The Firearms Forum - Gun Community - View Single Post

Hammerslagger · 06-28-2012, 09:29 PM

Some .22 LR auto-loaders are hard to cycle and require ammo that has higer recoil.

Such is usually encountered in pistols, such as the SIG Mosquito, as compared to rifles.

CCI Mini-Mag, 40 grain is usually the ammo of choice for such guns. {In fact, I had a SIG service rep tell me that the Mosquito could not be expected to cycle reliably using any ammo other than Mini-Mag.} The only problem with CCI Mini-Mag, 40 grain ammo is that it is not inexpensive; and often costs almost 3X what promotional 500+ round bulk pack ammo costs.

Remington "value pack" ammo used to be available with 40 grain bullets; but one is likely to encounter only 36 grain hollow points these days at Wal-Mart, Dick's, Dunham's and other mass merchandisers. They seem to recoil hard enough to reliably cycle most problem semi-autos; but Remington promotional RF ammo has been plagued by abnormally high failure to fire rates, in recent years. Still, it is cheap and suitable as plinking, range ammo.

Today CCI and Federal are divisions of ATK. They sometimes make and package each other's products. A CCI or Federal product loaded in the other divisions plant will usually be loaded to that plant's specifications and packaged in the the other division's boxes. Thus, there are differences.

Blazer (which was originally CCI's promo grade ammo) is loaded by both divisions. The CCI loaded Blazer .22 LR is usually "hot" enough to cycle anything that Mini-Mag will cycle at promo ammo prices. The bullet is not copper plated, and barrel leading may occur in some barrels. A bronze bristle bore brush will deal with any such problem if used about every 50 shots.

The Federal Blazer load is milder, quite accurate, and does not tend to have barrel leading issues. It often will not cycle problem auto-loaders.

You can tell the difference as follows: In 50 round box packaging the Federal has a 4 leg plastic stand that is usually milk white color, while the CCI just has a clear plastic grate to hold the cartridges. In bulk packs, the Federal has a lot number that is "dot matrix" printed about 1/4" high with both numbers and letters, while the CCI lot number printing is 1/4" smooth (letterpress) with numbers and a letter like "R", "S", or "T" in the middle of the code for the 2009, 2010, & 2011 production years.

If you can find CCI loaded blazer you can usually save money as compared to buying Mini-Mag to cycle problem guns.

Hope this is informative.

06-28-2012, 09:29 PM	#14
Hammerslagger Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,099	Re: Armscor M1600 Some .22 LR auto-loaders are hard to cycle and require ammo that has higer recoil. Such is usually encountered in pistols, such as the SIG Mosquito, as compared to rifles. CCI Mini-Mag, 40 grain is usually the ammo of choice for such guns. {In fact, I had a SIG service rep tell me that the Mosquito could not be expected to cycle reliably using any ammo other than Mini-Mag.} The only problem with CCI Mini-Mag, 40 grain ammo is that it is not inexpensive; and often costs almost 3X what promotional 500+ round bulk pack ammo costs. Remington "value pack" ammo used to be available with 40 grain bullets; but one is likely to encounter only 36 grain hollow points these days at Wal-Mart, Dick's, Dunham's and other mass merchandisers. They seem to recoil hard enough to reliably cycle most problem semi-autos; but Remington promotional RF ammo has been plagued by abnormally high failure to fire rates, in recent years. Still, it is cheap and suitable as plinking, range ammo. Today CCI and Federal are divisions of ATK. They sometimes make and package each other's products. A CCI or Federal product loaded in the other divisions plant will usually be loaded to that plant's specifications and packaged in the the other division's boxes. Thus, there are differences. Blazer (which was originally CCI's promo grade ammo) is loaded by both divisions. The CCI loaded Blazer .22 LR is usually "hot" enough to cycle anything that Mini-Mag will cycle at promo ammo prices. The bullet is not copper plated, and barrel leading may occur in some barrels. A bronze bristle bore brush will deal with any such problem if used about every 50 shots. The Federal Blazer load is milder, quite accurate, and does not tend to have barrel leading issues. It often will not cycle problem auto-loaders. You can tell the difference as follows: In 50 round box packaging the Federal has a 4 leg plastic stand that is usually milk white color, while the CCI just has a clear plastic grate to hold the cartridges. In bulk packs, the Federal has a lot number that is "dot matrix" printed about 1/4" high with both numbers and letters, while the CCI lot number printing is 1/4" smooth (letterpress) with numbers and a letter like "R", "S", or "T" in the middle of the code for the 2009, 2010, & 2011 production years. If you can find CCI loaded blazer you can usually save money as compared to buying Mini-Mag to cycle problem guns. Hope this is informative.