...or at least this particular lot.
I picked up a carton at the last gun show, just tickled pink to find reasonably-priced plated .22LR at all, even if it was Remington.
I should have got a discount for all the duds; so far it's been running almost 1-in-10.
I miss the days when ammunition was plentiful and cheap enough that I could afford to turn up my nose at Remington's crap rimfire offerings, but Mini Mags and Stingers are scarce these days and priced at darn near what you'd pay for CCI Blazer 9mm FMJ when I started this blog.
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37 comments:
Wow, that's freaky. I shoot thousands of rounds of those and never have misfires of any consequence, will you post a lot number?
Og,
Normally I didn't like them out of snobbery. They were dirty and had a lot of duds (meaning 1-in-75 or 1-in-100) but this carton is just out of control: J07PC1233
I'm just thankful that the both by guns seem to run great on incredibly cheap .22. I think I have 4k rounds of Thunderbolt somewhere and my buckmark and model 60 both like it.
Sad but true. I've had issues with most of the bulk .22LR (Winchester and Remington) produced since 2008. Posters on several different forums have noted the same. FWIW, Wal-Marts Federal bulk .22LR (550 rounds) seems OK and CCI Blazer .22LR works well.
og, you may be shooting older ammo - the newer bulk is crap. I had a decent stock of Federal .223 100 round packs and the newer stuff shoots horribly. Thought my rifle was broken as I moved through the older ammo to the newer. Turns out the rifle is fine, the newer ammo sucks. PMC .223 (by the case) is about $350.00 and is now my bulk training ammo of choice.
Al T.
So, if Remington sucks, what do you recommend for target shooting (i.e.: pleasure rather than 'business')? I currently use whatever cheap Winchester stuff I can pick up, but I am open to suggestions.
tks
I've got a nice stockpile of Stingers. I am low on 155mm though.
I've had trouble with Golden Bullets in the bulk packs -- duds and sparrow farts. I have better luck with the Federal bulk .22LR.
I've had excellent luck with even current lot Federal copper-plated .22LR - the 550 count bulk box that's sometimes available at Wally-World. My S&W 422, a somewhat finicky autoloader, likes those about as much as any middle-price .22LR out there, and it runs all day long in the semi-auto rifles.
I'm glad to hear that the older Rem Golden bullets are okay, because I'm sitting on a couple thousand rounds from back in the days when you could find bulk .22LR for under $10 a box...
Another vote for the Federal bulk .22 ammo at Wal Mart (550 rd boxes).
Best value out there as far as cheap ammo these days.
I go through about 2 boxes a month or so, and I have few issues with it in rifles or pistols.
If it were one gun, I'd put it off to the heater in question, but so far I've experienced issues in:
Smith K-22 "pre-Model 18"
Shootin' Buddy's 10/22 and M&P-15/22
Mk.III 22/45
and my CMMG AR conversion kit.
Man, that sucks. I've committed one of the worst gunny sins - I'm literally out of .22 ammo - and I need to pick some more up. I've not been able to find bulk and I'm not paying the ridiculous prices they're asking for a pack of 50.
My 22/45 *loves* the Golden Bullets. In each box of 550, there's generally a dozen or so duds, but I like duds. I toss them back into the pile. Duds are a great way to see if you're flinching / pulling / etc.
But 10 or so in a box of 550 is one thing... what you're talking about is a whole 'nuther.
*Out* of .22LR???
Gunniecard. Now.
"I'm literally out of .22 ammo - "
It's weird; that sounds like English, but I'm just not parsing it... ;) :p
I've had the same trouble with Remington and Winchester .22 ammo, to the point where I shy away from their centerfire offerings as much as possible (although I have yet to have a WWB 9mm dud in who knows how many boxes).
All these arsenals, I'm callin' the cops!
Sounds like par for the course as far as my experience with Remington Gold Bullet. It is easily the worst bulk .22lr out there. There's also been some really really (yes two) bad leading problems with it at least in GSG-5s.
The Federal bulk runs pretty well, and my little S&W M&P15-22 has been liking the Winchester bulk pack.
Contact Remington, see if they'll comp you a box for your troubles.
I also like the federal stuff.
Aw, gee. Late to the party again.
So happens my wife & I shot about a full 525 rnd box of Remington gowden buwwits last Friday, between the S&W 22A & my 40+ year old Nylon66. 1 dud. It's fresh stuff, too, no more than 6 months old.
Inconsistent QC?
Back in the good old days I liked the CCI Blazer .22LR. Can't afford it now, so it's almost all Wal-Mart federal.
Had some Winchester X-pert ammo that worked fine in factory 10/22 mags, but choked hard in my Hot Lips mags.
I hate almost all Remington ammo except the subsonic .22, which IIRC ran fine in my 22/45 and 10/22.
Golden Bullets suck, for the reasons you've stated: I run about one dud in every (10-round) magazine. On top of that, the ones that do fire don't reliably cycle in my Buckmark--they usually fail to eject, but sometimes don't have the guts to even run the slide fully. There's no excuse for that. My Single Six obviously doesn't have the latter problems, but still finds duds. I've even tried rotating the round and re-firing it just in case I got a void in the primer, but they seem to be completely unprimed all the way around the rim.
Federal bulk pack has been surprisingly good to me. Every bit as reliable in my Buckmark as Mini-Mags, and a damn sight cheaper and more available.
Neither my Marlin 60 nor the lil Phoenix pocket pistol like the remington. If its not a dud, there is a 50/50 chance for a FTF. Everything else, even the Federal bulk box, does better than the remington goldens.
WV:ingrave,, where I would be if I trusted Remington Goldens with my life.
