Author Topic: Remmington Ammo Duds? (Read 2048 times)

jh45gun · « **on:** May 07, 2003, 05:53:39 AM »

Has anyone had problems with Remington Rimfire ammo with Misfires or duds?? I have had that problem with the golden ammo years ago so quit using it. Lately I bought a box of the 22 mag Premium VMax ammo and had a 9 misfires out of the box to me that is unaceptable and when you are paying 12 buck a box it is worse.How about the 17 shooters out there have you had any misfires with Remington ammo? I like the VMax bullet in the Remington ammo and it shot great accuracy wise but I would hate to depend on it for a hunting round if it misfires that many times out of a box of ammo. Jim

Questor · « **Reply #1 on:** May 07, 2003, 07:29:41 AM »

Remington is notorious for bad 22 ammo. Target shooters in particular consider it a laughing stock. Although they are now licensing the Eley priming process for their target ammo, their reputation may be so bad that only several years will pass before target shooters even try it.

I've had similar experiences with Federal standard velocity target ammo and Wincheter T22s. With the Federals and Winchesters you can get good ones and bad ones. With Remington I think they only sell bad ones.

The amazing thing here is that I switched to using Aguila standard velocity (which sells for $135 per case of 5,000 rounds, shipped). This stuff is made in Mexico and it's better than any standard velocity ammo that's made in the U.S. The stuff is as reliable as $300 per case Eleys.

Bullseye · « **Reply #2 on:** May 07, 2003, 02:08:29 PM »

I have had problems with the Rem Golden Bullets misfiring. It is usually in my Remington pump or Marlin 39A. They always seem to go off in my Single Six. I have had worse problems with Win Wilcats and will no longer buy them at all, but I am about ready to put the Golden Bullets in the same category. I have been using RWS High Velocity in my Contender. They are more money, but I am getting impressive groups and will probably try them in my long guns next.

Sixgun · « **Reply #3 on:** May 08, 2003, 04:06:17 AM »

I have had lots of trouble with the Remington Thunderbolts. I have had several bullets stuck in a revolver barrel. It scared me so bad I threw the rest of what I had away. I have been a little leary of Remington rim fire ammo since then.

I have had good luck with Winchester X-Pert and it is the cheap stuff. I have also had good luck with Aguila and CCI Blazers.

Sixgun

jh45gun · « **Reply #4 on:** May 08, 2003, 05:10:54 AM »

Sixgun, getting bullets stuck is bad. My expirience was not as bad but darn near I was shootin thunderbolts in hot weather and the bullets were actually leading the bore big time I think the lube melted off of them. I did not know what was going on until my gun started not hitting what I was shooting at. I shot at paper and saw it was keyholing I looked down the bore and it looked like a 17 cal smoothbore??? I literly took chunks of lead out of the bore and had to aggressivly do a cleaning job to get all the lead out. Since it was a Ruger MarkII Gov Target I figured that could not have done the bore any good and traded it off. :cry:

I Will never use Thunderbolts again. or any 22 ammo that is not plated or lubed very well.

Graybeard · « **Reply #5 on:** May 08, 2003, 06:48:06 AM »

Generally speaking a misfire with a rimfire can be traced to the gun not the ammo. The most common problem being a gun that needs to be cleaned. Or it might be a firing pin that is too short or with a weak spring. These are far less common that a cleaning problem.

When you have an actual ammo problem that results in more than a rare failure to fire then it is most often traceable to a specific lot of ammo that got out without sufficient testing. I had the problem with Winchester ammo years ago and almost totally quit using it as a result. I bought a case of 5000 rounds and had maybe 20% or more of them fail to fire and another 20% or more that made a strange sound on firing and often failed to stay in the group. I wrote Winchester. They suggested I send them all of it back plus as many of the fired cases as I could. They said they would look at it and might replace it. MIGHT REPLACE IT! Didn't say anything about paying me for the cost of shipping or even for sure I'd get back as much as I send them.

