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Anyone famliar with Winchester M-22 ammo?

18K views 54 replies 39 participants last post by  rjferber 
#1 ·
Just picked up a box of Winchester M 22 ammo. The prices was too good to turn down. Is anyone here familiar with these? Pros/Cons? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
One of the worst 22lr cartridges I've purchased recently.
Major cartridge defects including out of spec dimensions,
tilted bullets, extreme muzzle velocity differences, unsafe to use in a semiauto.
Winchester sent me a shipping label to send it back. :(
 
#5 ·
M-22 ammo

I've used it with a fair amount of success. Works great in revolvers and bolt/pump guns. The two bricks that I have experienced some misfires and a few jams in autos. As said by others, just about par for bulk ammo. I would buy it again for a low enough price!
 
#9 ·
Bought the 1000 round box about 2 years ago. One round blew the extractor out of my Remington 597 semi auto rifle. Very poor quality stuff in terms of accuracy and consistency, but I used it up in my revolver for tin can plinking. I would not buy it again, but maybe I just got a bad lot.
 
#10 ·
Winchester M22 bad batch of bullets

I bought 2 bricks of M22 at Cabela's. Most of the bullets would not even load in my Ruger Single Six revolver. They were too large to fit in the cylinder. I called Winchester and was told that they would like to see them and they sent me a return label to return them. After two weeks they said they were sending me a check for the two bricks. They would not say what they determined to be the problem.
 
#40 ·
I bought 2 bricks of M22 at Cabela's. Most of the bullets would not even load in my Ruger Single Six revolver. They were too large to fit in the cylinder. I called Winchester and was told that they would like to see them and they sent me a return label to return them. After two weeks they said they were sending me a check for the two bricks. They would not say what they determined to be the problem.
Exactly the issue I had with it, only I "donated" mine to a guy who loved it...
 
#11 ·
Just a couple years back with there was a shortage of .22LR ammo I was testing whatever bulk ammo I could find and was able to get a brick of 1000 from Walmart. Tested them out of several rifles and pistols and it performed just fine . . . for bulk ammo. Only a few (like something less than 5) of the 1000 failed to fire and though Winchester ammo is made with cartridge diameters slightly larger other .22 LR manufactures, I had no issues with failing to feed, extract or eject (which can be a problem with some guns with tighter chamber fits). If you've got a gun that can handle this size of cartridge, then these M-22's are just fine for plinking . . .but, don't expect high accuracy. Average MV's were well below the published velocity of 1255 fps (like around 1190 fps out of a 10/22 with an 18.5" barrel). ES's weren't particularly bad either and ranged from 40 to 70 fps with in 10 shot sets. Need to keep in mind that Winchester doesn't do a great job of quality control with any of their .22 LR products.
 
#13 ·
ES's weren't particularly bad either and ranged from 40 to 70 fps with in 10 shot sets. Need to keep in mind that Winchester doesn't do a great job of quality control with any of their .22 LR products.
They actually shot pretty good in my buddy's RAR. I haven't tried any, due to some poor results with other Winchester ammo, but my buddy had them, so I watched as he shot them in his new RAR.

They did quite well for him, at least at 50 yards. I was busy with my own rifles and ammo, so I didn't pay too much attention, but he seemed quite satisfied with the results.

PoTAYto, PoTAHto, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
 
#15 ·
Have gone through ~1400 rounds out of the 2000 I purchased a year or so ago, no problems at all in my M&P15-22, any of my 10-22's, Ruger American Rimfire and Savage B22 and A22's.

A few issues in a Walther P22QD and an old Ruger Mark II though. (mostly failure to extract)

Inspect the rounds before loading into magazines, some might be "bent" (maybe 20 of the 1400ish so far were). (As in the projectile was not straight to the cartridge.)

Would and will buy again, when I need more cheap ammo.

More reliable in my guns that Remington Thunderbolt and Golden Bullets ever were, and almost up there with CCI in _my_ experiences.
 
#18 ·
I bought a couple thousand rounds when M-22 first came out and it functioned pretty well while showing accuracy truly befitting bulk ammo (mediocre). Around 2013 and forward I started getting a big increase in FTFs and would hear differences in the report when fired. Then there was the safety recall in 2014.

Bottom line is I can buy better bulk ammo, e.g., CCI Blazer, for as much as 2 cents a round cheaper than M-22.
 
#20 ·
Worst 22 LR ammo that I have ever shot. Had a large number that failed to fire. That is failed to fire after several firing pin hits. Yes I put the round back in to see if it would go off. I did not keep exact count of how many were bad but it was around 5 or 6%. Winchester just gave me a run around when I complained. Easier to just not purchase their ammo.
 
#21 ·
I started using M22 a year ago in competition, when I couldn't find CCI Blazer, which was the only thing that gave me the best groups on my Savage BV. M22 actually ended up giving me even tighter groups! My only beef, occasionally I'll get one that fails to extract, but that usually means it's time to clean the chamber and the bolt face.
 
#24 ·
Same here in Aus, was happy with the old stuff, so I ordered and waited for 8 bricks, they where soo poor and dirty to shoot, i checked them under microscope and made pictures, send them to Winchester here in Aus, never got a response on the poor quality ,lead had smeared below onto brass, weirdest shots and filthy chaimber and bolt. Dealer was good and took them back, had to spend the value on other stuff as no other good amo available. went some where else and got RWS subs ,best one's ever.
 
#27 ·
I recently tried some Winchester 22Mag in the white box (40gr solid, full velocity)...

My Savage A22M had failures to extract (the bolt didn't pull the casing more than halfway out) on about half the rounds.

My Old Model Single Six experienced a number of "reduced recoil/reduced report" shots - and there was yellow granulated residue in the barrel/cylinder end!

I switched to CCI (without even running a brush or patch through either weapon) and had 100% perfect shooting from then on!

And the CCI had a lower listed muzzle velocity on the box than the Winchester!

Fortunately, I had just bought a couple of 50-round boxes, not a brick.

Guess which I'll buy in the future?
 
#30 ·
I can attest to the cases being out of spec, as they have stuck in all my guns' chamber if a misfire or underpowered.

I shot up my brick of 1000 of that crap a month ago that was bought during the 2013 .22LR shortage.

If you can run it/use it up, great. Just bring a multi-tool in case one gets stuck.
 
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