gunrunner100
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- NW Ontario
Anything marked "Winchester" is something to avoid.
Reliable 22LR ammo
- Thread starter ddtank
- Start date
Was gonna say. The 333 and 555 packs are probably the WORST 22 I've ever seen. Every bullet is floppy in the case, most are mangled. Just garbage overall. The Federal bulk (525) packs are better, but still suck.
I’ve found myself to be a federal and Norma fanboy when it comes to factory ammo. I also agree to stay away from Winchester or Remington
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333 555 winchester was my favorite ~10 years ago, was the absolute cheapest, not cheap anymore.
Remington target WAS good until they started making it in Mexico. Then it was 3 misfires per box of 50. No issues with any of the Eley stuff for the past 20 years and the recent Norma is a good bang for the buck, pardon the pun. CCI standard velocity was a very pleasant surprise, even outperformed CCI Greentag in quite a few of my rifles, shocking !! We drag out CCI standard velocity by the case loads to Saskatchewan for gophers because it’s reasonably priced and extremely accurate.
Love the Lapua brand !!!! Have lots of SK but not as impressed with it as some other shooters are on this forum. Still think RWS-50 and Eley is the gold standard for serious competition but too pricey for pest shooting in a high volume scenario.
And back to the misfires…every club has these containers to put the misfires in, and every club has these guys that dig through those looking for .22LR duds. You know who you are(lol) and then you put them into a rifle or pistol, rotate the rim for a fresh spot for the firing pin to hit and then pull the trigger, several times… if the round goes off you turn around with a sense of accomplishment and a sh’t eating grin.
Naturally I’ve never done it but some of my friends have. Luv ya !! Cheers
Love the Lapua brand !!!! Have lots of SK but not as impressed with it as some other shooters are on this forum. Still think RWS-50 and Eley is the gold standard for serious competition but too pricey for pest shooting in a high volume scenario.
And back to the misfires…every club has these containers to put the misfires in, and every club has these guys that dig through those looking for .22LR duds. You know who you are(lol) and then you put them into a rifle or pistol, rotate the rim for a fresh spot for the firing pin to hit and then pull the trigger, several times… if the round goes off you turn around with a sense of accomplishment and a sh’t eating grin.
Naturally I’ve never done it but some of my friends have. Luv ya !! Cheers
- Location
- Alberta, North America
Mini Mags + Stingers for semi autos been good for me.
That #### never ran good in my Savage Mk II, so I never bought it again. Hands down the least reliable ammo I've ever used though.
Mini-mags are good, but they're not all that cheap these days.
I've been buying the Federal AutoMatch lately to feed my semi autos when it goes on sale, 325rds for ~$30 is a pretty good price IMO.
I also liked Remington Golden Bullets. I haven't tried the new stuff since they went through bankruptcy, but it was reliable and accurate enough in my guns. Thunderbolts are trash though.
For my bolt actions, I mostly use CCI SV, with a bit of Eley club and a few others mixed in.
Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
I’ve never had any issue with Federal or CCI. I have had trouble with Winchester, Remington and Blazer. Euro stuff tends to be pretty good as well.
You’re gunna sh!t when you find out who makes blazer
Always had good luck with CCI Mini Mag, with better results on the 40gr CPRN than the 36gr CPHP.
Federal Champion Bulk 525's always cycled well in my semis. I'm still using a few boxes from 5+ years ago, had my first dud a month ago after 5k of the stuff, but I hear the newer productions are not quite as reliable.
When prices for both are close enough, no question that the CCI wins as they group far tighter than bulk Federal.
Note: CCI lightly coats their Mini Mag with some wax and it eventually started giving failures to extract every few other mag after putting 300-500 rounds through in one sitting or two. Back to normal after cleaning the pistol. No something I had experienced with the Federal 525 pack.
And for the love of God, stay away from the Winchester stuff!!! You could not pay me enough to go through an additional box of 555. Jams half the time when it does fire. Re-strikes would occasionally work, but got rid of a dud I struck 10 times and never found priming compound around the rim. Out of two boxes of 555, I think my best streak was 15 shots without failures, including a full 10 rounds from a single mag. Average was failure to fire every 4-5 rounds.
Federal Champion Bulk 525's always cycled well in my semis. I'm still using a few boxes from 5+ years ago, had my first dud a month ago after 5k of the stuff, but I hear the newer productions are not quite as reliable.
When prices for both are close enough, no question that the CCI wins as they group far tighter than bulk Federal.
Note: CCI lightly coats their Mini Mag with some wax and it eventually started giving failures to extract every few other mag after putting 300-500 rounds through in one sitting or two. Back to normal after cleaning the pistol. No something I had experienced with the Federal 525 pack.
And for the love of God, stay away from the Winchester stuff!!! You could not pay me enough to go through an additional box of 555. Jams half the time when it does fire. Re-strikes would occasionally work, but got rid of a dud I struck 10 times and never found priming compound around the rim. Out of two boxes of 555, I think my best streak was 15 shots without failures, including a full 10 rounds from a single mag. Average was failure to fire every 4-5 rounds.
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Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
I know CCI makes it, but I’ve had nothing but trouble. Maybe my lot should have or was recalled, but I had blown and split cases, and other issues.
OP, 22rf rifles and ammo can be very fussy when combined, depending on all sorts of factors.
I'm down to a couple of 22rf rifles now, not including the 22wrf and 22wrfm. Both of the 22LR chambered rifles will reliably chamber and ignite every brand of ammo I've put through them, including a brick of CIL LR Whiz Bangs, which was at least 60 years old.
With these two rifles, if there is an FTF, I feel confident it's the ammo, not the rifle.
This is a big issue for many folks.
