Colt/Umarex/Walther Tactical .22 Ammo Thread

[SCORPiON5150]

Hey guys I have read all over that these rifles are VERY particular to your choice of ammo. I thought it would be helpful for us to share some of our experiences with different ammo selections with our rifles.

I personally have only tried the Federal Champion .36 grain hollow points so far, with great results after my initial setup. I got the M4 OPS version rifle for Christmas, and decided to try it out on my way home from picking it up. Using the stated Federal ammo, I ran 40 rounds through it that day and had 1-2 failure to fires per (10 round) magazine. After I took the rifle home I gave it a thorough cleaning and adjusted the bolt speed for high velocity rounds I shot the other 485 rounds of a brick through it with only 5 fail to fires the whole day. I thought that was pretty acceptable and would expect that many failures out of pretty much any .22 rifle. I have relatively poor eyesight and am no great marksman by any means, and was able to achieve 3" groups from about 70 yards with the factory sights.

I am pretty happy with the Federal rounds so far but I'm curious what others have experienced and what else would work. Please post up your experiences and recommendations. Thanks guys! 

[imschur]

Topic stickied  :thumb:

[SCORPiON5150]

Took my rifle out today for a little shooting session and tried some different brands of ammo as well, just to see what it would do. Figured I would share the results.

Fired 180 rounds of the Federal Champion .36 grain hollow points again. Not a single failure. These rifles seem to like this particular ammunition very much. I was playing with my sighting quite a bit while shooting the Federals, but when I got it dialed in I was shooting 1 1/2" groups from about 50 yards with the factory sights. I was impressed considering my level of marksman skill.

Fired 50 rounds of CCI Blazer solid points and had 3 failure to fires out of the 50, and one fail to feed issue. Grouping was about the same as the Federals it seemed. While this was not a terrible failure rate I certainly was not impressed either.

Fired 150 rounds of the dreaded (in these rifles) Remington green box hollow points. Had 11 failures to fire, and 1 failure to feed. Oddly it seemed almost every issue was the first 1 or 2 rounds of each loaded mag. Several of the fail to fire rounds got the casings stuck in the chanber and had to be pryed out as well. Grouping seemed to be in the 3" range from approximately 50 yards. This was not quite as terrible of failures as some have reported having with this ammunition, and while I was certainly not impressed by any means I was happy to know that in these times of ammunition shortage, worst case scenario I COULD get by with a brick of the Remington, without getting horrifically frustrated. But I wouldn't do so unless this was the only ammunition available anywhere.

Hope this report helps some guys out and look forward to hearing what you are shooting and how it is working out.

[techmike]

Good info - Early on I had the best performance with Federal Bulk Ammo, available (sometimes) from WalMart. Then I got 3k rounds of BVAC from Cheaper Than Dirt. Shoots just as reliably as the Federal, but about 1.5 inches higher @ 50 yds-it's just a bit hotter!  It is HV, HP 36 grain plated. I like it. Also have a bunch of Winchester Super X Power Point HP 40 grain - works good. Had problems with Remington Golden Bullets and Win Wildcats.

TM

[imschur]

FWIW the Remington ammo sounds problematic in every semi auto. Very interesting

[rodent.22]

I ran 200 rounds yesterday and 550 rounds today of the Federal bulkpak 36 grain hollowpoints. Each 30 round mag had at least one failure to fire. Upon studying the unfired round, the rim strike was clear and appeared to be a full strike. In every instance I reloaded the round in the magazine being sure to rotate the cartridge so to have a fresh edge of the rim available for the firing pin. In all instances the repositioned cartridge fired except once. That cartridge was reinserted 4 times, on the 4th time it was struck, it fired. This appears to be a case of insufficent priming compound inside the rim of the shell. The standard .22 ammo seems to have pretty low quality control, especially in this time of unprecedented sales. I had a couple of stovepipes, but that was prior to my first GOOD cleaning of the weapon. This weapon  really settles down and smooths out with several hundred rounds down the barrel. I am using a reddot sight boresighted and the accuracy appears to be VERY good. I have literally ran the rounds thru the gun this weekend to ''break-in'' the arm, so accuracy hasn't been a priority so far. My spraying the furniture with Krylon has turned out very well, the stuff hasn't chipped or scuffed at all. :grin:

[imschur]

Have any of you tried any of the pricey ammo like RWS  for accuracy and reliability?

