Ammo question...

[PisnNapalm]

I have a Ruger P512MKIII 22/45. It's brandy new too. I've put about 400 rounds of Federal Champion through it without a single problem. 36 grains, copper plated hollow point, 1280fps.

The salesman at Cabelas said I should us only standard velocity and high velocity rounds.

I see listings for subsonic, high velocity, hyper velocity, etc... Subsonic is obviously the slowest and probably doesn't have enough recoil to work the action. The rounds I have now say "high velocity" on the box.

A friend of mine has a Walther P22 and he tried using a box of the same ammo but he was having problems left and right. FTF and FTE. (failure to fire and failure to eject right?)

I guess, my question is this: What's a good quality bulk pack that isn't going to break the bank or your gun? What's the best place/website to purchase ammo from? I haven't looked at Walmart yet. I bought the Federal at Cabelas when I bought the gun.

Thanks for your time and advice. This novice appreciates it.

[toyfj40]

What's a good quality bulk pack
that isn't going to break the bank or your gun?

if 20 folks respond to this question, you'll get about 35 different answers...

1. yes, the SubSonics of various names... say 1000fps and lower
may cause poor action/cycle to reload the next round.

2. the Hyper-Velocity will place an undue stress/pressure on the action,
to shoot a few rounds... have fun. but long-term... will wear faster.

3. I shoot A LOT of Fed#510-Champions, they are the cheapest
and most-available to me... about $10/brick of 500, a few cents more
per brick at my local Walmart. (NOT all WMT will carry same stuff)

4. In MY experience... "Remington" fires dirty, requiring extra cleaning.

5. You want to "find" an ammo that performs "Nice/Sweet" in YOUR pistol.
the mfg-tolerances for a hole that is 0.22"-dia and the chamber to
hold the cartridge can be off just 0.0005" and be a noticeable difference
for the over-all performance of a shot... and the pistol you have
will/can/maybe off 0.0005" from the one mfg ten minutes later...
SO... my experience just might NOT be YOUR-Best solution...

6. You need a 'break-in' period... shoot 300-400 rounds...
Field-Strip/ clean/ inspect/ lubricate/ repeat... two-bricks, three if you like...
Then... as you shop around and find "another ammo"... try it.
tend to stay with Std-Velocity, Lead/CopperWash, Solid(40gr)/HPt(38gr)...

7. you will be restricted by what your local dealers have for sale.
or attend a local "GunShow"... prices will not be a LOT cheaper...
but you may find some new ammo to try.

8. Bullet Velocity/Energy is not "The Thing" to seek...
accuracy and reliability come from finding a "Good Fit" ammo for your Pistol.
If a bullet is propelled thru the bore so fast it scrapes on the rifling,
you've just made a useless/lousy and very-UNdependable shot.
You want your powder to burn and push the bullet thru the bore
to establish a reliable and consistent "stability" of the bullet-in-flight
so that it will follow the same trajectory shot-for-shot... and thus
be a "good ammo" for that firearm, once the sights are adjusted
to Your-Sight-Image...

9. being dependent on availability in my area... I find...

A. Federal Champions are Very reliable, clean and most-affordable
for my pistol, revolver, bolt/lever rifle and semi-auto rifles...

B. If the ammo-world only had ONE-.22-ammo for Best-all-around...
to me, it would be CCI:MiniMag for any action/firearm, hunt, target...
reliable and clean-burning...

C. I also use a fair amount of Federal-#AM22-AutoMatch
(carton of 325 for about $11)... they seem to be a little more consistent
when I try to shoot for tighter-groups...

D. Aguila (imported from our southern neighbor) has a fun-variety of ammo.
they've got the assortment of Primer-Only-Pellet-Like-Colibre
and the 60gr things that really need a 1:9-twist rifling for stablility
(most all .22s use a 1:16" twist). I happen to like their 40gr SubSonic
in my Bolt/Lever rifles and Revolver... it's quiet and fun to shoot under 50yds.
They have StdVelocity, Rifle+Pistol+Target "match" rounds...
HPt, Solid, CuWash & Pb bullets... and a Lite-Bullet on Powder
that is (just about) the fastest .22 available...

E. CCI is a bit pricier than Federal, Winchester, Remington, Aguila /etc
however, they are VeryGood cartridges and do have a wide-variety of ammo
like: StdVelocity, GreenTaq, Select, SGB, PistolMatch...
their Stinger, Velocitor -and-or- QuickShok use a longer-Brass-Case
that will often NOT cycle in a SemiAuto as the action is designed for .22LR sizes.

F. browse the Ammo-Websites for 'ballistics' information.
CCI, Fed, Rem and others have good information on their ammo.

10. buying over the internet will likely incur a "Hazardous Materials Fee"
that can make it cost too much... (often just for Powder, Primer, Acid, Paint.... but some charge it for ammo-shipment).

