New Federal bulk 22LR?

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Keith G

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0A797D92-E588-426E-A8E6-CAF53800D0FE.jpeg Picked this up at Walmart the other day. Assumed it was just new packaging of the red bulk 550 box (still not sure how/if it’s different than the blue bulk box), but the charges seemed really inconsistent, and I had 2 FTF out of the 150 or so I shot. Not Thunderbolt inconsistent, but more so than I’ve typically experienced with Federal, which I’ve always been pleased with.

Anyone else shoot this stuff yet?
 
I have not see that iteration of the cheap .22. It is funny, though, that everyone talks about how bad Thunderbolt is. I have shot a lot of it ever since my youth, and have never had a problem with it. Many squirrel fell to it's lameness....
 
I have become more picky in recent years over which 22 ammo I buy.

Federal bulk has not made that short list.
 
I have not see that iteration of the cheap .22. It is funny, though, that everyone talks about how bad Thunderbolt is. I have shot a lot of it ever since my youth, and have never had a problem with it. Many squirrel fell to it's lameness....
I haven't hunted with thunderduds but about half of them feel like light charges. However they are surprisingly among the most accurate in many of my guns.
 
I haven't seen this kind of Federal bulk. Then again, I haven't actually shopped for .22 in a while. (But it's probably time for me to buy a little more). Thunderbolts run OK in my .22s, but I have a buddy whose two .22s LOVE them.
 
I have not see that iteration of the cheap .22. It is funny, though, that everyone talks about how bad Thunderbolt is. I have shot a lot of it ever since my youth, and have never had a problem with it. Many squirrel fell to it's lameness....

years ago I used T-bolt in my TC Contender for IHMSA matches. It shot very well out to 75 yds, but not so hot at 100 yds. I bumped it up to another brand for 100 yds.

won a fair number of matches with it.
 
Not trying to start a Thunderbolt/Federal debate (my fault for mentioning it). Shoot whatever works for you. More interested in whether or not Federal has changed their ammo in the new packaging. Shot 200ish more today and had 4 FTF’s.
 
Load #790 seems to be something new. I think 745 has the same specs, though
I'm gonna sound like a broken record...
725, 745, 750, 787 are all the same stuff, just different counts/boxes/buckets.
I guess we'll be adding 790 to the list.
Only ones of those variants I ever had a higher count of problem children was 750, but those were bought/made during the great .22 ammo shortage of 2013, so maybe the machines were running under slightly less stringent standards to make production? That's just a wild guesstimate.
 
I have become more picky in recent years over which 22 ammo I buy.

Federal bulk has not made that short list.
And yet, I have had GREAT results with Federal Black which is a bulk .22lr and a LOT better than anything Remington bulk. Absolute consistency, perfect reliability and running about .04 each it's hard to argue with that
 
1600 rounds was something like $69 and then there was a $20 rebate making it even cheaper
 
I am convinced that the bulk ammo (especially WM) packaged is from lots that do not meet first quality specs. If a run is substandard it is sold at a discount to retailer. I feel many brands of .22 are sold this way. Have you ever shot bulk over a crony, the spread is 2X or more larger than the same ammo not in bulk packs from my testing. I can't lay the larger spread off to primer chipping/flaking or whatever due to bulk packaging. YMMV
 
I am convinced that the bulk ammo (especially WM) packaged is from lots that do not meet first quality specs.

You might be on to something. I would think that ammo tolerances would be pretty tight for legal/safety issues, but I guess 22LR can run with pretty loose tolerances and still be safe and not blow up a gun.
 
The last 2 bulk boxes of Federal I've bought were not quite the same as those, though they were bought at Walmart, and were 550 round red boxes. The first one was 3 misfires in the entire 550. Had to hold the gun for a few seconds in case of hangfire. All were at Steel Challenges, and embarrassing, but since I've had no gun problems and so many others had, it was sort of a wash. The newest box has already had 2 misfires and I'm only into the first 100 rounds or so, so it's not looking too good. Starting to remind me of the old brown box federals from years ago, that sometimes yielded 10% failures in my area, mostly squibs. But, these new ones seem to be devoid of primer. A few of them, I've turned them in the chambers to re-strike, still to no avail.
 
I've had bad luck with load 725. I bought one of the ammo cans from Cabela's and seem to get 1 FTF out of every couple hundred.
That's not the worst though. I get several squib loads, on several I could see the bullet fall to the ground about 15 yards in front of me.
I shoot 2 Ruger Mk4 22's suppressed. On one occasion I had a squib, so I pulled the bolt to look down the barrel to make sure the bullet wasn't stuck in the barrel. When pulling the bolt I heard a rattle in the suppressor, I took the suppressor apart and the bullet was in the suppressor.

I contacted Federal and told them of the problem. They told me to return the remaining ammo to them and sent me a call tag and payment for the ammo.
A couple weeks later they notified me that all the ammo was within spec.

SC45-70
 
Considering companies run BILLIONS of rounds through their equipment at breakneck speed, a few aren't going to be the best they could be. Bulk ammo is just that - loosely packaged by weight to expedite the process
 
Some of y'all are missing that rimfire ammo is primed BY HAND. Not by machine.

Where do you think the new people in the priming department work? On the bulk ammo lines.
 
I also have had many rimfire FTF but the most were with the old style Remington Golden Bullet bulk packs. 90 or so out of a 555 bulk box average stopped my want to use them. Supposedly they retooled the rimfire assembly line to make better ammo. I'll wait and see. I expect a dud now and again from rimfire ammo but duds AND severe velocity swings are not interesting in my ammo. I also note that despite my shooting about 5K .22MAG rounds from different makers I have had ZERO duds. I find that odd as thet both use the same priming method. YMMV
 
I also have had many rimfire FTF but the most were with the old style Remington Golden Bullet bulk packs. 90 or so out of a 555 bulk box average stopped my want to use them. Supposedly they retooled the rimfire assembly line to make better ammo. I'll wait and see. I expect a dud now and again from rimfire ammo but duds AND severe velocity swings are not interesting in my ammo. I also note that despite my shooting about 5K .22MAG rounds from different makers I have had ZERO duds. I find that odd as thet both use the same priming method. YMMV

They use the same priming method but they don't make bulk pack .22 Mag.
 
The video I watched shows them squrting primer compound into the brass and spinning it to put the compound into the rim groove by centrifugal force. Not filling the primers by hand in a fixture block like centerfire primers are. I'll try and find the video.

Some of the .22LR rounds I have pulled apart have no priming compound in the rim or mixed into the propellant either.
 
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