22rf rifles, just like their center fire counterparts are built for specific venues of shooting and the ammo should match the venues the rifles are designed for.
If you've got a rifle designed for match shooting or even long-range gopher shooting, then you need to find the brand of ammunition your rifle prefers for accuracy, which will usually be the most reliable with ignition.
You have to have consistent ignition qualities, combined with propellant and good bullets in a rim fire rifle, just like you do with a centerfire rifle, to get good accuracy.
Very accurate rim fire rifles, depending on their design, will have all sorts of variables which will have an effect on how reliable your chosen ammunition is in that rifle.
I'm going to ignore the trigger right now and the recoil/return springs on semi auto rifles, but hammer and striker springs can make a huge difference on the way rimfire ammunition will reliably ignite.
The manufacturers have to find a way to keep costs as low as possible, so the materials used to make the cases will change as will the thickness of the materials. Some manufacturers use brass, mild steel, or aluminum and the hardness of these materials differs a lot, not to mention the blends of the metals.
Then, there is the condition of the striker springs themselves in any given rifle. Springs do deteriorate with repeated use over time.
Many old Marlin, Cooey, Winchester, Remington bolt action 22rf rifles, to name a few, have all sorts of ignition issues, no matter how good the ammo is. The striker springs need replacing or the bolt, which is usually the recoil lug, will have wear and the seat it rests on will be worn, which doesn't allow the firing pin to travel far enough to ignite the priming compound reliably.
The list goes on and on as to why 22rf rifles/ammo conflict with each other.
I was just looking at a Ruger 10/22 which was having issues with failures to fire and hang fires with several brands of ammo it had previously worked very well with.
This rifle had been worked hard and put away wet with close to 100,000 rounds down the tube, which was also worn. The aluminum receiver had zero finish left, and the internals were all sloppy, but, the only reason it was having issues with FTF was the hammer spring had become weak.
OP, if you're financially constrained or it just goes against your grain to purchase the specific ammo your rifle prefers, then you may run into issues which just about any brand of ammo you purchase at the sale prices given by the LGS or Big Box store.
Especially if you have a rifle that's not built to handle this type of ammo.
I'm not a great fan of the Ruger 10/22 rf design, but I will admit, the standard grade, off the shelf Ruger 10/22 will reliably feed and digest just about any brand of 22lr rf offered in Canada.
I've seen those rifles shoot ammo without a hiccup, all covered in verdigris and lint, as well as shooting acceptably close to point of aim, more often than I can count.
I'm down to a couple of 22rf rifles now, not including the 22wrf and 22wrfm. Both of the 22LR chambered rifles will reliably chamber and ignite every brand of ammo I've put through them, including a brick of CIL LR Whiz Bangs, which was at least 60 years old.
With these two rifles, if there is an FTF, I feel confident it's the ammo, not the rifle.
This is a big issue for many folks.
22rf rifles, just like their center fire counterparts are built for specific venues of shooting and the ammo should match the venues the rifles are designed for.
If you've got a rifle designed for match shooting or even long-range gopher shooting, then you need to find the brand of ammunition your rifle prefers for accuracy, which will usually be the most reliable with ignition.
You have to have consistent ignition qualities, combined with propellant and good bullets in a rim fire rifle, just like you do with a centerfire rifle, to get good accuracy.
Very accurate rim fire rifles, depending on their design, will have all sorts of variables which will have an effect on how reliable your chosen ammunition is in that rifle.
I'm going to ignore the trigger right now and the recoil/return springs on semi auto rifles, but hammer and striker springs can make a huge difference on the way rimfire ammunition will reliably ignite.
The manufacturers have to find a way to keep costs as low as possible, so the materials used to make the cases will change as will the thickness of the materials. Some manufacturers use brass, mild steel, or aluminum and the hardness of these materials differs a lot, not to mention the blends of the metals.
Then, there is the condition of the striker springs themselves in any given rifle. Springs do deteriorate with repeated use over time.
Many old Marlin, Cooey, Winchester, Remington bolt action 22rf rifles, to name a few, have all sorts of ignition issues, no matter how good the ammo is. The striker springs need replacing or the bolt, which is usually the recoil lug, will have wear and the seat it rests on will be worn, which doesn't allow the firing pin to travel far enough to ignite the priming compound reliably.
The list goes on and on as to why 22rf rifles/ammo conflict with each other.
I was just looking at a Ruger 10/22 which was having issues with failures to fire and hang fires with several brands of ammo it had previously worked very well with.
This rifle had been worked hard and put away wet with close to 100,000 rounds down the tube, which was also worn. The aluminum receiver had zero finish left, and the internals were all sloppy, but, the only reason it was having issues with FTF was the hammer spring had become weak.
OP, if you're financially constrained or it just goes against your grain to purchase the specific ammo your rifle prefers, then you may run into issues which just about any brand of ammo you purchase at the sale prices given by the LGS or Big Box store.
Especially if you have a rifle that's not built to handle this type of ammo.
I'm not a great fan of the Ruger 10/22 rf design, but I will admit, the standard grade, off the shelf Ruger 10/22 will reliably feed and digest just about any brand of 22lr rf offered in Canada.
I've seen those rifles shoot ammo without a hiccup, all covered in verdigris and lint, as well as shooting acceptably close to point of aim, more often than I can count.
CCi standard and mini mags is what I have settled on. I was using RWS target in my CZ 452 then tried CCI standard groups were the same.
If you want to learn some new swear words pickup some Winchester Wildcat
If you want to learn some new swear words pickup some Winchester Wildcat
- Location
- Port Edward BC
My T1X and TC Contender shoot Blazers very accurately with American Eagle 40gr a close second. Have never had a a fail to fire from either of them.
