Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Consistency of factory ammo

So I recently free floated a .223 barrel and wound up having to do some additional work to get the scope properly aligned again (a mounting rail issue but beside the point)

I was using a .22 conversion to get things in coarse tune and I have noticed a lot of variation in the sound from shot to shot...

I was thinking about it on the walk back and it seems to me that the larger the projectile, the less influence a single particle of powder has on the velocity and trajectory. So for commercial metered powder fills you should get more consistent performance with heavier projectiles.. Assuming consistent powders between lighter and heavier commercial loads.

Has anyone else noticed significant variation in report (and consequently velocity) from commercial .22 loads?

When the big O was in office and they started cranking the 22 rounds out fast it seemed that they were off.

I separated a box into 3 divisions,low,medium and high.

If you shot all of the low rounds at one time they fired a tight group but if mixed up it opened up bad.

The sound was different as well.

I think it was a box of Rem.ammo.

Took a while.

It is well documented, especially in Winchester and Remington ammo, much less so in European or CCI. I've heard it in some Federal loads, too, usually the bulk stuff. Most bulk ammo isn't top notch stuff, the companies know they can sell it no matter what, some desperate person will buy it.

Especially right now, when demand is high and supply low. I have tried some of those loads, and you can definitely hear the pop, pop, pfffft, pop during a string.
For me, the solution is to buy stuff that comes in 50 rounds boxes and leave the bulk stuff to the Marlin 60/10/22 gang, and let them burn it up. I won't do that in my boltguns.

Haven’t clocked any, but as you say you can definitely hear it, and occasionally even with decent stuff like SV or Mini Mags. I haven't bought any bulk since about 2008 when I used to stop at a Whatamart near my office on my way home in the morning, looking to buy whatever they had because I was very low, and was also looking for some for my sons. Still have a couple of both the Winchester and Fed. I get a lot more duds of various types with the Fed. Gave up on Remington long before that for CCI.

Nothing wrong with a good 10/22…

50 yards?

For plinking or just IDPA type practice with.22’s the Federal bulk stuff is fine. Yeah, there’s an occasional failure to ftf but you need to practice dealing with that, too. If I’m concerned with accuracy and functionality, I find CCI Minimags the best balance of quality, price and availability.

50 yards. Small dots are 5/8”. Fired 5 to semi-season, then 6 (oops!), 4, 5, 5. Also tried SK FN, SK RM, and one other I forget in response to a thread on the new LH version. Have a couple more to check before the scope comes off and the prism goes back on. This one's a plinker. Not bad for a sub $700 autoloader, certainly good enough for its main purpose.. Have to keep the chamber clean to prevent buildup from cushioning firing pin strikes.

My batch of SK RM strings a bit vertically, it seems, and not just in this one.

these were from a 50 rnd box of cci.


how did you seperate Plainsman456? weight?

The minimags are definitely superior in consistency (as evidenced by report, point of impact, and ejection throw) to the other cci stuff I was using...
thanks

Very nice shooting. Eley works great in my 10-22 as well. I haven't tried the Eley club, but have had great luck with Eley target in most of my 22lr's.. As for bulk, my bolt actions really like it. I've tested several different brands and Federal always seems to come out on top. My Ruger mkII target pistol definitely loves the bulk box federal stuff (38gr copper plated hp's). That's all I ever use in it. Failure rate is near none out of that pistol.. Now, for some newer Federal bulk I was playing around with the other day in my new rifle. I've been working on getting that bolt working smoother. Its just about there. I switched over to shooting left handed, as I couldn't stand it any longer:


Then a while ago I was breaking in the new barrel on my 10-22:


That's with cheap American eagle ammo. For the price tag, that ammo is excellent. It is made by Federal, as most of you know, but it has been very consistent in all of my rifles and pistols. It functions well in my 10-22 and I have also won some know your limits shoots with it in my single shot MKI FVT savage 22lr. I'll only burn up my good ammo when I have to.

But for very consistent ammo, I prefer Eley as well as you do:

I have a fair amount of Club, picked up a few boxes of Target for comparison, and also a few boxes of Tenex Pistol that was on sale at a good discount, just to see how the other half lives. Won’t ever use anything that high-end on a regular basis as this is supposed to be fun, and I wouldn’t enjoy that guilty pleasure- too much guilt! Want to concentrate on serious practice from now on for The Season, and that can be done with “ordinary” stuff.

In either case, in rifles, I seldom shoot more than 100 out of any one at a time as I tend to get sloppy, especially offhand. Waiting for some break in the heat so the shooting’s not such an endurance test.

Should you wish to go to the trouble, sorting the less expensive stuff by rim thickness will make a difference when fractions count.

I thought I had a picture of some Rem rimfire but don't find it. It was even more widely distributed.

the equivalent of a runout gauge for .22rim thickness....
interesting.. thanks.

If you want really consistent .22 ammo you definitely have to pay for it! However, Tenex is a bit spendy for most purposes unless you are a serious competitor.

Yep weighed 10 to get an idea then just set limits.

I didn't have anything to do back then.

Nice. I may drag my 541 out tomorrow as I head to the range to confirm zero on my 270 for an upcoming pronghorn hunt.

I hear you about shooting the cheaper stuff. Your rifle looks like it shoots well enough that you can do that. Save that Tenex for some serious shooting, where it really counts.

It only matters to me….

I have one of those slider-type gauges, inherited from my brother. If I get bored enough I might trot it out. Too busy now for certain.

Great post. I agree...

When I was in high school, I shot competitively through the NRA/YHEC program, which included .22 rifle. At all meets, we shot ammo provided by the host organization and were not allowed to bring our own. The targets used were animal paper targets with 3-5" kill zones and it was either in or out. 10 points or 0.

At the state meets, we shot Winchester Wildcats (cheap bulk ammo), which in my rifles would shoot about 1.5"-2" at 50 yards for 10 shot groups. I often shot 100 rounds straight in practice and could keep every shot in a +/-2.5" group.

At the national meets, we were provided Federal Gold Medal Match ammo (grade C IIRC). This ammo would shoot around 1" or better for 10 shots on most days, but about 1 round per box would be essentially a "dud" and it may hit 4"-8" low. You could hear the difference clearly and it was gut wrenching to hear it while at a meet.

Which one do you think I preferred? 2" groups all day vs sub 1" groups with an occasional flyer.....