Needless to say I went to other brands for awhile. The only brand I've ever had consistent failures with is Winchester. I did buy some really old and unkown condition Remington target ammo once and it too had problems but I have no idea how it had been stored and it was over 20 years old when I bought it.

Never seen the problem with CCI or Federal ammo. I generally buy by the case of 5000 when I can find it.

GB

jh45gun · « **Reply #6 on:** May 08, 2003, 07:33:26 AM »

Any of my guns that I shot all other ammo worked fine so I know it was the Remington ammo that was the problem. about the Thunderbolt stuff I feared that the barrel was so screwed up I got rid of it. I feel the pressure had to stress the barrel some what and I know the cleaning was more aggressive than I clean 22's so I was not happy about that either. You know how it is Remington I am sure would not believe that the ammo was the problem and blame the gun and Ruger would have blamed the ammo. Now that sixgun mentioned the squib loads. I had that problem with the golden ammo years ago now that I think of it. I had one of those older flat sided H&R 22 revolvers. I shot a squib load using the 22 golden ammo and did not realize that the barrel was obstructed the barrel split open the next shot and scared the hell out of me. I went round and round with Remington and H& R with the help of a now retired gunsmith and finally Remington paid for a new barrel. I thought great my problems are over well the gunsmith was getting old and did not get the barrel perfectly straight with the frame and said it was fine so a other gun I got rid of due to Remington RF ammo. Now that I think of this I think I will say the heck with all their RF ammo to be on the safe side I do like their Centerfire and Shotgun ammo though.

Double D · « **Reply #7 on:** May 08, 2003, 07:38:17 AM »

I have fired Remington Bulk loaded promotional .22 lr ammo for the last 5 years shooting Montana gophers. I buy this stuff for $8.95 a box of 550 rounds from Walmart. I buy a case of the ammo in February and it lasts until mid June most of the time. That's 5500 rounds a case.

We put this ammo in plastic freezeer tubs velcro to a shooting box sitting on the transmission hump.

This ammo is fired in 10-22's, and Remington 580's and what ever .22 that company might bring. The only misfire we ever had was when I spilt my diet coke in the tub of ammo, but even most of that fired.

Thats 27,500 round for those who can't count.

jh45gun · « **Reply #8 on:** May 08, 2003, 07:46:25 AM »

Glad you have had good luck with it maybe it is better than the golden stuff or the thunderbolt. I know I am not the only one disatisfied with their RF ammo. It only take a couple of times to get burned to make you swear off the stuff. the squib that I shot I should have known not to shoot again but I had muffs on at a range and did not hear the round well and others were shooting centerfires on both sides of me. I know that is no excuse I should have been able to tell but I did not and besides It was Remingtons problem for making the crappy ammo as far as I am concerned. As far as the Thunderbolt stuff you could not tell it was leading the bore as it shot well untill it did not hit what I was shooting at. The premier stuff was calldd off the market from what I had heard until they got the priming ok I have heard reports of still getting misfires and at 12 bucks a box I do not think I want to expirement and try again.

southernshooter · « **Reply #9 on:** May 08, 2003, 12:27:50 PM »

I am surprised to read of misfires. I have been shooting since the 50's and I can't remember a misfire or dud since maybe the early 60's. I keep many brands on hand to check for accuracy in different 22's. No misfires with federal, rem. win. cci and pmc. I thought that was something from the past. Shoot mostly Remington speedmaster semi auto rifle.

jh45gun · « **Reply #10 on:** May 08, 2003, 12:31:12 PM »

If you check some of the other rimfire sites you will see that I am not the only one that has had problems. Jim

pjh421 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 16, 2003, 01:08:28 PM »

I observed a friend fire a Remington Golden from a 10/22 one day which resulted in a separated casing, bits of debris embedded into his firing hand and an extra loud report. He was a little leary after that but I fired some more (just held the rifle in one hand and emptied the magazine) and experienced no further problems. That tells me that it wasn't due to the rifle being dirty. Sure, that particular round might not have chambered fully due to residue but we were unable to duplicate that phenomenon.

