Cheap 22 ammo of choice?

[9.3X62AL]

Perhaps by now the problem has been solved. Anyone care to comment?

Quality control seems to have moved toward the "worse" side of things rather than the better, as far as bulk 22 LR ammo goes. Citing the example of the Winchester 290 self-loader rifle I spoke of earlier......in the late 60s through the 70s, just about any make of 22 LR ammo would run that little rifle very reliably. It has been shot quite a bit--probably 5K rounds--but it certainly isn't worn out. Nowadays, only steak & lobster ammo will run the thing--CCI Mini-Mags.

Mu conclusion, based on this limited info.......with 22 LR ammo, you DEFINITELY get what you pay for.

[felix]

Back in the mid 80's I got a call from a retailer I knew in Little Rock. He knew I liked match 22s, and he got a call from a wholesaler having to retrieve a bunch of Olin T22s sold to ROTC school teams. This recall was financed by Olin and my price was the cost of manufacture. They had to replace all the deliveries with ammo that did not have a shortage of priming compound. I got several cases which amounted to be the retail cost of normal LRs back in the 50s. That was something like 60 cents per box of 50. That stuff recalled was reportedly the most accurate in the Kimber 82s as well as in the Smith 41s, as well as the Win 52s, the destination guns for the ammo in the first place. When the ammo shoots, it does indeed shoot to spec. If it does not, shoot it again with a different rotation. Odds are that it will shoot the second time. It's all about ammo made on Friday being no different than cars made on the same day. Buyer beware, unless the price is in accordance. ... felix

[Marine Sgt 2111]

I have been using the Federal 38gr HP's and they function both semi auto pistol and rifles fine. For serious work I use modified wolf match made into HP's out of my 10-22 or 52B.

I had a terrible experience with winchester wildcat ammo. Over a chono up to 150fps difference shot to shot and one bullet was going so slow that it failed to go thru the 3/8 plywood backstop, bouced back and hit me in the chest. Glad I had my safety glasses on.

[LEADLUBBER]

Federal 510- Buy the bricks only, not bulk look alike box- $19-$22

Federal AUTOMATCH bulk pack of 325 only- $15

CCI Blazer Brick only, not bulk pack..... $21-$24 usually

CCI Standard Velocity, Brick only, not the 100 round packs- Dicks sporting goods has these for $25 a brick, Very good ammo usually for most guns

Wolf Match Target for $45-$50 a brick usually at the right price, usually very good....



So far, these all have excellent performance over time and several different lots of ammo

[REDTAIL]

Fed value pack brick of 36 gr. jhp for about $28.00 a brick of 500+ rounds work's great for me.

[MtGun44]

Nothing matches Win Powerpts for me. Another very good one is PMC Sidewinder.

Often it depends on the gun, but about 75% of my guns shoot Powerpts extremely well.

Bill

[doubs43]

I use Federal 510's and find that they will generally shoot well in most .22 rifles. Those I have were $13.90 a brick from Academy Sports. Now I think the price has gone up a few dollars a brick. I used them in the last NRA silhouette match I shot and scored 21. I rarely practice but that's still a class "AA" score in Hunter Rifle.

My "reserves" include a few thousand Wolf Match Target cartridges that I bought when they were first imported. A 500 round can cost $13.50!

[Char-Gar]

Twice a week, I shoot in a falling plate pistol match dedicated to 22 LR. We have a couple of dozen regular shooters. We have all gone to Federal ammo. It is as accurate as any of the low end stuff and produces less bad rounds, than Remington or Winchester.

To do better than Federal, you have to pay more. Wolf Match is excellent ammo if you can pay the cost.

[19112TAP]

I have good luck with the Winchester box HP ammo & Federal box I get at Walmart.

[L Ross]

No one has mentioned Eley Sport. I have not experienced a single dud, extreme velocity swings, or even complete lack of powder that I have found in two brands of bulk pack ammo. Federal Auto Match is accurate enough for our 22 BPCR matches, but it is disconcerting to have the occasional abnormal round cost you a target. +1 for the Paco tool, improves accuracy and I like the shallow cup nose for hard thwacking squirrel head shots.

Duke

[Firebricker]

A local gun shop Fin Feather & Fur has had bricks of Remington Thunderbolts on sale for under $17. A still like the value of the Fed bulk packs but the Thuunderbolts are better quality IMO. FB

[Nick2010]

i usually shoot federal from walmart. always works

[exile]

I like Thunderbolt by Remington. I re-headspaced my 10/22, and it is a real tack driver with it.
Runs with the best for me.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I was wondering how you accomplish this, how do you measure to see if it would help, etc.,? Sounds interesting.

exile

[Tom-ADC]

I just bought 8 boxes of Federal Champion total of 4200 for $120 shoots just fine in all of my 22's I'm sure there is more accurate ammo but that at that price.

[Firebricker]

exile, docone31 has some threads on working on the 10/22s that are full of good info and links. Should be in this section you'll have to do a search to find them but worth it. FB