Federal "Target Grade Performance" .22 ammo

[Greybeard]

I picked up a box of the "upscale" looking 325-round bulk pack at Wally World yesterday, thinking it might be a less expensive substitute for the CCI 100-rounders normally used when interested in reliability and the tighest groups from my (very old) Marlin carbine. In addition to "Target Grade Performance", on the Federal box it also says "Ideal for Semiautomatics".

That all sounded good until I benched and bagged the stuff in a side-by-side comparison with the CCI 40 grain copper plated bullets ($6.47 per hundred). Shot two 10-round magazines of each type on target at 50' (max distance in our range). All 20 rounds of the CCI functioned flawlessly into two 10-shot groups that could be covered with a dime.

The Federal ammo (about $15 for the box) had a failure to eject with the first magazine and a misfire in the second magazine. (Even hit it twice, so a definite quality control problem with primer.) One group was just over 1 1/4", the other just under 1 1/4". So, hey, maybe the consistency there is how they justify the claim of "Target Grade Performance".

To give the Federal ammo another fair try, I shot another 10 round string out of another semiauto (old Stevens) with a longer barrel, thinking the Federal ammo might just not like the Marlin micro-grove rifling. Nupe, results were similar. Could cover the CCI group with a nickel. But would have to scounge up a silver dollar to cover the Federal group at 50'.

Anybuddy have any better luck than that with the stuff?

[Ziran]

The only federal ammo that works in my Advantage Arms .22 kit for glock is the Federal Game Shock. Federal champion, AE and WW 550 packs all suck.

http://www.ammoman.com/images3/22LRSC40GR-3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But gameshock is expensive (~8c/round) so you might as well get mini mags which do a little better and can be had cheaper.

[Oldgringo]

I shoot, by necessity, the cheapest .22 LR I can find. FWIW, my .22's seem to all prefer Win HV at about $16/brick at "you- know-where". The Federal bulk just doesn't seem to do as well. Sadly, at about a $1.00 more/brick, the Federal seems to be more available.

[Greybeard]

Quote: "I shoot, by necessity, the cheapest .22 LR I can find."

Ya, lotsa times we do to. But, getting geared up for a little clinic next month where the cheap stuff just won't cut it. Gotta be able to hit a target not much bigger than a postage stamp at 25 meters.

Ziran, thanks for the link. That Gameshock is one of the few that I have not tried. Might look for some next trip to you-know-where.

[Abraham]

In my Browning Buckmark camper semi-auto pistol, I've used the 550 round value pack Federal .22LR 36 grain H.P. High velocity copper plated rounds from Walmart and find them excellent feeding (accuracy fair...) until I get around to the 125th or so round when they start on and off failure to feed properly. I attribute this to fouling build up from powder residue. At least, that's my guess.

That said, I've also used Federal American Eagle .22LR 38 grain H.P. High velocity copper plated with the same result.

I've also used Winchester and Remington solids with horrible failure to feed and many misfires. However, these rounds were +15 years old, so maybe that was the problem, but they were stored properly as to heat and humidity so...? Plus, the solids look to be ever so slightly longer than the hollow points and perhaps this also plays into the on again off again failure to feed.

[NcongruNt]

I used to buy just whatever was "cheap". Then came Remington Golden Bullet. At its cheap prices, I started going through more ammo, and not because I was getting any more shots off. I experienced something like 15% failure to fire through my Marlin 60. The primers simply didn't go off. At first I thought this was maybe something to do with light strikes, except the phenomenon didn't carry over to the other ammo I had, such as Federal Blue Box (also bulk). Repeated strike attempts proved futile, and I ended up with duds with two pronounced strikes on them.

To make sure it wasn't the gun, I ran the stuff through my Walther P22 which is in no way picky about ammo and makes very nice and sharp strikes on the primers. Same deal, 15% failure rate, repeated strikes did nothing. I don't like paying a lot for ammo just like anyone else, but RGB is on my "never buy again" list. Even if it's all that's available, I opt to leave the store empty-handed.

I've had very good experience with Winchester's relatively new "555" and "333" bulk boxes, and i've found it to be quite reliable, particularly for cheap bulk stuff. It's the mainstay of my .22LR stock now. I've also had very good luck with CCI's "Standard Velocity" (subsonic) stuff that comes in a dark blue box with a small target graphic printed on it. I bought a brick of the stuff at Dick's and have had no failures to fire, and it seems pretty consistent. I gave the brick as a gift to my 12-year old cousin along with a box of 555 and a Mossberg 802 as her first rifle, and we had nothing but happy range time with the stuff.