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Pandemic-Era Bulk Ammo Reliability

wmg1299

wmg1299

Professional
I've been limiting my round count for traditional defensive calibers due to ammo scarcity and pricing, so I've started bringing either my Taurus TX22 or Heritage Rough Rider to the range with me for some affordable plinking. I had been using older boxes of Federal Auto Match bulk ammo for awhile, with the TX22 being about 99% reliable, and the Rough Rider being 100% reliable. Almost all of the boxes were 5-10 years old and had been stored in my closet for years.

I was too lazy to dig through my stash in the closet, so I've used a 325 round box of Federal bulk that I ordered from Bass Pro a few weeks ago for my last few range sessions. I did most of my shooting with the TX22, and found that I was having one failure to fire per every two 16-round magazines. While this wasn't too bad for bulk ammo, it was about 3 times as many failures as I normally get from that gun. With the Rough Rider, which has been 100% reliable with whatever I've put through it in the past, I had 5 or 6 failures to fire out of about 120 rounds. All of the dud rounds showed solid strikes on the rim, so I doubt that the guns caused the failures.

I'm wondering if the quality of bulk ammo has suffered due to manufacturers scrambling to meet demand during the pandemic. Have any of you that have been able to find bulk .22 LR ammo recently had similar experiences, or was this just a bad box?
 
wmg1299 said:
I've been limiting my round count for traditional defensive calibers due to ammo scarcity and pricing, so I've started bringing either my Taurus TX22 or Heritage Rough Rider to the range with me for some affordable plinking. I had been using older boxes of Federal Auto Match bulk ammo for awhile, with the TX22 being about 99% reliable, and the Rough Rider being 100% reliable. Almost all of the boxes were 5-10 years old and had been stored in my closet for years.

I was too lazy to dig through my stash in the closet, so I've used a 325 round box of Federal bulk that I ordered from Bass Pro a few weeks ago for my last few range sessions. I did most of my shooting with the TX22, and found that I was having one failure to fire per every two 16-round magazines. While this wasn't too bad for bulk ammo, it was about 3 times as many failures as I normally get from that gun. With the Rough Rider, which has been 100% reliable with whatever I've put through it in the past, I had 5 or 6 failures to fire out of about 120 rounds. All of the dud rounds showed solid strikes on the rim, so I doubt that the guns caused the failures.

I'm wondering if the quality of bulk ammo has suffered due to manufacturers scrambling to meet demand during the pandemic. Have any of you that have been able to find bulk .22 LR ammo recently had similar experiences, or was this just a bad box?
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I've put all types of bulk ammo through both guns and the only questionable ammo I've used as of late is the buckets of Remington golden bullets with a lot of the rounds having loose bullets causing failure to feed on occasion. I can pick out a few randomly from the bucket and easily spin the bullet or push it sideways with a little pressure.

I recommend staying away from Remington thunderbolts also. I spent about an hour one day cleaning lead fouling from a barrel of a different pistol I ran we through.

Federal Redbox is one of the most reliable bulk boxes I've used with minimal bad primers.
 
Probably just a bad box/lot.

But, let’s face it...if you push your production harder, there are also increased chances for bad rounds, as well.

The most reliable bulk ammo I’ve found, by far, is Aguila Super Extra; I prefer the copper-washed billets to the lead.
 
Was the 325 round box bare lead rounds?

I did use a type of federal a few months back that I would not use again because it kept hanging up in a rifle of mine.

I've had a great experience with federal ammo of all different caliber types except the bare lead .22lr rounds which are similar to the thunderbolts I referenced above.
 
Rim fire ammo can and does have those problems. Spinning that compound into the rim is not 100%. I've had rounds like that I turned to a new spot and boom, but 98% didn't.
I seen a video of one manufacturer stating that rim fire rounds are more fickle and you just can't speed up the line to make more faster because of the hazards of rim fire going boom.
On the other hand I've shot ammo made during the 40's that look like crude and was nowhere near stored in ideal circumstances and it all went boom.
 
