CCI's Blazer Ammo

[Jason30-30]

Today I went to Big 5 and decided to try the Blazer. Previously I had been using federals, but it got to the point where sometimes my Marlin model 60 would have to be used as a bolt action because it would not function ( it was frustating ). I went to the woods expecting to constantly have FTF/FTE & WOW not a single misfire or FTF out of about 300 rounds.My 1979 Marlin LOVES IT! I will not buy anything else from now on.

[Shepherd2]

CCI Blazers is good stuff. I tried some a couple years ago and was pleasantly surprised with them. I've got a some Winchester and Federal .22s to use up and then my plinking ammo will be all Blazers. I've been finding it in bulk and bricks at good prices so I've been stocking up.

[Sasquatch-1]

I tried some many years ago in my .44 mag Desert Eagle. Jammed on every shot. Just didn't have the ummmf to function the slide.

[161]

It's good stuff.. I have two boxes left out of the first brick I bought last fall. It's my new go to shooter.

[Themoose]

I just tried this week for the first time.... They were on sale @ Dunhams so I picked up two bulk boxes... Mounted a Leupold Vari-X III AO 4-12 on my Rem 541T and headed to the range.. I compared Blazers with about 8 different types of ammo that I had on hand including, CCI Green Tag, Wolf Match Target, RWS(2 types), PMC target and Aquila... to my surprise the Blazers outshot all of them.( I only shot them @ 50 yds because it was cold and had rain/snow mix) I did shoot off a leadsled and fired for serious groups.. I didn't do any weight or rim thickness sorting on any ammo tested. I was so impressed with the Blazers that I conned the Mrs. to stop by the store where I bought them and get me some more after showing her how to find and read the lot code on the box... she came home with 11 525 round cartons from the same lot and 1 from another... got to love it when something good happens... I'm not used to that happening to me.... watch out squirrels and groundhogs... this ol' geezer will be on the prowl this year...

themoose

[Jim]

Blazers in 40 gr. solids are the ONLY thing that goes in my Cricket.

http://floydpics.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/p10100025-e1326400732332.jpg

[Forrest r]

There’s 2 different kinds of Blazers, the ones CCI makes & the ones Federal makes. They both have the same head stamp on the cases but use different bullets.

The Federal made Blazers have a # for the 1st thing in their lot #’s (example 123SD16). The CCI Blazers start out with a letter (example A234dd49). The other difference is the bullet holder/trays they use in their 50 round boxes. CCI uses a clear flat tray & Federal uses a milky white colored tray with legs (same as federal 510’s).

Why I’m telling you all of this is because CCI & Federal use two completely different bullets styles/designs for the same ammo. So if you have a lot of Blazers that was made by Federal (scarce, not made as often) & your rifle/pistol loves the ammo. It might not be the same ammo you purchase next time, IE CCI made.

CCI Blazers (1235fps rated) are made by CCI.

The Federal Blazers (1235fps rated) look like the Federal 510’s (1235fps rated) & both the Federal 510’s/Blazers use the same bullet. That bullet is light gray in color compared to the CCI bullet & has a different shape/drive bands.

The 2 ammo’s will shoot differently in your firearms even though they both say Blazers on the box. You might want to look at the lot # of the ammo you’re using. Just in case you find this ammo on sale & decide to buy 2 or 3 cases of it only to find out that it’s completely different ammo that won’t shoot worth a darn in your firearm.

[Jim]

Forrest, that's interesting. Does Federal make Blazers for CCI? The reason I ask is, how can two different companies use the same name for a product? When I saw your post, I went to my brick of Blazers. On the bottom of the brick box, it says

"CCI SPEER OPERATIONS
LEWISTON, IDAHO"

Does that mean I have truly CCI made ammo?

I'll say one thing, they sure shoot good in my Cricket!

I just aquired a Ruger Single Six in .22LR/MAG and I'm hoping they do as well in that. I also bought a Savage model 64 22LR auto rifle for Janet. Man, wouldn't it be sweet if I could use the same ammo in all of them?

[tacklebury]

CCI Mini-Mag HP's eat out bullseyes and have good knockdown on squirrels. ;) Blazers rock for plinking, but I like a HP for hunting.

[tomme boy]

Federal owns CCI. Thats also why almost all new Federal rifle ammo I have seen has CCI primers in them. They also own Speer.

[SquirrelHollow]

Forrest, that's interesting. Does Federal make Blazers for CCI? The reason I ask is, how can two different companies use the same name for a product? When I saw your post, I went to my brick of Blazers. On the bottom of the brick box, it says

CCI, Speer, Federal, Blazer, American Eagle, Fusion, and several other monikers or 'brands' are all owned by ATK (Alliant Techsystems Inc.).

Although some brands still have exclusive products and/or manufacturing locations, many things cross over between brands, to reduce manufacturing costs.

One example of sharing: In 9mm Luger, most of the brass stamped Speer, CCI, Blazer, or FC comes off the same drawing presses. In general, it is of lower quality than most other American brass. (My opinion.)
However, 9mm Luger also provides an example of exclusivity: The headstamp "FC*" (that's FC with a dot on the right side) is produced at an exclusive FC plant. Those cases are of much higher quality than the ones listed above.