I believe the culprit was an over-charged cartridge.

My first round was fired in 1974 and while I've had numerous failures to fire with rimfire ammo, I've never had a catastrophic failure or a stuck bullet from factory stuff. Normally I shoot what's on sale, not being a formal competitor. This has been a really interesting thread.

Paul

Double D · « **Reply #12 on:** May 16, 2003, 01:50:01 PM »

That sounds more like a cartridge that fired before the bolt was closed.
I have seen .22lr's rupture or burst while fully chambered and they sound dull not loud. The usually only partlially cycle the action and they almost always stay in the chamber. The usually rupture around the edge of the rim.

Bits of debris and load report because the cartridge was not supported inside the chamber. Like maybe it got caught between bolt body and barrel. Seen many a bent .22 from this but never seen one fire. But then the body was always the part bent not the rim in the ones I saw. Seems reasonable to me that if there was enough force to bend a case, then if the impact was on the rim the primer would fire and the case rupture.

If you have ever pulled a .22 LR apart you will see it's not possible to get an overcharge. The case is full.

I saw a fellow police officer do somthing similar unloading a 1911. He held his hand over the loading port and racked the slide to unload. The slide slipped and the round hung up in the port crushing the primer. The round burst. The split case was imbedded in his hand the bullet fell to the ground and he had one heck of a burn on his hand. Had to go to the hospital to get the brass out.

DD

Kurt · « **Reply #13 on:** May 19, 2003, 07:36:47 PM »

I've only shot a box or two of the Remington, can't remember what kind I think they were thunderbolts. Don't recall any misfires but they did lead up things. My brother says he has had lots of misfires and leading probs with a brick he had. He shoots a new marlin bolt that never misses a beat with anything else. My 39A marlin likes about everything I feed it. I have had very bad luck with Rem percusion caps on the muzzleloader and zero probs with CCI. I think they have all had their bad lots but I'm done with Rem for now.

Winchester has a recall on their website for 22LR Wildcat HV. Symbol ww22lr. Lot #'s (on tuck flap) 3RA42L, 1RH71L, 1RH81L, 2RH81L, 3RH81L.

22's most assuredly can be over charged with certain powders.

Double D · « **Reply #14 on:** May 19, 2003, 08:46:15 PM »

I have heard of recalls on ammunition due to change in burn rate of the canister powders being loaded. So I suppose you could say they are overloaded.

The Federal Lightning was a very accurate ammo in my TC when I was shooting .22 Silhouettes. But put that ammo in my 10-22 and it would not fire everytime. The wax would build up in the chamber and the round would not chamber and the gun would not fire. Not a misfire, just not chambered enough for the disconnect feature of the Ruger to function. There was a Remington ammo back then that was waxy and would gum up chambers and was hard to load.

I had a Smith .22 Auto, Can't remember the model. They came out with it about 15-16 year ago or so. That thing was notorious for fouled chamber.

I don't call a failure to fire because the slide or bolt didn't go close a misfire. A misfire is when you get a fill hit from the firing pin and it doesn't fire. In my 45 odd years of shooting .22's I have seen those but not a lot

It does happen. Old ammo or poorly stored ammo that gets damp. I am concerned about my ammo here in Virginia. It's so damp here, compared to Montana.

Might be interesting to look at where these folks are from who are having ammo misfires.

Be interesting to hear a first hand evaluation from one of these misfire.

Type of fire arm
exact brand of ammo
firning pin hit..light or full
Number of misfires per box.
Age and condition of ammo.
Did the round fire on second try.

I believe you fellows when you say you are having problems, or else you wouldn't say it. But I can tell you people have brought me guns for repair and said this is the problem fix it and it was something completely different causing the problem.

