Problems - possible bad ammo?

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MattO.

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Hey all,

Just got back from the range and had a pretty bad time. I went to go get my new PA M4 sight dialed in and a had a fresh box of Federal Bulk to use. Well to say the least had a bunch of different problems.

First, i've put several thousand rounds through my 15-22 and pretty much only use Federal bulk and never had any problems with them. My Rifle has gone back to S&W after I first bought it. Blown extractor.. but that was 6 months ago.

SO I put about 350 rounds through my rifle today and many of the rounds barely fired... i mean they were very soft sounding and a couple i actually heard BOUNCE off the paper target... a few of them would fire but i didnt even hear the bang.. those were the bouncers.... some even failed to fire at all. I checked the casings and all the rounds seemed to have good strike marks on them. Some of the soft fires would actually jam the rounds that were right after them. Some would not extract and my rifle double fired a few times and a couple of times the bolt failed to stay open after the last round was fired. So basicly problem after problem. Out of the 350 rounds i fired, maybe 3 magazines did not have any problems.

Since i got my rifle back from S&W i havent had a single problem 3k-4k rounds.... now today I get a bunch of them. Could this just be a bad batch of federal bulk?

My rifle also never double fired.... would bad ammo even casue this? I know how illegal it is for this to happen but im really just hoping this might be bad ammo... I would hate having to send my rifle back to S&W again. 2 times back would really make me lose a little faith in this rifle.

What are your thoughts?
 
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If you ever have ammo issues like that again STOP. It sounds like the rounds had too little or contaminated powder.

The risk for a squib is high, especially when Federal has a history of taking back and replacing bad ammo (meaning why take that risk).

If your primers had good hits it's the ammo. Unless a lot of rounds were fired OOB or you have a hole in the barrel.
 
Good to know now. So it sounds like it was the ammo then. Never had a bad box of bulk until now. Bad ammo can cuase the rifle to double fire too?
 
A double fire could be from something as simple as a weaker charge not getting the bolt back far enough for the hammer to catch on the disconnect hook, but still far enough to extract and chamber a round.
 
Just curious MattO, when was the last time the bolt and chamber area were cleaned reall good to remove all the powder residue? Hundreds or thousands of rounds ago?
 
It was cleaned after my last outing. The bolt area area was spotless before the trip... After i broke the gun down lastnight to clean it again... it was a mess... WAY messier then when i put 1k+ rounds though it. So i think it was defenatly a case of bad ammuntion.
 
MattO. said:
It was cleaned after my last outing. The bolt area area was spotless before the trip... After i broke the gun down lastnight to clean it again... it was a mess... WAY messier then when i put 1k+ rounds though it. So i think it was defenatly a case of bad ammuntion.
Click to expand...

Probably a lot of unburnt powder.
 
I'd run one box of CCI Minimags through it and see how it performs. Sure, it's a lot more expensive than the Federal bulk (which I shoot myself), but it's top tier ammunition that you can trust, and a good way to identify or eliminate a possible mechanical problem with your rifle..
 
^ Just got back from Walmart as a matter of fact lol. Picked up a Winchester 555 and another federal bulk 550 and 2 100 packs of minimags. Probably wont be heading to the range again until the 20th but i'll update then.
 
UPDATE:

Went to the range on Tuesday and shot the whole 555 Winchester pack with out a single hiccup. That confirms that federal bulk box i have is bad for sure.

So should i just contact federal? I can't be the only one that has had problems with this paticular batch. I wouldnt mind getting the ammo replaced if they offer that.
 
All it takes is a phone call to find out. I'm sure they'd appreciate the info at the very least. Just make sure you still have the box that has the lot numbers printed on it.
 
I'm not ragging on Federal, just letting you know of my experience with it on one occasion, which was plenty.

I was going on a south Texas deer hunt a few years ago and went to the local Academy to get another box of bullets for my 25.06. At that time, for this particular rifle, I exclusively used Federal Premium 117gr. I went to the range the evening before leaving and was glad I did. I had an old box with about 10 rounds in it but decided for some unknown reason to try a couple of shots from the new box. I was at the 100 yard range and where I was sighted in at 2" high at 100 yards, my first shot was 5 inches low. I figured I must have flinched or something. I shot another round and it was right next to the first shot! I got a round from the the older box I had and it was 2" high on the money. I shot another one and the same thing. I couldn't believe this so another round from the new box and once again, 5" low. Needless to say, I left the new box at home for that trip. I am glad I did!

I shot a 10 point with a 21 1/2" spread. The biggest deer taken that year.

For that caliber, I have since switched to Remington 100 gr. Core-Lock. This round has been very consistent through the years but still check from one box to another since I don't ever want to experience this again.
 
It seems I have just the opposite. I have run nothing but federal bulk and cci mini mags through mine until today when I tried Winchester 555. It seemed every 5 rounds or sometimes even every 2 I would get some type of FTE. I thought maybe its the ejector but after having so many problems I ran 100 rounds of cci mini mags through without a problem. No more winchester for me.
 
I think it's just one of those things. I've mostly only shot federal bulk through my rifle with an occasional 333 or 555 pack here and there. I just shot a fresh box of federal bulk through my gun today and didnt have a single hiccup. It's just that paticular batch i had that was a problem. I'm sure it can and will happen with any 22 bulk ammo from any manufacture. I never had any problems with the winchester super x ammo. Only federal so far and i'll still continue to shoot federal too. I really cant complain when you get 550 rounds for 18.49 lol. 1 box out of probably 15 isnt bad imho.
 
Yea I guess. Just very frustrating when you put about 1000 rounds through flawlessly and then try and different brand and it fails every 5 shots. Makes ya nervous that it might be the gun and not the ammo. Today my shells were just not ejecting. They were not being grabbed out of the chamber. I'm hoping it's just the ammo.
 
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