Remington .22 LR Junk!

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jdavis

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I generally buy CCI standard velocity as my primary target ammo. It is reliable and accurate in most of my pistols and rifles. I do use Federal Auto Match in one rifle that shoots best with it. I do not like Federal bulk pack ammo or Remington Thunderbolts and avoid them.
 

hittman

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To me, Thunderbolts are the worst. If that's the only 22LR in stock, I'll do without. Professor Wes had same problems as myself.

The Golden Bullets have been "iffy" for me.

Federal followed by Winchester is what works best in my 22s.
 

ProfessorWes

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I've had decent results with Federal bulk pack for reliability; for accuracy my Henry Lever Octagon Frontier and Ruger MK III target pistol seem to prefer CCI Mini-Mags and Winchester Power-Points. I have quite a bit of both stashed, bought cheap before the ammo panic. As infrequently as I get to go shooting, likely (as Snake remarked back up the thread) a lifetime supply.
 

Hankus

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Back in the '94-'95 timeframe when I was stationed at Fort Carson, CO, Long's Drugs was selling Federal 550 round bulk packs for ~$5.00/box. I ended up buying 2 cases of 10 boxes per case. I opened the last box ~a month ago and it's almost gone with no FTFs at all. I stored this ammo in 20mm ammo cans with desiccant packs inside and it's served me well, with innumerable hours of plinking and small game hunting. As I saw my stash was dwindling a couple years ago and they started becoming available again I started buying the Federal .22 bulk packs at Wally World; 325 rounds for $21.87, and was glad to find it! I probably have 10 boxes stashed away but haven't fired any yet. My son and I also fired a box of Remington .22lr subsonic rounds that had been stored in the same can as the Federal and had six FTFs.
 
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" I stored this ammo in 20mm ammo cans with desiccant packs inside "
Excellent choice of storage. I bought a pickup bed full of similar surplus ammo cans a couple decades back and they do a great job although they do get heavy when filled.
 
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...they do get heavy when filled.

That is true! Had to move a few years ago, and couldn't put any ammo, propellant, etc. in the moving truck. So, time to get a trailer - but what size/capacity do you need? That's when you start weighing ammo cans; at 20 to 40+ pounds each (50 cal cans, depending on whether it's 5.56, .45, or whatever inside, and how the contents are boxed) it adds up faster than you would believe! "Buy on sale and in bulk" is wise advice, but there can be consequences!
:)
 

Dave Schwaab

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Nov 2, 2014
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" the bane of my existence is Federal bulk packs."
Here again is a similarly opposite finding. Federal Auto Match(in the 325 bulk pack) is the 'go to' ammo for several of our 22's (rifle or pistol). Always/never are difficult words to justify.
The Federal Auto Match 325s is the one I'm having all the problems with! Different ammo works differently in different guns for different people. Your results may vary. (Funny how that works!)

I haven't bought any in a while but a little over a decade ago I shot up somewhere between 20K and 25K of the Goldens (when they were about 2c a shot at Walmart). I experienced a VERY consistent "dud rate" of one to two percent (i.e., five to ten in a box of 550). I quickly learned not to waste time with a second strike on the duds--there was NO primer in them anywhere.

I also noticed at least four different levels of sound from the GBs, although, amazingly, this seemed to have no effect on either functioning or accuracy out to 50 yards. I don't recall any guns they wouldn't function in, but at least one gun would run 100% on them (the ones that fired, of course) and nothing else. They also turned out to be the MOST accurate load I tested in my Rem 581. Go figger.

I still have several thousand rounds of the things around here somewhere. At the rate I've been shooting lately, that's probably a lifetime supply. ;)
See above. My Mark IIs are my best shooters. When I do get a round that fails to go bang, I will reposition it in the mag so that it hits a different spot on the rim. Very rare that that doesn't work. I have had a handful that NEVER went bang, a couple CCI or Remington, but, usually, Federal. In my SR22, I just pull the trigger again and, 9 out of 10 times, that is all it needs.

Like I said: Different ammo works differently in different guns for different people. Your results may vary.
 

wagwan

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Feb 8, 2022
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I've had good and bad luck with all of the major brands over the years. Most recently with CCI Blazers. I bought eight bricks at the beginning of the pandemic. They were packaged as a lot of three and a lot of five - different batches. The "three" lot ran about 15% duds (in any gun) and accuracy was all over the map. It was ugly and I was pissed! To my surprise, the "five" lot shot great with good accuracy and very few issues.

