Is the Federal Auto Match boxed in 325 round bulk packs any good in semi auto pistols/10-22s/AR15-22s??

Regarding accuracy, I've gotten very good results with 40 grain plated solid point HV Aguila but there have been other problems with it.

I've had several 50 round boxes in which more than a few rounds were loaded so weakly that the bullets traveled 20-30 feet from the muzzle and visibly plopped right down onto the ground.

You could easily see them slowly leave the barrel an arc down to the floor.

When I get these types of rounds these days, I toss the entire remainder of the box because as odd as it seems, when you get 3 or 4 of those squib rounds, it appears that the rest if the box will be rife with them.

Another problem I've noticed is that regardless of the pistol used, on occassion, Aguila likes to throw stlill burning embers out of the ejection port and onto your hands or into your face.

My wife refuses to shoot the stuff but I actually find it to be more accurate than the 36 grain HP or.40 grain solid plated HV CCI she shoots.

We literally shoot 10's of thousands of .22 between us each year.


ETA: the most consistently accurate .22 I've found for handguns is Wolf.



UPDATE:

My remarks regarding the sparking of the 40 grain Aguila referred to the now discontinued yellow boxes marked Eley Prime.

The new white boxes marked Aguila Prime do no such thing;  it burns clean.

Lamp shade- my experience over the years has been to avoid any bulk pack ammo as it is consistently the lowest quality product every company produces. Don’t be fooled by the marketing nonsense there is nothing “match grade” about auto match. It is probably fine for activity where accuracy is not at all critical ( I just burned some up at a recent steel challenge match just to rid myself of the little I had) I own 6 22’s and only one of them runs it reliably.
My best bet for a cheap plinking ammo ( which happily is easy to find on store shelves again) is the cci blazer. For events requiring more accuracy and consistency cci standard is my choice. I simply do not shoot well enough to notice the improvement with high end ammo. Last season I shot eley in my bullseye competition.22 and my average score was the same as when I use cci.

CCI Mini-Mags have been my go to ammo for years now.  I still shoot other bulk stuff like Federal and Blazer as I find it for decent prices.  I don't shoot any Remington at all and mostly stay away from cheap Winchester 333 & 555 bulk packs.  Nothing but bad experiences with it in all of my .22 firearms.

It use to be that "whatever is cheap" was my mantra.  And to a degree, it still is.

Anyway, now days.....
I avoid most any bulk 22LR ammo where it's just thrown into a box.  I don't care if it's from Winchester, Federal, Browning, Remington, CCI, etc.....  If it's in a bulk box, I don't want it.  That includes, Fed Auto Match.  I just get too many jams with it in my Ruger 10/22 rifles.

Currently.....
I've stocked up on CCI blazer (packed 50 rds to the box).  It works fine will all of my semi autos and it's accurate enough and cheap enough at about $200 a case.  I purchase it by the case, to get a single lot number (5000 rds).

Words to the wise.....
Stock up.  Because, you never know what the politicians will say or do next to #@%* things up again.

Then, I recently discovered GECO Bolt (at Target Sports USA) for my Ruger 10/22.  For ME, it shoots just as well as CCI std velocity*.  And, at a cheaper price.  Currently, you can get it on sale for $205 a case with free shipping.



*Things vary between rifles and ammo lot numbers.  You'll have to do your own tests to find what's best for you.

Aloha, Mark

I can't believe how full of derp this thread is. Lapua was not even listed in the poll but lots of crap ammo was.

Lapua is probably better quality than Eley but lacks acceptance.

For the price, this stuff works pretty good.

I've had the best luck with CCI. Federal has been the second best.

CCI Mini Mags.  These are my goto.  If I want to know if a gun will run this is where i start.

Word of caution I bought a box of 275-38gr Federal bulk HPs this week.  7 out of 10 were normal, the remaining 3 were like CB caps and wouldn't even start to open the action.

CCI standard velocity (1070 fps) .22LR has been excellent for my purposes.

It's very quite, can or no can.

It's been amazingly reliable. I haven't got a misfire in years.

It's very accurate.

It's cheap, currently selling @ $232.00 per 5000 delivered to your door. 08/2018.

My experience is completely the opposite with Federal Auto Match; I love the stuff.  I have literally 30,000 rounds of various 22lr on hand at the moment, a lot of bulk pack stuff and a lot of “premium” stuff; I wish more of it was Federal Auto Match.

What I’ve found is that if you have time and don’t mind the effort, you can sort / match your bulk pack ammo to suit your needs.  Sorting 22 ammo is nothing new and has been the secret of competition shooters for years, when real match ammo wasn’t as easily obtained as it is these days.
When sorting weight, OAL, rim thickness and bullet condition, if you know what your specific firearm shoots best, you can make bulk ammo really shoot well.  I messed around with this theory for a while and found that the most consistency in all measurable categories for any bulk packed ammmo came from Auto Match.  I’ve also found that even without sorting it, my most accurate semi-auto rifles shoot it pretty accurately and very reliably.  The most accurate .22 semi I own is a VERY modified 10/22 and it actually shoots sorted Auto Match better then any Wolf ammo I’ve yet to try.  The tight chamber does not like the wax coating on those bullets even a little bit.

