Why does one cartridge work and not the other?

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unclearthur

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I don't understand why some types of ammo will cycle my Buckmark but similar ammo will not ?

I have a new Browning Buckmark .22 semi-auto and have been experimenting with different types of ammo. Results:

CCI Std Velocity (40 g, 1070 fps and 102 ft-lb at the muzzle) - flawless

CCI Minimag (36 g, 1260 fps, 127 ft-lb) - flawless

Federated / American Eagle (38 g, 1260 fps, 134 ft-lb) - often (25% of time) does not cycle properly and causes failure to eject, occasional failure to feed.

Remington Thunderbolt - cycled fine, (but lots of failure to fire)

Lots of rounds shot, behavior is very consistent.

I thought the ability to cycle the gun would be directly related to the energy which is released. But the American Eagle has similar muzzle energy as the MiniMag and much higher than the Std Velocity CCI rounds, and it doesn't cycle the action while they do?

Why ? I don't get it.
 
Good question. I thought about that too. Firstly - Remington Thunderbolts have notoriously inert primers, some rifles simply do not have hammer spring stiff enough.

Failure to feed sometimes maybe an attribute of a bullet shape because rimfire does not have smooth feeding ramp like centrefire. Hollow-pointed bullets or blunt-nosed ones may be missing the hole and get stuck.

Case sizing - although they are all same caliber but I understand cases made by different manufacturers vary a little.

Poweders different too - fast burning vs slower burning may cycle rimfire differently ( I am just guessing).

Bullet weights - heavier bullets with the same muzzle energy will exit muzzle a bit later, sometimes after case has already all the way out of chamber causing problems cycling.

Thats what I think, I am sure there is more to it.
 
it might be the rim of the cartridge. i think perhaps lapua super club rims are thicker than others because i had a bleep of a time trying to work the bolt to extract them, which leads me to believe that the rim is abit thicker(they looked thicker to me upon inspection)and so takes more energy to get them clinched in the extractor.
 
It usually has a lot to do with the shape of the chamber also. My new 10/22 with a Skeeter TPH barrel hates Winchester Wildcats but my other 10/22 just gobbles them up without a burp. Totally different chambers. Also each brand has a different bullet shape and OA cartridge length.
Kim
 
I don't think I've heard many positive reports that deal with Remington ammo. CCI always seems to do well for everyone. It's clean burning too.
 
c'mon Remington is good because it is cheap. If I am practicing point shooting or other drills with my 22 pistol I need cheapest ammo that will fire, and Remington is exactly that. It is garbage yes but its dirt cheap.
 
Seriously, is it cheaper than American Eagle? And if you're getting a lot of FTF's, as many report, how cheap is it really?
 
Like I said the problem with Remington seems to be primers. It will go off reliably in some firearms, like my Walther P22. If it doesn't work in yours than it can't be cheap enough to justify buying it. What I am trying to say Remington thunderbolts for example have their niche on a market. No sence buying Eleys for certain type of shooting.
 
22lr said:
c'mon Remington is good because it is cheap. If I am practicing point shooting or other drills with my 22 pistol I need cheapest ammo that will fire, and Remington is exactly that. It is garbage yes but its dirt cheap.
Click to expand...

If you are practicing and there is a couple bucks per 500 rounds difference, why buy the garbage?
 
yes I would rather buy something better but sometimes I just grab whatever is on the shelf in a store. Do not forget - point shooting drills its when you shoot using no sights instictievely. Doesn't matter if ammo is accurate as long as it goes bang every time and cycle flawlessly. Thunderbolts have nicely shaped bullets that may feed better in some problematic firearms. They aparently have a hair smaller cases too, so they blow back much more reliably. Federal bulk ammo can be worse garbage by the way, although it is just as cheap as Remington.
 
The only ammo my 22lrs consistantly liked was the CCI stuff. 10/22, bolts etc. Never a FTF or stuck case. The other stuff, well... So I just buy CCI.
 
HAVEan old STEVENS/SAVAGE 87-D. can load 23rounds of AMERICAN EAGLE and shoot ALL without any problems. also the most accurate in this old PLINKER. Have a marlintarget rifle from the '40s. it also likes the american eagles. shoots them as accurately as Winchester T-22s. they may be cheep,but they work (4 ME). POPS
 
unclearthur said:
I don't understand why some types of ammo will cycle my Buckmark but similar ammo will not ?

Let's take a look; you seem to have diagnosed the problem correctly enough. Failure to cycle is a perhaps one of the more frustrating rimfire issues that exist. I know; it plagues my Henry Ar-7! ;)

I have a new Browning Buckmark .22 semi-auto and have been experimenting with different types of ammo. Results:

CCI Std Velocity (40 g, 1070 fps and 102 ft-lb at the muzzle) - flawless

CCI Minimag (36 g, 1260 fps, 127 ft-lb) - flawless

Not too surprising. CCI is good stuff, very reliable ignition, excellent feeding. All that said, however, the standard velocity is likely to be a good performer because it is round-nosed, 40 grains. Don't ask me why it happens, but I've seen round-nose 40-grain .22 LR cycle semi's when higher velocity .22 HP's have not. Oh, and the Minimags? Even as HP's, they often seem to do the job on most semi's [70% success rate with my AR-7].

Federated / American Eagle (38 g, 1260 fps, 134 ft-lb) - often (25% of time) does not cycle properly and causes failure to eject, occasional failure to feed.

I feel your pain. Even with 40-grain solids, the American Eagle doesn't cycle my AR-7 well. Seeing as how your issue is with the 38-grain, maybe it's an HP thing?

Remington Thunderbolt - cycled fine, (but lots of failure to fire)

Probably cycled becuase it's a good solid, but the ignition is no CCI...;) The Rem Thunderbolts are often ammo-of-choice on the older (non-Henry) AR-7's, too.

Lots of rounds shot, behavior is very consistent.

Yep, to be expected.

I thought the ability to cycle the gun would be directly related to the energy which is released.

Reasonable thought.

But the American Eagle has similar muzzle energy as the MiniMag

Yes, but there really is no comparison between the CCI Minimag and the American Eagle. Not to sound like a shill for CCI; I've similarly found that the Federal Champion bulk-pack (whose FPS is very similar to if not higher than the Minimags) do not cycle semi's as well as the Minimag HP's.

and much higher than the Std Velocity CCI rounds, and it doesn't cycle the action while they do?

Could be another HP versus solids thing.

Why ? I don't get it.
Click to expand...

I hope my ramblings shed some light? ;)
 
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I tried some different ammo over the weekend that I had Never before used in my Lakefield 64b. Tried Federal, had a lot of issues with improper cycling. Tried American Eagle. Not quite as bad, but was still not impressed.
I had always used Remington cyclones in the past. Never had much issue with them. Only when the action started to get to dirty. Once I shoot off the brick of A.E. I bought, I'm going back to what worked. The Remington Cylones.
 
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