So I've given up choosing one manufacturer over another and just hope for good batches and buy more when I find them. CCI SV has probably been the most consistent over all.
 

tx_44m

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I had a brick of browning target made back in 20'. Recently opened it and the majority of them would not fit the cylinder of my single six! Nor my bearcat! They did chamber in my MKII.
 
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...Like I said: Different ammo works differently in different guns for different people. Your results may vary.

That deserves to be repeated:

"Different ammo works differently in different guns for different people. Your results may vary."

(...and that's why I'll try as many different kinds of .22 ammo as possible, in any .22 I buy or modify, to see which one shoots the best!)
:)
 
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Many, many years ago I bought a considerable quantity of the Golden Bullet stuff when it came in the flat, square, transparent yellow plastic, 100-round boxes with the slide-off lid. It's stored in military ammo cans. It works in any of my guns, and I do not recall ever having a failure to fire with it. Haven't tried any of the current offerings as what I have will certainly last long enough to go to my kids. ;)
 
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I had a brick of browning target made back in 20'. Recently opened it and the majority of them would not fit the cylinder of my single six! Nor my bearcat! They did chamber in my MKII.

Years ago, my wife bought one of those lightweight aluminum S&W J-frames chambered in .22LR (forget the model number). I figured it would handle any kind of ammo we fed it, and IIRC everything we tried would chamber OK - but surprise, surprise, some brands wouldn't eject reliably after firing, and the empty cases had to be pushed out one at a time with a dowel. We did find a few varieties that shot well & extracted/ejected correctly, so she stayed with those.

Always worth the time and effort, to check and see what shoots and functions well!
:)
 

Snake45

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This is not an uncommon story with S&W .22 revolvers. I had it myself with a 4" M17. I had to send it back to the factory for service. I don't know if they replaced the cylinder or just polished the chambers of the original, but they performed the work no charge and had it back to me in under two weeks and it's run flawlessly ever since.
 

Snake45

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Many, many years ago I bought a considerable quantity of the Golden Bullet stuff when it came in the flat, square, transparent yellow plastic, 100-round boxes with the slide-off lid. It's stored in military ammo cans. It works in any of my guns, and I do not recall ever having a failure to fire with it. Haven't tried any of the current offerings as what I have will certainly last long enough to go to my kids. ;)
Back in the '70s, my Dad and I each bought 5000 rounds of that stuff when I was working at a sporting goods store that was a Remington jobber, using my employee discount. I shot a bunch of mine up over the years and put those yellow plastic boxes to good use. I still think I have a bunch of it squirreled away in .50-cal ammo cans. Dad didn't shoot that much of his. He used to give a couple hundred rounds of it at a time to my son, who eventually inherited the rest of the stash. I'm pretty sure he's still got quite a bit of it. It's as good to this day as it ever was, which was/is a LOT better than anything they've made in the last decade or two.
 

CHEVYINLINE6

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Nov 29, 2022
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I don't remember ever having a problem with Remington Golden Bullets in the past. All mine were bought at least 20+ years ago. I use to buy the Federal 525 round bulk packs and they seemed to be ok. My favorite has always been CCI Mini Mags and Stingers, but I save them for special uses, not plinking. Recently I have buying up some Federal Punch ammo because my Ruger MK 2 seems to like it. Bought some CCI Copper and my MK 2 will not feed it without constant jamming, so I will only use it in my revolvers or bolt action rifles. I have been buying a lot of Aguila ammo because I have read a lot of good reports about it and it is easy to find and not to expensive. I have yet to shoot any yet. I go out every month and buy a mixed bag of different brands of ammo and stash it away.

INLINECHEVY6.
 

Montana Cowboy

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Sep 13, 2010
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.22's are as finnicky as the guns that shoot them. I had bought three bricks of Russian junior .22 ammo at a store for $7 dollars a brick. Tried it in several different rifles and handguns and it didn't shoot accurately in any of them. One day I went to the range and took my 10/22 and figured I'd burn up some of that Russian .22 ammo. To my surprise that ammo was a tack driver in my 10/22 at 35 & 50 yds. It could be the lube they put on the bullet as it is very noticeable / greasy, could have been the steel case or the rim thickness, all I know is it shot great in the 10/22.
 
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