I don't know how many people have come in my shop complaining about ammunition that wouldn't feed in their pistol. They wanted the feed ramp polished or a heavier recoil spring, to make the slide push the round in the chamber. Test fire the gun and it functioned flawlessly. Take them out on the range and let them fire it malfunctioned. Make them lock there wrist and the problem went away. Especially a problem with the Glock.

Savage · « **Reply #15 on:** May 20, 2003, 02:25:39 AM »

Did someone say they hardly ever saw a misfire with .22 rimfire?
I see from one to three every falling plate match I attend! Lets see: 20 shooters x 96rds each minimum=1920rds. (.001%) Small percentage but it can cost you the match. Haven't had a problem with the CCI stuff.
Stay Safe,
Savage

jh45gun · « **Reply #16 on:** May 20, 2003, 08:29:53 AM »

DD, that is why I said duds though I know some say Misfire which is wrong. I consider the Remington ammo at fault as I have had problems over the years. Have I had problems with other ammo not really I can count on one hand the duds I have had with other ammo seldom ever happens. Reminton ammo on the other hand I quit using becasuse of that problem different guns too so it just is not one gun. I would like to try the Premium 22 mag again as it is very accurate in my gun but not if it is going to have duds not at 12 bucks a box. Jim

Savage · « **Reply #17 on:** May 20, 2003, 09:36:00 AM »

Yep, I can see where the term "Dud" might be more ammo specific! I use the term "misfire" to describe an event where the trigger is pulled and the weapon doesn't fire. Now that might be caused by a "Dud" round or a broken firing pin or a --------------------------?

Saty Safe,
Savage

saltydog · « **Reply #18 on:** June 07, 2008, 04:17:39 AM »

Quote from: Graybeard on May 08, 2003, 06:48:06 AM

Generally speaking a misfire with a rimfire can be traced to the gun not the ammo. The most common problem being a gun that needs to be cleaned. Or it might be a firing pin that is too short or with a weak spring. These are far less common that a cleaning problem.

When you have an actual ammo problem that results in more than a rare failure to fire then it is most often traceable to a specific lot of ammo that got out without sufficient testing. I had the problem with Winchester ammo years ago and almost totally quit using it as a result. I bought a case of 5000 rounds and had maybe 20% or more of them fail to fire and another 20% or more that made a strange sound on firing and often failed to stay in the group. I wrote Winchester. They suggested I send them all of it back plus as many of the fired cases as I could. They said they would look at it and might replace it. MIGHT REPLACE IT! Didn't say anything about paying me for the cost of shipping or even for sure I'd get back as much as I send them.

Needless to say I went to other brands for awhile. The only brand I've ever had consistent failures with is Winchester. I did buy some really old and unkown condition Remington target ammo once and it too had problems but I have no idea how it had been stored and it was over 20 years old when I bought it.

Never seen the problem with CCI or Federal ammo. I generally buy by the case of 5000 when I can find it.

GB

GB: There sure must be alot of us out here withl dirty firearms - after all these years I am still getting Remington duds including when I switch "dud" with my friend so he can try it. I have also in the recent past had failures with a few Federal Walmart specials - but not like the Remington Golden B's. Every year I try a 500 ish carton of Remington and still have duds - perhaps I am just unlucky and get them from the same lot year after year ? Couldn't be manufacturing standards in some factories have gone to crap in last 10 years could it ?

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 07, 2008, 05:34:51 AM »

I do not shoot tons of rim fire, maybe a couple of bricks a year, but I can not recall a time that I had a misfire. I used to shoot Remington Golden solid nose bullets. It seemed that all of my guns liked them. That was back when they had a "U" stamped on them. Now it is hard to find a solid (always hollow points) and they do not have the "U" on them, I think it is an "R". They do not misfire, but do not shoot very well for me. I have not found a bulk bullet yet that shoots as well as the old Golden Bullets