Why are .22 LR cartridges so shoddy?

[Blue Thunder]

All the 22LR I have is from 2004 and 2006 except 22Mag which is from 2007. Never had any issues with any of them. From what I have read across a ton of Gun blogs, QC has gone out the window for some manufacturers and you do get what you pay for.

 

[Pete D.]

Well, here are the results of my test. Federal at 7 yards, 1.45 in. Thunderbolt at 7 yards, 0.89 in. Federal at 15 yards, 2.41 in. Thunderbolt at 15 yards, 2.51 in. I'm not terribly surprised to get inconclusive results for an offhand shooting test. The error in my shooting is likely much higher than the difference between the cartridges. I think you would need to shoot a whole lot more groups of five to get a standard deviation that could be used to determine whether the Federal and Thunderbolt results are statistically the same or different. For now I can say that the Thunderbolt is good enough for me for casual shooting even when I am trying to do a good job.

The Federal were noticeably different than the Thunderbolt in sound and feel. They just seemed more controlled if that even means anything.

Is that the Federal Ultramatch? If so, there is something quite off even considering the ammo preference a a particular gun for a type and brand of ammo.
Testing ammo offhand is not the best way as repeatability is tough to maintain. Even so, at seven yards, I would expect quite small groups from either type of ammo....one ragged hole groups...but not offhand. Try the test again off a rest. Years ago when i was testing a Ruger for ammo preference, I tried at least a dozen types of ammo indoors at 50 ft. (17 yards). All of them gave better groups than you have reported....I shot from a rest, not offhand. Most of the ammo was able to stay inside the Ten ring on a B2 target (.90” dia.). Choice became a matter of price...Federal 710s shot as well as the expensive stuff and so became my ammo of choice. Quality on that ammo fell off some years later and I went to CCI SV and then to Eley Club.
I have used Ultramatch only in match rifles, only for prone shooting. It is quite satisfying in that respect.
Pete

 

[rpenmanparker]

Yes Ultra Match. Of course it wasn’t the best way to test precision of the cartridges. But I don’t have a rest. The whole thing was just for grins. It showed that my shooting is worse than the cartridges, so I don’t need to pay extra for better ones. That was the whole point of the exercise.

 

[Nickotym]

You might want to get your gun checked too. Your chamber might be worn. I had some thunderbolt that was falling out the end of my barrell on the revolver. You could see it drop. Turned out I was shooting .22LR out of the .22mag cylinder. Once I got a .22lr cylinder for the ruger single six convertible, it did much better. I think that is why the guy dumped the gun on me for cheap. He thought it was .22lr cylinder too! Great gun now.

 

[rodregier]

Mizzou - if you wanted a larger choice of .22LR ammunition, replacing the hammer spring in your Marlin 60 might help. The gunsmithing forum here might shed further light on that.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...n-60-60c-60ssk-60ss-60sb-795-795ss-7000-70pss

 

[MisterNoisy]

I expect a few QC issues when you're paying $.04/round or so. That said, the last few bulk packs I've bought (Rem GB, Rem Thunderbolt, Browning HV bulk) have run flawlessly through my 10/22s and will punch 1-2" groups all day at 50 yards with a red dot. When I want better groups, Mini Mags or pricey match ammo delivers, but then I don't get to shoot all day for a couple of days for $20.

I've found that Aguila HV is a nice compromise, though. Better consistency than bulk-packed stuff and not terribly expensive.

 

[rpenmanparker]

One of the ranges I shoot at has Monday 1/2 price shooting for seniors with the purchase of a box of ammo. If you want to buy .22LR to fulfill the requirement, you have to buy two boxes or 100 rounds. The cost is about $12 or a little or a little more than twice the discount store bulk brick price. So take away $5 and you are shooting for $7. Best deal in town. Whenever i go there on Monday’s, I always say I am shooting .22LR even though I plan to shoot a lot of 9mm I have brought along also. This is a case where it pays to pay a little extra for cheesy ammo. Actually that price gets you the Aguila, so not so terrible.

 

[scaper]

I took 2 .22 pistols,a semi auto and a revolver, from the 1960's, and 2 newer .22 pistols out shooting a few years ago, with some of the ammo I always hear is not very good. I had not one failure to feed, fire, or extract when shooting them through the older pistols. I had a few with the new pistols. I'm not so sure it's always the ammo's fault.