Depends on the gun, it really does.

My old Ruger Mk1 5.5" - Thunderbolts were reliable and accurate enough to squirrel hunt with - headshots only.
My old Win. M52B - Thunderbolts again.  I could shoot the thumb tacks out of a target at 25 yds. and killed a fly or two that was on the paper at 25 yds.
My Ruger 10/22 - Rem. Golden Bullets gave me the best groups and reliability.
My AR15 with .22 conversion kit - Remington Golden Bullets again.  Dime sized ten shot groups at 25 meters.
My youngest son's AR15 with .22 conversion kit shot Federal .22 ammo better than Remington.

Never found CCI Stingers or Remington Yellow Jackets to be accurate in any .22 I owned.

Recent range trip:
Chipmunk single shot bolt action rifle was sometimes putting 2 of 3 bullets in the same hole (or tearing the hole a little bigger) at 25 yds.
Henry lever action rifle was shooting 5 and 6" groups at 25 yds. with the same ammo from the same boxes the Chipmunk shot so well.

Different guns "like" different ammo.  Buy boxes of different brands/bullet styles, go to the range and find out what shoots best in your firearms.

CCI isn’t the most accurate but it is reliable and pretty accurate for the price. My Tikka T1x prefers RWS R50 and Special match if we are strictly talking about group sizes.

If the rifle and the nut behind the trigger are sub MOA (actually sub 1/2 MOA) capable.  For smallest possiblegroup size at 50 and 100 yards:

Eley Match 40 grain
Lapua Center X 40 grain

This is standard 1080 fps (subsonic) velocity .22lr true match ammo that will challenge the best equipment and technique.

Every rifle will have its preferences, but these two are extremely capable.

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The Velocitor 40 grain is more accurate than the Stinger 32 grain but I use both of these .22LR cartridges exclusively I have killed several feral hogs with this ammo in both handgun and rifle.

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CCI MiniMags have been pretty reliable for me In a ISSC M2 and a Sig Mosquito. To be fair, I bought both these guns used yesterday and today put a few hundred rounds through each.

I’ll mostly shoot CCI or Remington through several rifles and rarely have issues.

CCI copper plated is my choice when it comes to .22LR I have used the following with outstanding results for years on years of shooting.
now I just use them exclusively in all my .22 LR Firearms both pistols & rifles.

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/mini-mag/6-31.html

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/stinger/6-50.html

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/velocitor_hp/6-47.html

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/ar_tactical/6-956.html

https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfire/cci/

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Most of my guns will run pretty much anything but Thunderbolts. I never met a .22 that didn't like CCI Mini Mags. I have an old Savage/Stevens 87 B that won't run anything but CCI Mini Mags.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Handguns/-22LR-40-Grain-HS-Brand-comparisons-4-/50-197739/

I use to shoot a .22 pistol league and everyone shot CCI mini mags.

100% true. And even lot numbers can make a huge difference. I have a Ruger MK II that will one hole Super X ammo [scoped] at 25 yards all day if I am worth a shit. However, it is from one lot and one lot only. Bought other lots and it's not even close to that lot that is accurate as hell. Tried all sorts of other stuff and some work good and some so so but none are as good as that one single lot. I bought every box I could of that one lot # I could find and only use it in that one Ruger MK II.

.22 ammo and firearms are a weird and often frustrating thing when it comes to accuracy.

This was from a little test I did:

https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/-ARCHIVED-THREAD-Interesting-observation-on-the-Federal-1600-round-Black-Pack-788BF-22LR-ammo/5-2168748/?page=1

Federal Auto Match for my semi auto pistols is my favorite

It is also VERY expensive.  The price is completely out of line with the accuracy improvement it offers to we mere mortals.

My main ammo is Wolf Match Extra.  I bought a case when it was made by SK (that era) and that case is getting very low.

I also have a case of the SK-equivalent but haven't used any of it yet.  

I have never once felt my ammo was holding me back.

I have a bunch of miscellaneous stuff by ELEY, RWS, Lapua,... more than enough for testing and a few matches.

In my posting above, I forgot this is the PISTOL subforum.  That ammo is for my rifles.

My Buckmark is having trouble with all standard velocity ammo, no matter the maker (ELEY, Wolf,...) - failure to feed, failure to extract,...

I used to use Winchester T-22 in it to great success.  When I tried ELEY Match Pistol (yellow box), I had nothing but trouble.

The pistol needs ammo with a bit more OOMPH! than match ammo offers.