KJS

Anybody else confused by Federal's array of .22 ammo that has all the same ballistic stats & such, but differs in terms of box color & amount in box? Below you can see two examples, though I've seen the red in larger amounts (555 count at Walmart I think) & there is also a yellow version in at least two different amounts. Is this simply to confuse ammo buyers who don't do the math and figure lowest price per round?

Both are 36gr plated hollow points with a claimed velocitiy of 1,260. The red one says Load 775 on the back and can't be found on Federal's website. The blue box on the right says load 745 on the back and one can find it on Federal's website.

One obvious difference I note is the red box stuff appears to have each cartridge fully covered in a light coat of wax, while the blue box stuff has the bright shine that comes from having nothing coating it.

1. Why would one have a waxy coating?

2. Does this make any difference? As far as I could tell the red box stuff might make a pistol a tad dirtier, though after only 3 boxes of it I'm not even sure on that.

cyrille

I have not seen a Federal "red" box but I have shot the blue box 40gr. rounds out of my bolt action and find them very accurate @50yds good enough for squirrel hunting and rabbit too. I have seen the wax coating on English ,22 target ammunition I have no inkling as to why it's there perhaps some one more knowledgeable then I can provide the answer.
The English rounds however have all been lead no copper coating on them just the waxy one.

KJS

I think Federal may have just managed to create even more confusion here. You've reminded me that they make more than just one blue box. If what you shot was 40gr I'd bet it was a 500-count box that sells for around $30 at Cabela's, evidently being in same way fancier than either of these uber-cheap bulk packs. Both of these are typically the lowest cost .22LR you can find, which is their selling point. Despite being the lowest cost, they actually work well in my MK III.

okami515

And yet I still prefer to use the federal lightning, 40gr solid, 1240 vel. they have always worked good in all of my 22s.

Rugerismisticness

I like federal lightning, too bad the prices went way up

I can't stand the 36gr 1260fps load you pictured, it doesn't shoot well for me. I've got so much of it that I use it for teaching new shooters or chopping down trees.

KJS

I should pick up a little bit of Lightening and give it a try. I looked them up online & I've somehow never noticed them before though I see they're sold at upscale boutiques like Walmart.

My experience with different .22s is very limited since after finding Federal bulk worked for me I didn't feel a desire to look further.

Thus far the only others I've tried are:

-CCI Mini Mags: works just fine, but price is too high
-Federal Auto Target Match: works just fine, but not any better than bulk
-Winchester Wildcat: works just fine, but not any better than bulk

I'd note I'm a novice-level shooter firing this from a pistol off hand, so differences in accuracy would be lost on me. A skilled marksman firing from a bull barrel bolt-action .22 rifle with quality optics from a rest is going to notice accuracy difference that I never could.

bearcatter

Wal-Mart has a brown box, 550 rounds, 36 grain HP, that's made up special for them. Most everyone else has a 525 count blue box. I emailed Federal about this a good while back, and they told me it's the same load, just different boxes and counts.

The red 375 count box is probably the same as the brown and blue box ammo. It's a new package, likely to sell better in today's tight money when someone is a "little short" of a bigger box. It would also compete with the Winchester "333" box.

As for the waxy coating, I believe they all have it, just your red box ammo was sprayed a little heavy. I've had the blue and brown boxes come both pretty well coated, and so light you could barely tell.

Ceapea

These are just about THE ONLY 22's that work reliably in my MKIII Hunter.

capgun

I burn a bunch of Wallys 550 boxes.

429421Cowboy

I have used them as long as i have shot, used to get the 550 boxes at Wal-Mart, now our farm store has the 525's for $15.99 which can't be beat with a stick anywhere else around my area and the few towns i check ammo prices,

intercooler

My sheet to confuse you more LOL

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...1VUdTSUE#gid=0


I like Aguila Super Maximum and CCI Stingers best.

Rochucker

I have used both of these with good success rates from my mark 3.

guitslo

I've shot the Federal ammo for years. Bang for the buck, it can't be beat. It's good ammo.