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When you said, "Federal Black".....I was thinking of this stuff.

IMG-0532.jpg

BUT, at any rate.....IMHO, it's best to buy a few......before you buy the entire case (invest a lot of money in a stockpile) of something you like (more so, with 22LR ammo). As you've found out.....not all 22LR is alike. Meaning, that sometimes a certain semi-automatic rifle (or pistol) won't like it.

Not to mention that......YES.....sometimes a mfn can have a bad day (week, month or year...LOL).

Ruger-1022-test-11-4-18.jpg

BTW.....my Ruger 10/22 has it's share of problems with that "red boxed" Federals. :eek: Some of the cheaper (what some call, "crap 22LR ammo") just works better. That plain white boxed Federal (on the far left) came out of the case (pictured at the top).

In other words......for me, "Price ain't always the determining factor."

Aloha, Mark

PS.....and lot numbers vary and it can matter greatly. ;)
 
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I'm working through two 1600 Packs of federal black pack. Couple issues with it, light strikes and sometimes they sound underpowered. Wife had one today that was struck 4 times and still didnt fired. We had a lot of stovepipes,failure to extract and so on more than ever!
 
Bulk pack 22 ammo is on sale at BiMart for anywhere from 3.3 - 3.8 cents/round.

  • Fed Black 38 & 40 grain 275ct $9.97
  • Rem Thunderbolt, 500ct, $16.88
  • Fed Eagle, 500ct, $18.88
Of those three, the Fed Black 40gr was the most accurate. Haven't tried 38 yet.
The Fed Eagle wouldn't cycle the gun (High Standard)
Thunderbolt shot very well too.
I feel like HS pistols need a round nose, since I've had problems in both a model B and two HD MILITARY.

Has to be a bad lot, I'm sure they'd deal with it appropriately.
 
I feel like HS pistols need a round nose, since I've had problems in both a model B and two HD MILITARY.

Has to be a bad lot, I'm sure they'd deal with it appropriately.
Have continued to test a bunch on the High Standard Field King.
Magazine feed lip dimensions are the most important factor on mine.
RN feed the worst (Federal 40gr Moly), conical or truncated nose/HP feed the best across all the brands.
 
Have continued to test a bunch on the High Standard Field King.
Magazine feed lip dimensions are the most important factor on mine.
RN feed the worst (Federal 40gr Moly), conical or truncated nose/HP feed the best across all the brands.
Weird, because trying the same round but RN and HP in mine makes the difference.
Aguila and Federal are my go to for that.
 
Finally remembered to check my lot number, it's 1RE152.
I am really surprised that this brand has not been as reliable as years past.... High production is probably the culprit or the lot was made on a Monday or Friday.... remember the cars????
 
I always worry when some one gets bad ammo or a bad gun and I have it/them too. As a dealer, the factory goes through with a weegee board, a devining rod and a couple astrologers to pick out stuff that they should just scrap, but want to have fun sticking it to me with. So far I have not had any problems with Federal Black Pack, but of course I will now go home and none of them will work in any gun. Like Lee presses (all/any), Rem Thunderbolt (quit buying it years ago, although a friend ran on "a great deal on .22s!" and I told him to buy me a brick to try. Yeah, you guessed it, Thunderbolts. Should have known from the price. Haven't tried them yet because I haven't felt the need to get that POed yet), everyone claims they work fine now, and much like what I hear about Kimber, it is entirely possible that QC has improved, but I like to actually SEE it with my own two eyes before believing it.
 
I bought several bricks of Winchester .22 some years ago and had constant problems. Solid, deep strikes resulted in 10% duds and weak fires stopping mid-barrel. Confirmed it was the ammo (and not 4-5 assorted weapons in which it malfunctioned).

Of course I couldn't return it to the store, so I contacted Winchester directly. They immediately sent me shipping labels, promising to "evaluate" the ammo. They did, and responded by sending me vouchers for Winchester ammo worth more than what I originally spent. With that, I got several boxes of 12ga shotgun shells that worked 100%.

Same problem again a few years later with Winchester .38 spl ammo (also confirmed with 3-4 weapons). Again, I reported the malfunctions to Winchester and they sent me another shipping label. This time they simply cut me a refund check, also for more than I originally spent.

I don't know if Federal might respond similarly, but they should act responsibly (and quickly) to minimize a potential spate of negative reports.

Whether for plinking or self defense, shooters need ammo that works.
 
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I had contacted Federal a while ago about the inconsistency of their 45 auto HP defense ammo. It was horribly inaccurate and most of the projectiles were so undersized,they didn't even engage the rifling. Have not heared anything back. And this is ammo that cost $25/box of 20
 

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