11. OK, are you still reading... ?
first, have fun and enjoy getting familiar with your pistol and how it shoots
various ammo... "cleaning" frequency is another topic...
for me... I "inspect often" and just clean-up/lube a little while I'm at it...
I use Hoppe's#9 PowderSolvent, GunOil and GunGrease (on the bolt
where the metal-to-metal contact needs the break-in time for the
surfaces to seat-to-each-other...) with PaperTowels, toothpics and Qtips.

when you get bored with your 2nd and 3rd MKx pistol...
and a Ruger 10/22 SemiAuto rifle... a couple Marlin-60 (PawnShop-60)
a Marlin-39a Lever... a Savage Bolt-action...
various Open, Peep, RedDot and Scope sights...
we'll discuss the Wolf, Eley, Lapua ammo
(you are Single aren't you?? or will-be ... )

I find there are Five-Things that most affect shooting accuracy...
in order of importance and most-variability, to be adjusted are...
1. Shooter
2. Shooter
3. Shooter
4. Ammo
5. FireArm
Remember, Tiger-Woods(tm) can use a beat-up set of PawnShop Clubs
and some Lost&Found Balls and out-play just about any amateur on
any course any time... so, don't be too quick to blame the FireArm or ammo.

oh, yeah... see other postings... after your break-in fun-time...
consider getting a "VQ Sear" for ($20??) from RimFireSports.com,
the single-best improvement to the trigger-feel of your MKx pistol.
and his little 'T-Loader', plastic-thingy saves your thumb on the
Magazine-Follower-Button.

my job is done here... and Welcome to the forum

[PisnNapalm]

That was an awesome post! Thank you so much for taking the time to help out a new guy.

I read every word too.

[Blindpig]

Toy, you were really wound up there, buddy! Great post and, yes, I read every word of it!
Like you, I use those Fed. Champions in my Mark. I just wish my CZ 452 had an appetite for them. I just can't get them to produce an acceptable group at 50 yds. in that rifle.

[PisnNapalm]

Well, I went to the range today. I had about 50 of the Federals left. I bought a 500 box of Winchester Wildcats there. It was the only bulk pack they had. I tell ya what. I don't like them. They fire off much dirtier, smell awful and I got burned when flying debris bounced off the partition and landed on my arm. I also had my first FTF.

Once this ammo is gone I'm going back to the Federals.

[actionflies]

My MKIII will shoot Federal champion, Rem. golden bullet, American Eagle. Winchester Xpert, and CCI. The Rem. golden bullet was the dirtiest.

[misfire]

Terrific post toy! Read every d___ word. The VQ sear recommendation at the end is a Bullseye special. Did that. Superb improvement. Just completed the Marvel trigger replacement Bullseye recommended. Took a while. Had a problem with the pre and over travel set screws. Aluminum oxide corrosion I think but Marvel sent a complete new block with set screws, no charge, 3 days. That's customer service. Recommendation: Soak the Marvel triggers in penetrating oil overnight. The Marvel is a jewel. Pre and over travel as well as fore and aft and rotational adjustments! Makes perfect fit possible for small hands. My target MKII is now perfect. Don't know of anything else to do to it except maybe to to put on some sort of optics. For me at least, that's probably the only way to take advantage of expensive target grade ammo.

[Keevinw]

Again, what a great post by toyfj40. I'm new to the forum, but have been reading (lurking in the background for several weeks) everythng on this other related forums.

I recently got a very slightly used SS Mk II and based on the posts of Bullseye and others I immediately replace the sear and trigger with Volquarsten items. The trigger used was the one with both pre travel and over travel adjustments. I have yet to get to the range after the mods, but in dry firing there is a world of difference, over what I thought was a decent trigger pull to start with. Definitely money well spent.

During my first trip to the range I tried five different brands of .22 ammo to see which one my MkII preferred. The good news is apparently it likes it all, at least as far as feeding, firing and extracting goes. I was shooting offhand, and by the end of firing my accuracy was long past optimum, so accuracy testing will wait for another day. Certainly none of these brands gave reason to suspect that they won’t be reasonably accurate. My comments follow by brand and loading. This isn’t intended to be a scientific test; only my observations (insert your favorite deniability phrase here.


AMMO BRAND # ROUNDS FIRED COMMENTS
Winchester Xpert 22, 36 g HP 50 rounds No problems feeding, firing or extracting.

Federal AE22 (36 g HP) 40 No problems feeding, firing or extracting.

Federal Champion, 40 g lead, (load 510) 50 + No problems feeding, firing or extracting. Smokes far more than all others. Two failures to hold open after last round. (ammo or gun?)

CCI Blazer, 40g solid lead 50 No problems feeding, firing or extracting. One failure to hold open after last round. (ammo or gun?)

Remington Golden Bullets,
36g plated HP, Bulk pack 550 50 No problems feeding, firing or extracting.

Great forum; thanks for all the info.

[Bullseye]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you've got some prime range time on the horizon. Happy to hear you like those mods in your pistol. They make an already nice pistol - really nice.

R,
Bullseye