Remington Golden Bullet Flyers

[3Crows]

Just quit being cheap and get some CCI Standard Velocity. The Remington 22 ammo is the worst and Golden Bullets are only exceeded in their stinkyosity by Remington Thunderbolts, not to mention their filtyosity as an additional non-benifit. My new Ruger Mk IV Standard, rang my 6 inch steel gong at 25 yards every pull, could have been the 3 inch gong but it was my first rounds through a new pistol and the wind is blowing at like 50 MPH so I could not hold the pistol still, but I was shooting my favorite general purpose ammo, CCI SV.

3C

 

[cougar1717]

should I get better ammunition to practice at this distance?

My goal is to land nearly every shot within a 1" circle at 7 yards.

Very good points made above -
1. Find out what the firearm likes by testing different ammo
2. At least recognize that the limitation could be the shooter, especially with handguns. I'm not saying that this is happening here, but don't immediately blame firearm/ammo for unsatisfactory results.
3. More expensive ammo is generally more consistent, but does not always translate into greater accuracy, especially with handguns
4. Remember that lower grade 22LR is "consistently inconsistent" and your great shooting firearm can turn into a dog by simply purchasing the next brick of a different lot number

Put this into perspective -
My running averages, out of a bone stock but relatively accurate "hunting" rifle in 22LR for 5 shot groups at 100yds are:

Remington GB 2.25"
CCI SV 2.19"
CCI AR Tactical 1.55"
CCI SGB 1.74"
CCI MM 40gr 1.87"
Win Xpert 36lead 1.56"
Federal AM 1.65"
Federal 710 2.20"

Those are my results, yours could be different. The frequently honored CCI SV has never shot that well for me. I said it. Flame away. Win Xpert and CCI AR Tactical has better averages, but they aren't stellar.
Of course there is other, more expensive ammo that groups better than these, but these of of similar price point.

So IMHO, even though the Rem GB's were the largest group that I tested, in the OP's case, it's only 7 yards. Even Rem GB should make the 1" at 7yds expectation. Maybe your lot has more flyers. Maybe it's something else.

I have to broad brush this one, but **most** of the ammos at this price point are very similar: approximately ES of 100, SD of 25. Of course you would have to test it for yourself out of your firearms to see.

My opinion is that unless you received ammo from a terrible lot, it is not necessary to get better practice ammo. But you could try a brick of something else - it never hurts to try other ammo.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I think this stuff is working out fine.

I shot another 40 rounds this evening. First 20 in the center of an 8-inch target. Then 10 rounds to each side. The first shot was a flyer. Because it was the first shot, I am thinking the film of CLR or whatever I left in the barrel may have done something, but other than that, I think the ammunition is better than I am. I believe I'm learning a lot.

It looks like I have a wicked flinch with this pistol. The trigger seemed nice when I got the gun, but now that I've used it a little, it seems like you have to take up a lot of slack and then wait for the gun to go off. I get impatient and force it, and the shots disperse vertically. They aren't much more than an inch apart horizontally, thank God.

Now I wonder...do I do something with the trigger, or do I leave it the way it is and train around it? I feel like my problem is not the trigger but the way I respond to it, and if I can fix my technique, I'll be better off than I would be if the trigger were perfect and I had nothing to fight.

One interesting thing: I had 4 FTF's today. No idea why.

 

[Peakbagger46]

Little known fact, Remington golden bullets are hand assembled in a cave in Kazaxkastan buy the same Allah Omar who stamps out AKs.

 

[sparkyv]

I guess I should forget about terminal performance and focus on whatever is most consistent. I was told it will only cycle high velocity rounds, so that limits the choices.

Steven, My Smith & Wesson SW22 Victory shoots reliably with nearly all ammo (high and standard velocities) discussed in this thread. Exception is 40gr Fed Champion...go figure. It particularly likes Golden Bullet and Blazers. At 7yds, the choice of ammo will not make too much of an accuracy difference. At 50ys, it most definitely will.

 

[3Crows]

I do not think I can agree with Cougar's results. As Remington GB snd Thundercrap often fail to clear the barrel and I have to get a rod out. Then some seem to have a double charge. Many fail to even fire at all. So, that is quite a spread in velocity, not a problem that I have EVER had with CCI anything. 3C

 

[Bartojc]

I shoot the Remington Golden, but I never expect them to be the best. They are good plinkers, and good for the kids to blast with. Decent accuracy, but it seems every couple mags you get one that sounds different or ends up a flyer. I've had it happen with other brands as well, but it seems more often with the Remingtons. My go to general use .22 ammo is CCI when I can find it. Until the shortage I would only shoot CCI then I learned not to be so picky.

-Jeff

 

[czhen]

Steve I do believe that at 7 o 8 yards the only valid test will on the reliability department more than accuracy.
czhen

 

[entropy]

Testing .22's:
Accuracy; Eley Tenex or Eley Auto Match.
Reliablility: Remington Golden bullets and Winchester Wildcat. (or the 333 round bulk) If it works with these two,it will work with anything.
Best mix of the two: This is where I stand with many others here who say to try many different rounds, and buy in bulk what works well within the parameters you need.

 

[John G C 1]

Quote: "Golden Bullets are only exceeded in their stinkyosity by Remington Thunderbolts"

Honestly, that has been my experience too.