[ecan95242]

finally got to go to the range today. i shot 400 rounds of BVAC from cheaperthandirt. i had 6 light strikes but they all fired the second time i tried them. i even started getting a few jams towards the end but i think it was just due to the gun being so dirty

[SCORPiON5150]

Got out and did a little shooting today. It was pouring down rain which sucks to expose my weapon to, but I went for it anyway :) Tried some American Eagle 40 grain solid points today (500 pack brick). I got through 200 rounds with 1 fail to fire. I did not use targets due to the rain so I can't give an accurate grouping report, though I was shooting cans and small busted pieces of broken skeet that unfortunately litter the river bar I often visit to go plinking. I was able to hit skeet chunks probably twice the size of a silver dollar from 50 yards through the iron sights on almost every shot. This is accuracy I have not seen with any of the ammo I have previously posted and I will be anxious to come back with a solid grouping report. I may have a new preference for my ammo! Also FYI for those that do not know, American Eagle is manufactured by Federal so whatever manufacturing procedures they are using, our guns seem to like. be back soon with a proper grouping report.

[imschur]

thanks for the update

[rodent.22]

I believe that the bolt speed on the Colt contributes greatly to failure to eject and stovepipe issues. The darned bolt moves faster than the extractor can react. By turning the nut inwards on the spring you increase spring pressure on the back of the bolt, this slows the speed of the bolt down. The more powerful the ammo, hyper velocity or mini-mag, the more that bolt needs to be slowed down. If you are having issues, break her open and tighten that adjustment nut inwards far as it will go...... :grin: :grin:

[steel609]

I ran 200 rounds yesterday and 550 rounds today of the Federal bulkpak 36 grain hollowpoints. Each 30 round mag had at least one failure to fire. Upon studying the unfired round, the rim strike was clear and appeared to be a full strike. In every instance I reloaded the round in the magazine being sure to rotate the cartridge so to have a fresh edge of the rim available for the firing pin. In all instances the repositioned cartridge fired except once. That cartridge was reinserted 4 times, on the 4th time it was struck, it fired. This appears to be a case of insufficent priming compound inside the rim of the shell. The standard .22 ammo seems to have pretty low quality control, especially in this time of unprecedented sales. I had a couple of stovepipes, but that was prior to my first GOOD cleaning of the weapon. This weapon  really settles down and smooths out with several hundred rounds down the barrel. I am using a reddot sight boresighted and the accuracy appears to be VERY good. I have literally ran the rounds thru the gun this weekend to ''break-in'' the arm, so accuracy hasn't been a priority so far. My spraying the furniture with Krylon has turned out very well, the stuff hasn't chipped or scuffed at all. :grin:

This is my exact same experience. I shoot only Federal bulk pak.

[rodent.22]

Guys I was watching some sort of manufacturing show the other nite( I think) LOL .22 rimfire was being loaded, 1200 rounds a second....wonder why we get a few FTF's....

[techmike]

Sorry I missed that!

TM

[SCORPiON5150]

I've been out shooting a couple times lately, still experimenting with various .22LR ammo. I have ran about 500 rounds of CCI Mini Mag through my rifle lately with 1 failure to feed. Grouping seems about the same as the American Eagle bulk packs I have posted about previously (very good). Just over 1 inch groups from approximately 50 yards using the factory iron sights.

During plinking sessions I have been standing up 12 gauge shotgun shells that unfortunately litter the river bar I frequently visit, and have been able to hit them on almost every shot from approximately 35 yards with the American Eagle or the CCI Mini Mags. Both the rifle and the stated ammo seem very, very accurate and consistent for .22LR especially. Hope this info helps. 

[trapmonkey]

i have a box of nasty .22 pick ups from various sources. rifle was box stock and set by factory

This is my general report

.22 eley pistol club

.22 eley pistol lr

.22 eley pistol match

.22 rws pistol match

about 500+ rounds.... the pistol ammo is at best used to annoy the shooter as it isn't reliable with many many FTF.

rws HV

rws econ

rws rifle match

rws r50

eley match

eley tenex

eley tenex eps

cci standard

cci green label

magtech standard

this stuff is pretty good all told shot 1000+ mixture. most of the ammo is at least 10 years old and alll but 3 did not go bang.

my rifle seems unfussy about whichever ammo it uses, although the match rounds and the HV definitely shoot flatter than the standard velocity economy ammo.

i hope this helps...

cheers, TM

[imschur]

Thanks for the update.

I used the RWS pistol match in my S&W 41. Accurate but not reliable for me. I actually thought I had a problem with the gun.

