Which brands/lines of 22lr do you avoid buying?

CanuckShooter

CanuckShooter

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Seems like most rimfire shooters have a brand or two of 22lr that they avoid like the plague due to it being "junk'. What brand and which specific line (ie. Winchester 555, Remington Thunderbolt) do you avoid and why? Frequent misfires? Leaves your gun filthy? Poor accuracy? Won't consistently cycle the action on your semi?

Hoping to hear some more recent experiences, say in the last ten years or so.

Thanks!
 
The winchester M22 stuff definitely had a bad batch or 2.The bullets get stuck in the rifling and either cause extraction issues or doesn't allow the bolt to close properly.Also has a good number of duds
 
Remington thunderbolt. Dirtier than goose poop, and more bad primers than any brand I've tried. Soft lead noses mash on feeding in semis, and mediocre accuracy. Also, they taste terrible, and the box has poor artwork.
 
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I avoid ALL Remington and Winchester- many duds, and leaves the rifle filthy. At that price level federal is much better in my experience, and cleaner to shoot. CCI is the next step up, then SK, Eley, and Lapua at the top. Just my experience across my 3 .22lr's!
 
Remington thunderbolts, filthy and in my rifle, like lightning it rarely struck the same place twice. I always had good luck with Winchester wildcat, CCI and of course Eley.
 
My 10/22 has been fed Thunderbolt, Blazer, American Eagle, CCI MiniMags(RN & HP) and Federal HV Target without an issue.
The CCI Standard velocity has too much lubricant and had problems ejecting and entering the chamber completely.
The CCI MiniMags RN are good to about 2" at 100 yards but the HP rounds are three times that.
The CZ455's (American and Varmint) shoot CCI MiniMags RN very accurately but HP's are poor.
In the Anschutz 1416 HB only Match grade ammo is being used but it will better an inch at 100 yards.
Never tried the Winchester 222, 333 nor 555 (Same siht) nor the Remington Golden bullets.

All rifles will show a preference so if you can get by with standard velocity or require high velocity then buy 50 or 100 of the readily available varieties and test each brand individually. Clean and start afresh with every brand. You will be looking for accuracy and functionality of all.
 
5440fight said:
Also, they taste terrible, and the box has poor artwork.
Click to expand...

ha:


For me it's pretty much just Winchester. Specifically their Wildcats and 555 bulk. Wildcats leaded one of my barrels up like nothing I've seen after only 50 rounds, and 555 I've had ejection issues with in more than one of my bolt actions. I think I may have gone through one 50rd box of the infamous Thunderbolts way back when, but the experience doesn't stand out in my memory as anything overly negative.

For loose bulk as well as mid priced boxed ammo, I've had good luck with Federal, CCI, and Aguila so far. Seems to echo the majority of the experiences I've read. I'll likely shoot the rest of my Winchester bulk, and stick to CCI and Federal, since Canadian Tire bumped up the price of their Aguila.


Just in case anyone else is considering trying Wildcats, it appears that my experience with them was not unique...

ht tp://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505090&page=2
 
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Sellier and Bellot SV . I own half a dozen .22lrs and this stuff sprays shotgun patterns out of every one. Gave a few boxes away to buddies to try. None have come back to get more.
 
I stay away from anything Winchester! I have had good luck with Federal auto match and blue box 525 for semi auto pistol and rifles. Federal champion seems to work well. Of course the better (SK etc) stuff is great and is saved for real shooting not clays on the berm at the range which the aforementioned are great at and at a reasonable cost.
I find that cost is not always the indicator of quality that one would expect. I love sales and stock up and that makes a difference🤗
 
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