Bulk packs of CCI 22 questions

Alex_Zues

Alex_Zues

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Sasquatchewan, the flat part
Was shooting at the range today just for fun, and I tried out some CCI Blazers from one of those 525 bulk packs. I shoot a regular Remington 597 with no extra fixings, and normally shoot the Mini-Mag packages of 100. Using Mini-Mags I get fairly good accuracy (I don't claim to achieve MOA), so I figured I'd try the Blazer. Of 20 rounds tested, 3 stovepipes, and the accuracy wasn't nearly as good as the Mini-Mags. The grouping seemed to be all over the place. Can anyone explain why?
Same weight, same fps listed, only big difference is the lead vs copper plating. But I did feel like the Blazers were coated in... something. The brass itself didn't feel the same as the Mini-Mag.

Reading other posts here, I've seen mentioned that CCI Blazers vary in quality, depending on bulk pack or not. Is there truth to this?

What do I need to know about 22 bulk?

Thanks for any wizdom, Al
 
I haven't done any careful tests, but I have also found that Mini-Mags are more accurate and reliable than Blazers. Blazers seem to leave more lead in the barrel.

I don't really have a good explanation for why. I just assumed that you get what you pay for.
 
In my experience I find the "bulk CCI" blazers to work alright in my sr-22, but if you buy a brick "10 boxes of 50" blazers you get better accuracy. I've always considered bulk packs as factory seconds. The coating is wax, which gums up semi's and there hollow point which aren't ideal for semi's. When your paying $8-100rnds vs $25-525rnds you can guess which are better quality.

Every once in awhile when the candy shop is out of bricks of blazers I'll buy the bulk pack. In the bulk pack I always get the odd bullet that sounds off, like it didn't have the same amount of gun powder in it, but never have that problem with bricks which is my reasoning behind thinking bulk ammo is factory seconds. The 597's can be a little pickier, but my sr seems to cycle good no matter what I feed it.

ET
 
I don't have any Blazer ammo but I've seen a comparison somewhere and the bulk pack ammo had slightly different looking bullets than the brick version. The brick or individual box type had almost perfectly smooth shoulders on the bullet, while the bulk bullets had rings or ridges on the shoulders. Which type are you guys finding?
 
Yea the bulk packs are coated in a wax, I am not sure why maybe a CGNer can explain but I found the 500 pack to shoot better and cleaner than the 525 packs.

I found the wax didn't gum up my 597 but caused some extraction problems with my friends Savage Mark II.
 
I'll have to try out this 500 vs 525 theory and take a good look at the difference in the details. Glad I'm not the only one who's noticed the waxiness. I suppose I'll have to stick with Mini-Mags in my semi, and keep the cheaper bulk for my bolt action. Way harder to stovepipe when I'm the one controlling extraction.

I suppose you get what you pay for is correct.
Cheers, Al
 
Okay guys, here is the thread I think I saw:

http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?63247-Blazer-.22-LR-RN-Loose-Bulk-vs.-50rd-Boxes

If you read through it carefully it seems that CCI had switched over production for the Blazer to Federal for a time but at the top of the copied post (2009) it also mentions that they got complaints and have switched back since. I don't think the type of packaging itself necessarily matters, but when it was made? Also ran into a 2012 thread about this mentioning lot numbering formats, but it didn't prove useful. Could there still be older ammo in circulation, or do they keep switching production whenever they feel like it?

Federal made: white grid trays, grooved bullets, lighter colour
CCI made: clear plastic round trays (like other CCI products), smooth shouldered bullets, darker colour

I think the purpose of the thread was to warn people about the different type of stock they might encounter, but then again it appears those guys were also concerned with belt-fed de-linking....

I also ran into another thread where some people preferred the grooved Federal made stuff... but then there was some dissent and it almost seems like it varies from lot to lot. :confused: For those of you with favourite flavours of Blazer, which type are you currently liking?
 
I would say this; In the bulk box versus the individual box, I find this - Up where I live, things get handled a LOT more then they might down south just to get here, so when 500+ rounds of lead are banging and grinding into each other, I have noted the heads show some slight deformations and damage. Whereas, the rounds stored in the individual type racks show virtually zero signs of damage. For general plinking, the bulk packs work fine, but if one is going for crazy accuracy, it would make sense to me to buy the individually racked rounds.
 
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