Ever had bad ammo shoot well?

dakota.potts · February 5, 2014, 06:31 PM

I went to the range yesterday and tried a couple types of .22 ammo in my CZ 452. The first box was Remington Subsonic Hollow Points (nearest I could tell, pretty much the same as the Thunderbolt). It is the only ammo to this day which has jammed in this gun. 6 out of 50 rounds refused to go in the chamber and had to be ejected. However, when looking at my shooting, it was the tightest group all day - about 40 rounds in a 4" circle at 100 yards and all in the black. The CCI Mini mags, which my gun loves to feed, had the worst group. Then was the American Eagle which also feed beautiful and were almost as tight as the Remington.

Due to several factors (barrel heating, fouling, etc.) I plan to test this a couple of times in different orders to see if I can repeat the results of the test, but I was surprised to see that the ammo that barely fed in the gun actually shot surprisingly well when I could get it in to the chamber.

Snyper · February 5, 2014, 06:36 PM

Every gun is an individual entity which can be accurate with rounds that are terrible in other ways

Very often the cheapest "sub standard" ammo will outperform expensive imported "match grade" ammo in a particular gun.

wogpotter · February 6, 2014, 10:59 AM

Yes. My Ruger 10-22 prefers the "dirty, rubbish" Remington "thunderpharts" to all other "better" ammo both for accuracy & functioning.

Panfisher · February 6, 2014, 12:02 PM

Yep, Tested a batch of .38 spl reloads in my GP-100, sounded awful loud for a .38, had to shall we say persuade them to eject by applying a mallet to the ejector rod, turns out I had read the wrong line in the reloading mandual. However they shot into the best group I have ever fired with a handgun. I am often thankful that there is a guardian angel for little children and fools. And at least one of my .22's loves the old Rem Golden Bullets that were filthy and often had duds, but dang when they shot it would pile them into small groups.

DaleA · February 6, 2014, 05:50 PM

In the early 1980's a friend at the range had Thunderbolts perform almost as well as Eley 10x in his S&W model 41.

His theory was that the Thunderbolts were slightly oversized and soft lead and conformed to the barrel better. Plus he suspected from the recoil that they were slightly underpowered. He said there was a bit more 'snap' to other .22 ammunition he had used.

I found Remington standard velocity ammuntion worked best in my Colt .22 conversion unit on my 1911 even though the instructions said use high power ammunition. That unit had MANY peculiarities though.

4EVERM-14 · February 6, 2014, 06:50 PM

A seasoned shooter and retailer had RWS 'Target' ammo he said shot well. I bought a case of 5000 rounds. Though certainly not to be considered bad, it is low on the scale of high end competition ammo. In three position gallery and 50 yard shooting it shot exceedingly well. As good as the real expensive stuff. After 8 bricks the accuracy dropped of drastically. Turns out the last two bricks in the case were from a different lot. It was great to have inexpensive ammo that shot well but when my scores suddenly dropped it took a while to figure out it was the ammo.

Slamfire · February 6, 2014, 06:59 PM

The consistency of bad ammunition is never as good as better ammunition.

But funnies happen. I have a ten shot target I shot with a Marlin Glenfield 60 microgroove rifle at 25 yards that is less than a dime in diameter.

I have no plans to use the thing in small bore prone competition.

While I have shot groups like this at 50 yards with SK Plus,

and I will brag about them,

I think these are statistical aberrations as the average group size of this ammunition has to be larger.

February 5, 2014, 06:31 PM	#1
dakota.potts Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2013 Location: Keystone Heights, Florida Posts: 3,084	Ever had bad ammo shoot well? I went to the range yesterday and tried a couple types of .22 ammo in my CZ 452. The first box was Remington Subsonic Hollow Points (nearest I could tell, pretty much the same as the Thunderbolt). It is the only ammo to this day which has jammed in this gun. 6 out of 50 rounds refused to go in the chamber and had to be ejected. However, when looking at my shooting, it was the tightest group all day - about 40 rounds in a 4" circle at 100 yards and all in the black. The CCI Mini mags, which my gun loves to feed, had the worst group. Then was the American Eagle which also feed beautiful and were almost as tight as the Remington. Due to several factors (barrel heating, fouling, etc.) I plan to test this a couple of times in different orders to see if I can repeat the results of the test, but I was surprised to see that the ammo that barely fed in the gun actually shot surprisingly well when I could get it in to the chamber. __________________ Certified Gunsmith (On Hiatus) Certified Armorer - H&K and Glock Among Others You can find my writings at my website, pottsprecision.com.

February 5, 2014, 06:36 PM	#2
Snyper Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2013 Location: Eastern NC Posts: 3,047	Every gun is an individual entity which can be accurate with rounds that are terrible in other ways Very often the cheapest "sub standard" ammo will outperform expensive imported "match grade" ammo in a particular gun. __________________ One shot, one kill

February 6, 2014, 10:59 AM	#3
wogpotter Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2004 Posts: 4,811	Yes. My Ruger 10-22 prefers the "dirty, rubbish" Remington "thunderpharts" to all other "better" ammo both for accuracy & functioning. __________________ Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”? Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”

February 6, 2014, 06:50 PM	#6
4EVERM-14 Senior Member Join Date: November 12, 2006 Location: Pennsy Posts: 720	A seasoned shooter and retailer had RWS 'Target' ammo he said shot well. I bought a case of 5000 rounds. Though certainly not to be considered bad, it is low on the scale of high end competition ammo. In three position gallery and 50 yard shooting it shot exceedingly well. As good as the real expensive stuff. After 8 bricks the accuracy dropped of drastically. Turns out the last two bricks in the case were from a different lot. It was great to have inexpensive ammo that shot well but when my scores suddenly dropped it took a while to figure out it was the ammo. __________________ David NRA Benefactor Member Distinguished Rifleman #731 Presidents 100

February 6, 2014, 06:59 PM	#7
Slamfire Senior Member Join Date: May 27, 2007 Posts: 5,261	The consistency of bad ammunition is never as good as better ammunition. But funnies happen. I have a ten shot target I shot with a Marlin Glenfield 60 microgroove rifle at 25 yards that is less than a dime in diameter. I have no plans to use the thing in small bore prone competition. While I have shot groups like this at 50 yards with SK Plus, and I will brag about them, I think these are statistical aberrations as the average group size of this ammunition has to be larger. __________________ If I'm not shooting, I'm reloading.

February 6, 2014, 12:02 PM	#4
Panfisher Senior Member Join Date: July 30, 2010 Location: Missouri Posts: 1,337	Yep, Tested a batch of .38 spl reloads in my GP-100, sounded awful loud for a .38, had to shall we say persuade them to eject by applying a mallet to the ejector rod, turns out I had read the wrong line in the reloading mandual. However they shot into the best group I have ever fired with a handgun. I am often thankful that there is a guardian angel for little children and fools. And at least one of my .22's loves the old Rem Golden Bullets that were filthy and often had duds, but dang when they shot it would pile them into small groups.

February 6, 2014, 05:50 PM	#5
DaleA Senior Member Join Date: September 12, 2002 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 5,312	In the early 1980's a friend at the range had Thunderbolts perform almost as well as Eley 10x in his S&W model 41. His theory was that the Thunderbolts were slightly oversized and soft lead and conformed to the barrel better. Plus he suspected from the recoil that they were slightly underpowered. He said there was a bit more 'snap' to other .22 ammunition he had used. I found Remington standard velocity ammuntion worked best in my Colt .22 conversion unit on my 1911 even though the instructions said use high power ammunition. That unit had MANY peculiarities though.