Yeah, I wondered if it mightn't be gaps in the primer, too, but I picked up a few duds that I'd cycled through the CMMG kit and ran them through the MkIII and still no-go.
I just picked up a carton of Golden Bullets, too. I haven't experienced any duds, but this is only the second carton that I've ever purchased.
It's hard to beat 3.8 cents a round.
.22 firearms are more ammo-sensitive than centerfire guns. .22 autoloaders even more so.
You just have to experiment to see what works in a particular gun (and hope the mfr stays consistent with their QC). I label the packages so I know what will/won't work in what gun.
Their subsonic 22 ammo is as bad: roughly 1 in 10 are duds.
Contact Remington; good chance they'll replace it. I just finished going through that with some of their GB ammo, and one of the things they reported after testing was the priming having a bad mix.
I've had occasional duds with them before, but this stuff was bloody awful, duds and some so light when they fired that I checked the bore to make sure the damn bullet wasn't stuck there. They really let their QC slip for a while.
Same problem with my Savage 64, and my Iver Johnson Target Mod 55 pistol.
I was starting to think there was something wrong with the pistol, until it happened in the rifle too. I'm getting about every 3rd round failing in the pistol, and probably 8 or 9 of ten in the rifle. I checked, and it's marking the case on both weapons. I thought the pistol might have a worn firing pin, but it doesn't appear to (I bought that one used from gunbroker.com).
I've got nearly 2000 rounds of this left, and it's pure shite.
I've had tons of problems with Rem green/yellow boxed rounds, both standard .22LR and the HPs. Your misfire rate approximates what I have had with the 3-4 bulk packs I've gone through - 5-8 per box of 50.
Good practice for tap/rack drills, but at an timed Appleseed? I think not!
I won't buy 'em anymore, Wally World here has tons of Winchester and Federal which I am itching to try once the 10/22 gets finished in the shop.
Tam,
When the 1968 gun control act passed, my dad had to stop selling ammunition in his grocery stores (yes, we used to sell ammo in our convenience stores!). for some reason, we only carried Remington brand ammunition, and all we had left at the time the law went into effect was a half dozen 25 round boxes of 12 guage, about 20 boxes of .410-3 1/2", and about dozen bricks of .22 LR. As I recall, at least one brick ws .22 Short, and one was .22 Long. The rest was split between solid and hollowpoint .22 LR.
I was 13 at the time and my only gun was a Winchester 190 semi-auto rifle which would digest Short, Long and Long rifle. I shot all of that ammo and lot more Remington that I have bought over the years through that 190 and numerous other .22's I have owned since (some of which mirror each of the guns you named), and have not had a problem with Remington rimfire ammo like you describe.
Then again, it's been a while since I have bought any .22 since I stocked up quite a bit a few years ago. Maybe it's a case of "they don't make it like they used to".
FWIW, the bulk ammo issues are new problems. New as in 2009 AD. Also FWIW, the Winchester "333" seems to suck too. Various Ruger MKIIs, Savages, S&W 617, Marlin 39 mounties, Ruger 22/45s and other novelties spit, sputtered and spewed.
Al T.
All mine is old stuff in boxes, but the stuff in the Big Can is mixed. Don't think I have anything newer than 06. I bought a LOT of it in 06.
I will be on the lookout for the federal for when I restock.
Another +1 for the Federal Bulk packs from Wally World. My only problem is they are getting crazy expensive, especially when lately I've been going through 1000-1500rnds a week (2300 a few weeks ago). The last time my wife picked up a batch they were up to almost $20 a box. Seems like just a few months ago I was bitching when they went up to $13 and change. The Federal AutoMatch is mow actually slightly cheaper per round, but comes in smaller boxes. At least here in yuppy liberal land Walmart still has a 6 box limit, and a severe shortage of pretty much everything. So when they have ammo in stock, you buy the biggest size boxs. I even grab the Winchester when they have it. I don't care for it, but I save it for the kid to run though his CZ452. That thing seems to eat anything.
I've got about 100 rds left from a 550 rd carton of the stuff.
My Buckmark not only runs on it like 110 octane avgas, but it's been dime-accurate to boot at 15 yds. Cycles like MG-42 on espresso.
Yet, in my CZ-452 Lux, the stuff has the same misfire rate you're reporting, and it's not so much a question of "accuracy", but more a matter of how badly the shot goes off.
Misfires. In. A. Damn. Boltie!?
And yes, it's dirty stuff. Still, I'll run the rest of it through the Buckmark. Seems it's found a good home there.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
purchased 2 boxes of it this weekend and shot 'em both in one long session with a glock 22lr conversion on a cns incapacitation class, only a few duds and ftf's. That setup hates anything but GB's and CCI deliciousness.
I agree on the Federal stuff. I just picked up a box tonight. They've gone from the 550 round boxes to a 375 round box for around $13.
After picking up that new M&P 15-22 I am going to need a lot more 22LR ammo, and most folks (me included) seem to have good luck with the Federal bulk.
Well, booger: here I've been blaming the Green Mountain barrel for what's been ailing my 10/22. I'll be sure to run the rest of the GBs through a wheelgun. Thanks!
I'm kinda surprised by all this! My 10/22 from 1976 absolutely loves thunderbolts and golden bullets. I once had 4-525 packs. And I had a total of 4 or 5 misfires and 0 feeding. That's was amazing! I just picked up 2 525 packs and a about 1000 thunderbolts this week. Mini Mags are alright. Once had 3 misfires and 1 misfeed in a hundred round box!! To this day I have about 4000 golden bullets. And 3000 thunderbolts. I love em!
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