something else a little better, I've never owned a .22 that didn't like Super X.

Thanks for the replies. I bought the 617 new back in June. It has already been back to S&W for the misfiring problem (only in DA mode) at a rate of about 8%. I had tried 5-6 various typed of 22 ammo in it. They sent it back with a new mainspring and repaired the yoke. I can't figure how it left the factory if it needed yoke repair. Anyway, it has misfired 2 times out of 200 rounds since I got it back with bulk ammo. I guess I'll try some other ammo to find what works 100%. If it gets where misfires are fairly common, I'll let them work on it some more till they get it right.

CCI minimags are about the cheapest RELIABLE ammo.

All the discount bulk stuff will have a few misfires in it.

By the way, just keep pulling the trigger till the dud comes around again. The overwhelming majority with fire on the second hit.

I fire a lot of Walmart bulk Federal, primarily because it's cheap and also because I get acceptable results with it from my 617. That includes the occasional FTF and accuracy which is good but not great. By good I mean 1 1/2 inches at 10 yards firing off hand double action. Things spread out a bit at greater distances. I've tried other ammunition including CCI Standard Velocity and CCI Minimags. Both are considerably more reliable than the bulk Federal but, in my 4" 617-1, not that much more accurate.

What REALLY makes my 617 sing is Federal Game Shok high velocity ammo. It's a teeny bit hotter than CCI minimags and, for some reason, my 617 loves the stuff. I've never had an FTF with it and it's at least 50% more accurate than the Federal bulk .22s. My 617 doesn't love this stuff as much as my wife's model 41 loves it, however. With her 41, she usually can get groups well under an inch at 10 yards, offhand, firing the Game Shok. Nothing else comes close for her.

My favorite 22 ammo is Winchester Power Points. It is the most accurate high veloctiy ammo I have used. I have shot some 1/2" groups with it out of my Remington 40X at 100 yards. Not all the time but enough to know it is better than other stuff. It gives me the smallest groups out of all my 22 handguns, including my 617 and 17. Some ammo is better in some guns but as a all around ammo I use Power Points.

John

Another vote for CCI mini mags. I've had nothing but success with them since I started using CCI.

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- The Federalist #46 -

I like the CCI Standard myself, I get good groups with it and very few FTF.

I shoot my 617 A LOT in competition and have settled on Federal bulk packed 36 gr. JHPs. The failure to fire rate is minimal. I haven't found any .22 guns or ammo that never misfires...it's just the nature of mass-produced rimfire ammo. Another reason I prefer the Federal 36s is it has a minimum of grease/wax on it. If you shoot a revo a lot, the gunk will build up rapidly in the chambers and cause sticky extraction. CCI Mini-Mags are especially prone to this problem in 617s.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

That is the very reason I prefer the Cyclones. They are without a doubt, the cleanest bullet I have ever seen mounted in a .22 case. They almost look like black chrome, at least all of the ones I have had.

what I intend to do is do some 25yd group testing to see what is what. Will post results after this f n snow clears.

I have pretty good reliability with most of the bulk box brands. There do appear to be more occasional duds, but if you rechamber them so the pin hits a different location they often will fire on the second try. A few don't.
One of the cheap bulk .22s that I do not like are Rem Thunderbolts. They have very little or no lube and tend to lead up most guns badly.

The comparative cost of a few misfires in bulk ammo vs. rarity in decent quality ammo makes it not so irritating if you are just using it for informal range shooting or plinking. For consistently reliable ammo, CCI Mini-Mags are usually a good choice, as many other folks report. But since 22s are notoriously finicky about which ammo they prefer, they may not always be the most accurate.

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" I said, good DAY! "

For me the best 22 LR ammo is CCI Blazers (the cheap stuff). It works great in 17, 617, [2] M-41s, Kimber 1911 22 LR top end, [2] Ruger Mk IIs, 10-22 Custom, Kimber M82 gov model. I did have 1 brick out of a new full case that had ~15% misfires, again just 1 brick. I'm on my third case and very satisfied.

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S&WHF 366

I might have a new take on this delema for you. A friend of mine has a 617 and was having the same kind of problem. Forgive me if you've already addressed this, but he was finding that he was simply inserting the rounds in the chambers and not fully seating them. He's found that if he does another once around the cylinder and making sure each round is solidly seated he's all but eliminated his ftf's.
He figures that when the firing pin hits the rim, if the round isn't seated all the way there's just enough "give" as it seats from the impact of the firing pin that he was getting light strikes.
Again, don't mean to offend with something so elementary - just thought I'd throw it out there.

I would recommend CCI Mini Mags.

However, in my opinion the 617 does not have a strong enough mainspring even with the mainspring screw turned all the way in. I purchased a 617 about a year ago and had the same problems. FTF's in double action about 10% of the time. So I removed the mainspring screw and replaced it with a hex-head set screw that is a little bit longer. It allows more tension on the mainspring. I also replaced the mainspring with a Wolff standard power power-rib mainspring which seems to smooth out the trigger pull. Lastly, I installed a wide, smooth trigger to lessen the felt trigger pull. Since these modifications, I have not had any FTF's other than the odd dud round regardless of the brand of ammo. I would estimate maybe 1 FTF every 500 to 1000 rounds. But no more light hits. The trigger pull is on the heavier side but is extremely smooth. But the gun is 100% reliable

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"I'm just a dog chasing cars."

If you are shooting off bags and measuring tenths of an inch, try Lapua Midas L.

If you are shooting offhand, try the five or six brands the guys recommended above (especially the Mini Mags and Wolf Match Target) and see which one or two your 617 likes best.

Print and save Dick Burg's post.

Whatever you do, don't try the el-cheapo Fed 36gr HP 550/<$16 bulk at WallyWorld - especially if you live/shop in C.A. (Central Alabama). Yeah, it's pure garbage... won't work in a 617 at all... yeah, that's the ticket. Try the CCI Green Tag - MiniMags - even the imported Eley Match-this-for-expensive stuff. Don't let a 617 develop a beer palate - raise it on champagne - and the good stuff, rebubbled naturally. No screw caps! My delicate palate - beer - is showing.

Seriously, if you want to shoot a lot, go cheapie Feds from WallyWorld. I have had one dud in thousands shot. Sure, when shot from my CZ rifles, I will have an odd flier - one in twenty to one in fifty. At my age, it's something else convenient to blame my decreasing bullseye abilities on. If you get more ftf's than one a bulk box, check that strain screw - and hammer spring. If it's a Wolff 'Power Rib', no matter the strength, newer strain screws - or ground at an angle older screws - can intrude into that 'rib' - and lessen the pre-load, causing light hits. The answer is an 'adjustable' strain screw - a SS hardened .5" one with an Allen head, available for 2/<$1 at Home Depot. Find the minimum pre-set for reliable firing and turn it in (CW) another 1/4 - 1/2 a turn. A dot of blue Loctite, allowed to harden overnite, will set it in place. You have to repeat this when you take the lockwork apart. It works... and permits a beer diet.

I cannot tell a difference between the el-cheapo's and match ammo - at my 12-25yd plinking. My 100yd rifle experience did permit the odd flier of the el-cheapo's to be referenced as an excuse for my 'marksmanship'... not possible with match ammo.

Good luck!

Stainz

PS Recall I have HiViz fo front sights on my 63's & 617... not a bullseye kind of shooter.