Pitdogg2 said:
Rim fire ammo can and does have those problems. Spinning that compound into the rim is not 100%. I've had rounds like that I turned to a new spot and boom, but 98% didn't.
I seen a video of one manufacturer stating that rim fire rounds are more fickle and you just can't speed up the line to make more faster because of the hazards of rim fire going boom.
On the other hand I've shot ammo made during the 40's that look like crude and was nowhere near stored in ideal circumstances and it all went boom.
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Yeah I'll typically just eject a bad primer strike and reinsert it at a different rotation to hit a new spot with about a 95% success rate.
 
One of my 12 gauge slugs is loose in the shell. As in it actually rattles. I was gonna shoot it anyway, but it was hanging up in the magazine so into the shed with the empty hulls it goes.
 
Talyn said:
Some brands are outsourcing product from out-of-country manufacturers with their label on the box.
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This happened in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s.

I had boxes of WWB that were clearly made by S&B (two square 25rd trays like S&B uses, as well as completely different style headstamp—still said Winchester, but different font).

Funny thing? The S&B was higher quality ammo, and cheaper than actual S&B marked.

Go figure...
 
HansGruber said:
This happened in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s.

I had boxes of WWB that were clearly made by S&B (two square 25rd trays like S&B uses, as well as completely different style headstamp—still said Winchester, but different font).

Funny thing? The S&B was higher quality ammo, and cheaper than actual S&B marked.

Go figure...
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For awhile (don't know if it's still) S&B made the Cabelas Herters-brand pistol ammo.
 
HansGruber said:
This happened in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s.

I had boxes of WWB that were clearly made by S&B (two square 25rd trays like S&B uses, as well as completely different style headstamp—still said Winchester, but different font).

Funny thing? The S&B was higher quality ammo, and cheaper than actual S&B marked.

Go figure...
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I'm sure they sold winchester their factory seconds 😜
 
10mmLife said:
Was the 325 round box bare lead rounds?

I did use a type of federal a few months back that I would not use again because it kept hanging up in a rifle of mine.

I've had a great experience with federal ammo of all different caliber types except the bare lead .22lr rounds which are similar to the thunderbolts I referenced above.
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Yes, lead round nose. I believe the Auto Match are their lowest level of ammo. My Ruger 10/22 has never really liked them (80-90% reliable), but they have been flawless in revolvers and the TX22 until now. They were never my first choice, but I picked up a box here and there when they were the only thing on the shelves. I've never had problems with Federal .380 ACP, 9mm, or .45 ACP, but their 22 LR hasn't been as reliable.
 
wmg1299 said:
Yes, lead round nose. I believe the Auto Match are their lowest level of ammo. My Ruger 10/22 has never really liked them (80-90% reliable), but they have been flawless in revolvers and the TX22 until now. They were never my first choice, but I picked up a box here and there when they were the only thing on the shelves. I've never had problems with Federal .380 ACP, 9mm, or .45 ACP, but their 22 LR hasn't been as reliable.
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The Federal 525 round copper dusted red boxes from Walmart haven't let me down yet. I prefer Federal, Agulia, or CCI brands in no particular order for the best plinking ammo.
 
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springfieldnoob said:
Lol. I had a first the other day. Remington golden bullet. Wanted to go through that stuff as it’s just dirty before and after and not very reliable. I had 3 hammer strikes on one bullet and it’s still in the brass :).
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I had a few boxes of Remington SuperX 22L, and always have a problem running it through the grandson's Ruger 10/22. Multiple FTF/FTE are common with it, and happens with each box. On the flip side, we can run it through the M&P 22C pistol with no problem.
 
ScottJ said:
I had a few boxes of Remington SuperX 22L, and always have a problem running it through the grandson's Ruger 10/22. Multiple FTF/FTE are common with it, and happens with each box. On the flip side, we can run it through the M&P 22C pistol with no problem.
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Correction: I meant Winchester SuperX 22L, Remington.
 
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