“Dear Federal Ammunition”

To whom it may concern:

re:  This stuff

Contrary to what it says on the box, this “target grade performance” .22 ammo, supposedly “ideal for semi-auto” actually isn’t any of those things, as I discovered at my favorite (indoor) range yesterday.

Out of the 325 rounds contained in said box, I experienced no fewer than 28 failures to fire (FTF) — all, it should be said, did fire the second time around — and to be frank, the “target grade” accuracy wasn’t anything to write home about, either (more on that in a bit).

Now I know what comes next:  “Your rifle isn’t working properly!  Check the firing pin!”

Ahem.  I fired 100 rounds through each of the following (same range session, btw):

By rifle (top to bottom):

Taurus Mod 63 (Winchester ’63 clone):  7 FTF
Marlin Mod 60:  8 FTF
Ruger 10/22:  9 FTF

All three were meticulously maintained and cleaned, all are either fresh out of the box or nearly so, and none has had more than 100-odd rounds fired through them.  Sorry, but a 7-9% failure rate in ammo which is supposedly “target grade” sucks dick worse than Madonna on her last Saturday night drunken pub crawl.  Honestly, I get better results from the awful Remington Gold 500-round bulk ammo.

And by the way, all the rounds fed flawlessly, whether through a tube mag or the 10/22 magazine — the rifles, in other words, were without fault.

Now for that accuracy thing.

I will frankly admit that my old eyes do not engender the best accuracy in the world with iron sights, but I’ll also suggest that a 2.5″ (best) grouping at 20 yards is not really acceptable off the bench — at least, not to me it isn’t.

So I fired off the last 25 rounds (4 FTF, FFS) through something a little more accurate — a rifle which usually gets sub-1″ groups at the same distance.  Here’s a full picture of the rifles I took to the range:

I would humbly suggest that in my shaking old hands, that Marlin 880SQ (top) is as good as any “target” rifle for the price, and better than just about any other of that type that I’ve fired before.

The result:  1.75″ (best 5-round grouping of the five strings, the others were over 2″).  So I popped off five rounds of its usual feed (CCI MiniMag 40gr), and got a 0.72″ group with a called marginal “flier” — excluding that, it was a 0.5″ single hole.  Now that’s what I call “target grade” performance.

You guys need to step up your game.  And fix your frigging priming compound.

16 comments

  1. I’ve found that the Federal AutoMatch works well in my Ruger Mk II. I don’t think your rifles are the problem at all. Maybe they just don’t like the Fed automatch. Maybe post covid the quality has decreased on Fed AutoMatch.

  2. I have a lot of different brands and types of 22 LR in my stash. I do like the blue box and maroon box federal 22 ammo. Decent stuff.

    I have some of this Federal Auto SNATCH as well. It’s been ok through my 10 / 22.

    22 is so widely varied in quality that different batches of the same stuff can differ. Years ago I knew an old timer who would go to a store and ask for a case of ammo. He would verify the lot number on the side of all of the boxes on the case to be sure they matched aka they were all manufactured from the same batch.

    He would then test a box or two from that batch. Make sure it functions and sight his rifle in. He would note this info, date time and lot number sighted in with. If all went well he used only that case of ammo for the rest of the rifle matches like egg shoot and other 22 rifle matches.

    From my experience if you have to 100 percent (or at least 99 percent) depend on 22 ammo for matches or self defense if you are not able to handle more than 22 – the absolute top choice would be ELEY brand ammo and close second is CCI Mini Mag 22 LR ammo. When I worked in the gun business years ago, these two ammo worked in almost any 22 even very ammo sensitive guns. Unless there was something broken on the gun these two ammo brands ran through most anything like diarrhea.

    I’ll have to dig out some of the Federal Auto SNATCH from my stash and try some more. I can’t remember having tons of issues but then again my ammo is stored in ammo containers and was all bought 5 to 10 years ago. Haven’t bought so much recently. Maybe ammo manufacturing is another victim of post Covid shitty quality just like with cars and electronics and other items.

    YMMV

  3. This summer I’ll have to make a project out of finding which ammunition each 22lr firearm likes out of my collection. Shucks, more range time.