 

[FROGO207]

Yeah it could be light strikes on the rim with old firearms or the newer striker fired type. The only poor ammo I have been able to definitively ID was the older Golden bullet bulk packs from about 10 years or so ago. After trying to fire rounds at several clock positions I pulled a bunch of them to recover the lead. Most had either no or spotty blobs of primer compound in them. Dumped the powder on the lawn and heated about 2K empty brass in a dutch oven with the cover on. Sounded like ammo popcorn. Then I took them in to be recycled.

 

[joneb]

I bought a brick of CCI Blazer 22 lr B.O. for $9.99, it shot very well in all of my 22 lr guns. I noted the lot number and picked up 4 more bricks of the same.

 

[CraigC]

.22LR ammo shoddy??? News to me. Maybe things have changed in the last three years and when I get back to 2000-3000rds a month I'll find out.

 

[CapnMac]

Whenever I have a new-to-me .22 I always take at least 5 kinds of ammo, and 10 if I can. That's because, in my expereince, every .22 has a different harmonic that resonates with a given brand of ammo. nd, the arm may not care how rare or expensive a brand is, or how cheap and plentiful, either.

My Nylon 66 really likes PMC; my Mossberg M44 had liked the Remington HV, but, later 'decided' that CCI minimag was the ticket.

So, even if you have an arm one serial number away from mine, I've learned that what works for me will seldom work for you.

Also, ammo can be very subjective. When Aquila first stormed on the scene, some of that ammo seemed iffy, but it certainly shot well enough, even if it felt, in the hands, like you could not cycle it through an action manually lest it come to pieces.

My 2¢

 

[sparkyv]

Robert, my favorite, least expensive .22LR rounds are Blazer, are by no means shoddy, and are made by CCI. I've shot Eley, CCI, Federal, Remington and others with great success, but .22 firearms are usually very picky with the ammo they like. Thunderbolt and Golden Bullets shoot extremely well in some of mine, not so much in others.

 

[Reloadron]

Look, people talk about buying bargain bricks all the time around here. It is a standard practice. I didn’t make it up. I’m just asking why the bullets are loose.

I really don't know but I have had plenty that would turn (spin) in the case but still would feed and fire fine. My own little observation with some rimfire is I see plenty of light strikes on the rims. Likely half the time it's the rifle or handgun rather than the ammunition. Remington rimfire is the ammo people seem to love to hate and complain about whereas the stuff works fine for me in most of my guns, I do have a Ruger 10/22 which will fail to fire but also seems to display the lighter primer strikes I mentioned. I have a S&W Model 17 and when you look at the spent cases from that sucker you know they were hit and hit hard.

Anyway, back to the loose bullets or bullets that spin in the case. My little speculation on this is that as long as the case and bullet are square to their axis even the loose ones shoot fine. Why are they loose? If we look at the design of 22 rimfire bullets with a focus on the "heel" of the bullet the design really does not lend itself well or really at all to being seated to any specific depth, they are what they are. I have noticed the more expensive flavors do tend to be more reliable and accurate but I don't take a 500 round box of Eley Tenex to the range every day. All in all with good shopping habits when it comes to 22 rimfire you pretty much get what you pay for. The same is true of the rifles and handguns you shoot the stuff in.

I should mention that my references to 22 Rimfire do not include 22 Magnum Rimfire as a different case and bullet design applies.

Ron

 

[3Crows]

CCI Blazer works fine for me. Usually in auto pistols (my Ruger Mk II and now Mk IV) I use CCI SV and in my rifles the CCI SV or Mini Mags. In my Single Six I use Mini Mags, SV, anything, it eats it all. Never had any real problems or shoddy bullets with CCI ammo.

Remington 22 ammunition is to be avoided, dirty and lots of squib shots or FTF.

 

[Walkalong]

So simple to use a snap cap. In fact I keep these dry wall anchors handy all the time and so cheap, why not use them and take a chance.So simple.

Great idea for a .22 snap cap. Many .22 guns will ruin things if you dry fire them.

 

[Walkalong]

Shoddy? Maybe a few duds here and there with the cheapest stuff, meh. For the price, .22 LR is still a good round and it's a wonder how good most of it can be when you find what your gun likes. My Trailside and my Buckmark shoot Fed Auto Match very well, but my S&W 41 has a distaste for it, go figure.