[SCORPiON5150]

Haven't been on to post in awhile. Pretty settled on ammo selection at this point. My rifle has been REALLY reliable with the American Eagle bulk packs I have posted about previously, and the Federal hollow point bulk packs. I did a little shooting this weekend, trying longer distances now. I am just amazed with how accurate both the rifle and the ammo is, for .22LR.

Again, I am not the greatest marksman by any means but not horrible either. Was shooting both ammo types from upward 200+ yards in prone position using the factory iron sights and shooting at a 1 gallon Gatorade jug, a 1/2 gallon orange juice container, an approximately 10" steel pan, and some 24oz beer cans. these targets all look like a little spec through the iron sights at this distance, and I was able to hit the cans about 50% of the time, and the other targets 80% (had a spotter with binoculars). 1 fail to fire out of 600 rounds of the Federals and none out of 200 rounds of the American Eagle. I believe I have over 8000 rounds through the rifle now and it's functioning smooth as silk with these particular ammunitions.

[Glowin]

Hi Guys,

Just been to the range with the new M4 Ops and had a great time.

The place I bought the rifle from also sold me some Geco .22 l.r. Rifle ammo. Apparently it's made by RWS. I was a little worried that it'd spoil my first outing with the new rifle. I shouldn't have worried.

I spent the first thirty rounds zeroing my PS22 site and by the end was achieving 1/2 inch groups resting at 30 yards. The rest of the evening was spent rapid firing and with a massive smile spread across my Chevy. Not a single problem.

Good stuff.  :thumb:

Cheers

Glowin

[techmike]

They are fun!!! I have noticed as my M4 got "broken in", it is now a lot less finicky about what type of ammo I feed it.

TM

[SCORPiON5150]

They are fun!!! I have noticed as my M4 got "broken in", it is now a lot less finicky about what type of ammo I feed it.

TM

I absolutely agree. I have been able to shoot the dreaded Remington green box without a terrible amount of trouble, just fooling around to see what happened. I picked up some new ammo last night 140 miles away at a Walmart that I have never seen on the shelves around here (no Walmart where I live). I got some Winchester stuff, a 500 bulk pack of Xpert HV 36 grain hollow points and some 100 packs of Super X 37 grain plated hollow points. Just picked them up out of curiosity. Will post up my results soon. Would like to try some RWS or other high end rounds but have never seen them for sale locally.

[Plinkster]

I've run about 500 rounds of CCI Blazer thru mine. I like cheap ammo and I've only had one misfire, zero jams. After waiting a bit I re-racked it, and it went off no worries. Although it’s a little dirty.

I’m glad this works for this application. I’d be rather upset if I had to use very high end premium ammo, might as well have the big boy and pay big $$for the big boy ammo. My whole point is to lower my costs and still have fun.  ;D

[George Wood]

I recently ran through a box of Fed bulk (550) amo that I purchased from WM and had only 1 FTF. And at $15 a box it does not get much better than that.

[wobblinwheel]

I have found that my Colt M4 LOVES Winchester bulk "555's" ($19 at Wally-World) AND Winchester Subsonics. The subsonics have a unique 40gr. "Truncated Cone" bullet design that chambers EXTREMELY WELL in the Colt. The really large hollow-point cavity makes a really nice "SPLAT" when it hits something, and the fact that they're SUBSONIC works well with suppression and improves accuracy. The only problem with the subsonics is they are a bit pricey, at $4.00 a box. Cheaper-than-Dirt has them for $2.97 a box, but the shipping costs negate the cost-effectiveness. The Winchesters also seem to have a more consistent bullet diameter that insures reliable chambering, even with a dirty barrel.

[bmwmick]

  I've only run about 250 rounds through my M4 and nothing seemed to work well except the

CCI Mini-Mags.  I went through a few Remington Golden crap, Peters HV (made by Remington) and CCI Blazers.  Some of the Blazers had bent lead, as if you bent the bullet with needle nose pliers. They seem to have been caught in the feed area along with the spent shell from the previous round.  I had no failures at all with the Mini-Mags, Peters and Remington failed to feed reliably.  :-[

  I've tried adjusting the bolt buffer spring all the way in, halfway in, all the way out and nothing seemed to help.  Yesterday, I stripped the gun and polished the sliding surfaces of the bolt and the carrier.  I used a buffing wheel on my Dremel and some very light rouge for aluminum.  The bolt was REALLY tight and rough before I did the polishing.  I also polished the feed ramp since it was ugly and dull looking as it came from the factory.

  Hopefully, I'll be able to get the Blazer ammo to feed and eject reliably next time I get out.

Mick