    1. Try some ELEY ammo if you can find it. Expensive. But it is like the Ferrari of 22 LR ammo

      1. I think I bought a brick when a local store was moving. I bet it was fairly cheap compared to todays prices.

  4. Did you inspect the box with care? Sure sounds like “Made in China” quality.
    And thanks for the PSA, wont be buying that brand, not that I need to, still have about 10K rounds in bulk packs to smile with, some dating back to the 3cents/round era.

    1. Back in 2011 and 2012 even when Barry Soetoro was president you could pickup a 500 round bulk pack of 22 LR for 15 to 20 bucks. Walmart was a very great place to buy

      Fast forward to 2025. In Massachusetts Maura the Tuna Tickler Lesbian Bull Dyke Bitch Healey Governor if the state signed an anti 2A rights law and now ammo sellers have to record your name and address and permit number and what type and how much ammo you are buying. All of the Walmarts I know of in Massachusetts near me stopped selling ammo now.

      Which leads me to ask – a federal judge immediately blocked some of trumps executive orders – but yet no one blocks assholes laws that take gun rights.

      The days of cheap ammo are long gone. Thanks a fucking lot to these DEI democrats.

  5. Like many here, as a child I shot thru many thousands of rounds of .22LR in a variety of old and poorly maintained and very dirty rifles. We’d get the cheapest ammo we could afford, too. And even though my rose-tinted glasses are especially dark, I don’t remember more than maybe 1 or 2 FTF per 500 rnd box ever. Many times I’d shoot through an entire brick of the cheapest shit made and never have any FTF.

    Some of the stuff I’ve bought recently just flat out sucks in comparison. I mean, have we forgotten how to manufacture ammo? Or has the ammo crisis caused a cheapening of quality? Perhaps cost cutting measures or DEI engineering has taken over? Or maybe this is some insidious plot by the gun-grabbers to fuck with us – i.e. if we can’t confiscate their guns we’ll make the ammo worthless so they hate shooting. One has to wonder.

  6. Are they lead nosed or copper jacketed?

    The copper jacketed version will run without hiccups in my Ruger pistols I use for steel plate matches.
    I have yet to find any lead nosed 22 ammo that runs flawlessly for 100-150 rounds in a match. I think the same thing happens with all the rimfire rifle shooters and that usually determines who wins the match. Failure to fire, failure to feed, failure to extract all seem much higher in the lead nosed rounds.

    As far as accuracy, I couldn’t tell you much. We are trying to hit a 6 or 8 inch steel palate at 20 -25 yard max. If it goes pew it’s probably good enough for our needs.

    1. Interesting take. In his 50-meter Free Pistol events, the Son&Heir — and ALL the other competitors, including the Army Marksmanship kids — used Federal Match .22, which is lead nose (RNLP).
      In an everyday capacity, I’m with you on the copper jacketed stuff, though. As far as I’m concerned, CCI still makes the best and most consistent .22 ammo out there. It’s my go-to brand across every single one of my .22s, whether rifles or handguns.

  7. My first thought as well was DEI?

    Back in another life, there was a local outfit that ran both wholesale and retail on their property just outside of town. One day they decided to shut down the wholesale end and had a sale. They were selling Winchester Super-X for $9.99 a brick. I bought a case (5000 rds) of round nose and a case of hollow points. Still have some of each. Accuracy is superb and function is flawless. Not that I have done extensive testing, but this stuff seems to be as good–

    https://www.shootammo.com/products/ammo-aguila-1b220328-640420001012-6778

  8. Federal primers have a 10% failure rate. The one thing they get right is that they make very good brass.

  9. When working for a mag manufacturer, we found the best test ammo in .22lr was CCI Blazer.
    It’s what I keep in my bag, for both rifles and pistols.
    (Glad to see you’re getting some use out of that Taurus 63)

  10. 12-15 years ago, Federal AutoMatch was very good stuff. Then… the first ‘Boma ammo crisis hit, and AutoMatch went to shit. (Was there anything Barry or Big Mike couldn’t eff-up?) I still have 4 or 5 bricks of the old stuff I’m jealously guarding.

    Currently, I find CCI Standard is the best for accuracy and value out of my 10/22s and Buck Mark Target.

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