And, that gives you the same situation as the Blazer / Blazer ammo. FC is bad. FC* is good. :veryconfu


The rimfire world is a subject all its own. A quick statement can pretty much sum things up, though: CCI manufactures at least some rimfire ammo for nearly every other North American brand name. (Some still make a few products of their own, but not all of them.)

The Blazer / Blazer brand sharing is not meant to be confusing. It's meant to simply indicate a bottom-of-the-line product.

[Jim]

I been a ejumakated up now, boy!

[Shiloh]

Used it for Bullseye matches several years back when CCI SV. became scarce.

SHiloh

[161]

I just picked up 4 boxes of 525 at Scheels for $19.99. They'er the CCIs according to the lot number. And they don't look anything like Federal Lightnings.

[schutzen]

My LGS had them at Christmas for $12.99/brick or $128.00/case. I'm set for the summer.

[Ickisrulz]

My LGS had them at Christmas for $12.99/brick or $128.00/case. I'm set for the summer.

What is LGS?

[Hammerhead]

I tried some many years ago in my .44 mag Desert Eagle. Jammed on every shot. Just didn't have the ummmf to function the slide.
You must have been limp wristing it.

Blazer is my ammo of choice for stockpiling. It's the most reliable bulk ammo I've found and has at least average or better accuracy in every rimfire I own.

LGS = local gun store

[69papatango]

Onsale at Bimart here in my neck of the woods $14.97 CCI/Blazer according to lot #'s limit of 10.

wooo hooo!

[troy_mclure]

I have 2 bricks set aside in my stockpile. It runs well in my guns. P prefer wolf tho.

[EMC45]

The CCI Blazer is my go to ammo for all my rimfires. It is consistant and accurate.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I wondered about the CCI Fedreal connection we got a case from federal for our 4H shooting sports , as a donation , they were in black plastic boxes of 250 loose the outside said fedral and that they were rejects , but the inside said CCI and they shot great they cycle in everyone's guns , and they would clear a row of 100 meter rams if you did your part.

made me think about getting one of those tools to make flat points out of them for small game hunting , but i usually just use the CCI stingers for that any way.

i just purchased some , around here they seem to come in the 500 packs with the milk white trays

[Ilwil]

My club has used Blazer for years in its NRA rifle and pistol classes. It has always been accurate but there have been intervals when function was problematic. We would often have 10-20 misfires per brick. Lately, it has performed flawlessly. This makes me think quality control checks have been a variable.

[Forrest r]

The blazer ammo on the left (zip flap box) with the white shell holder with legs is ammo made by Federal. Federal uses the zip flap boxes & shell holder with legs for their 22 ammo line. CCI tuck in flap (right) with a clear plastic flat shell holder, typical CCI packing.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/BlazerCCIFed21.jpg

The difference in the 2 bullets/ bullet designs. The Federal bullet (left) is lighter, a more silver look. The CCI is darker, I’m assuming from graphite? The bullet designs/driving bands are different and will fit the leads of the rifle chamber different causing a difference in accuracy.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/BlazerCCIFed1.jpg

I find Blazer ammo to be an exceptional value & is becoming my go to plinking ammo. I own several different rimfires & have found that some of them will shoot one type/style of Blazers better than the other.

[Jason30-30]

Thanks for the replies guys I have since than shot 200 more rounds and haven't seen a problem since out of my model 60. Wow Forrest that was a nice post love the pictures

[Forrest r]

Thank you but I borrowed those pictures from another website. Enjoy the blazer ammo, their an excellent value.

[ilcop22]

I bought 5k rounds of CCI Blazer. Mine is the stuff made by CCI. I hate it. It's dirty, my .22lrs don't like it and I find it very inaccurate. Maybe I got a bad batch, but I'll spend the extra money and bulk up on Federal Automatch AM22 .22lr next time.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Thanks for the replies guys I have since than shot 200 more rounds and haven't seen a problem since out of my model 60. Wow Forrest that was a nice post love the pictures

If you haven't already, tear that M60 down and give it a good cleaning. They get mighty grubby after a brick or so. There are some good youtube videos if you don't know how to remove the little "hammer assembly block" (don't know the actual term).

[Ola]

I tried some many years ago in my .44 mag Desert Eagle. Jammed on every shot. Just didn't have the ummmf to function the slide.
You must have been limp wristing it. Is it possible to limp wrist a pistol if the slide is driven back by a gas piston?
IMO lack of "ummmf" sounds right, if the gun worked with other ammo brands.

[uscra112]

I've been playing with techniques to "improve" bulk ammo. Like I need another project, but there it is.

So, I found a 550 bulk pack of Blazer with a "K" lot number at a gun show last weekend, and spent some time last night weight-sorting it. OK, OK, I know, but process control was a large part of my career before I retired, and I just can't give it up. Ay least I gave up smoking!

This Blazer lot sorts out weight-wise better than other cheapies, like Remington variants, a little better than CCI Standard Velocity, and better than any Federal ammo I've evaluated yet. By better I mean more cartridges fall close to the mean, and many fewer outliers that deviate a whole grain or more.

Match ammo it ain't, but the numbers on the weight graph look as if there may be something to it. Now to try it out in a few rifles, if the wind around here ever dies down again.