 

[Al-jim19]

I use a lot of golden bullet since my pistol likes them, in fact they are one of the only brands it will cycle reliably. It likes mini mags better but I usually use gb more often since it’s a little cheaper and easier to find.

As for accuracy it’s alright. I usually practice defensive shooting with it so as long as they’re all on the target I’m ok with that. Never really shot it for accuracy.

I can say that my .22 won’t cycle any Winchester and very little federal ammo. Super x is the worst, but thankfully my 10/22 will eat anything I feed it!

 

[Jeb Stuart]

For Pistols and fast shooting, I love the Golden Bullets. Nice HV round. For just accuracy I have only noticed a very small difference when using CCI mini Mags. In some ways I like the Golden Better.
For rifles I like the CCI standard for accuracy, much better than the Mini Mags.

 

[someguy2800]

My buckmark and my savage mk2 both shoot golden bullets very well and I've found them to be very reliable. I've shot many thousands of them. They would be 2nd place to blazers for bulk ammo to me.

CCI standard velocity or mini mags are a step up in quality and accuracy. Standards are excellent shooting ammo in every 22 I've tried them in. Mini mags do well also and I don't think I've ever had a mini mag misfire.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I got a very pleasing result today. The target photo may not reflect it. The target represents different guns shot on different days, and a bunch of the holes are from me trying to get a newly scoped gun on the paper and sighted in. Only two groups are relevant to this thread.

On the right, halfway up the target, there is a cluster of holes that touch. That was fired from a new Savage A22 today, at 50 yards. I was using Golden Bullets. I believe it's six rounds. I was very happy about it, but then my shots opened up badly. It turned out my scope bases had loosened after the nice group!

I don't know what happened. I used blue Loctite on the screws. Maybe I just didn't snug them down after I got everything installed.

I got the screws tightened and fired again, at the little cross at the upper left by the Caldwell logo. As you can see, the rounds (9) grouped pretty well. There was one flyer, and it may well have been my fault. I hope it was, because that would mean these shells are pretty good.

If I get used to the trigger and make a better effort, I think this gun will group under an inch at 50 yards with Golden Bullets. If it will do that, surely the Smith & Wesson can group well with Golden Bullets at 7 yards.

These are not new "improved" Golden Bullets. I got them during the Obama panic. I'm guessing circa 2010. I saw boxes of 525 rounds on a shelf, and I couldn't believe it, so I bought them.

 

[Warp]

Golden Bullets are the single worse .22lr I have ever encountered. I hear that lately they are better, but as of about 2012 they were so horrendously bad I swore I would never touch another round of rimfire Remington. They were just, beyond garbage.

CCI Standard Velocity and Mini Mags are the floor for good .22lr IMO. Up from there look to Wolf Match Target / SK Standard Plus. But pretty much anything from Federal is pretty good, and for bulk, Federal.

 

[Varminterror]

I've never seen CCI Standard Velocity do anything so impressive such I'd class it above Golden Bullets. I've shot around 50,000 GB's in the last decade, around 10k SV's. CCI's are often more expensive, but I can't say they're more reliable to fire, and certainly have not found them to be able to more reliably cycle semiauto rifles. Saying junk is better than junk isn't saying much, but the CCI Standard Velocities aren't actually any better than Remington Golden Bullets. Cleaner, maybe - barely - but not more accurate on average, nor more reliable.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I want to have a few thousand .22's on hand in case things get weird again. I mean, things WILL get weird again, so I would like to be ready. I think Golden Bullets are good cheap insurance.

Mini-mags run about 50% more. I haven't seen a 50% increase in performance.

Standard velocity rounds are fun to shoot, but as far as I know, they only come in round nose, and that's not great for hunting. Also...not high velocity.

 

[bannockburn]

Varminterror

I've never seen CCI Standard Velocity do anything so impressive such I'd class it above Golden Bullets. I've shot around 50,000 GB's in the last decade, around 10k SV's. CCI's are often more expensive, but I can't say they're more reliable to fire, and certainly have not found them to be able to more reliably cycle semiauto rifles. Saying junk is better than junk isn't saying much, but the CCI Standard Velocities aren't actually any better than Remington Golden Bullets. Cleaner, maybe - barely - but not more accurate on average, nor more reliable

My experience with both Remington Golden Bullets and CCI Standard Velocity has been just the opposite of yours: nothing but problems and terrible accuracy (if you can call it that as the biggest problem there was getting more than two or three rounds to fire consecutively with the Remington ammo, without having to clear a jam), while the CCI ammo has been extremely reliable, clean shooting, and accurate in all of my .22s (my SIG Trailside just loves the stuff).

Best results with my guns has been with Wolf Match Target followed by CCI MiniMags, and CCI Standard Velocity. Never could get really great results accuracy-wise with Eley Target, Tenex, Club, or Match, CCI Green Tag, or Federal Target or Gold Medal ammo.

 

[FROGO207]

There was a while that the REM GB was the worst of the worst .22 ammo available. REM did invest in new tooling for their .22 assembly line. I am holding out for the supposed good reports to come in before I invest in a bunch of it. That said I would always buy a good selection of .22 ammo to try in each and every firearm you have. They all are different in my experience. You have to figure out what works best in each one and run with it.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I do buy other brands of ammunition, but like the can of cheap 7.62mmx54R, the Remington bucket definitely has a place.