We had two cartons of Armscor .22 Long Rifle Ammo ...

[JimT]

My grandsons were shooting it and having problems with misfires. I got to testing it and found out of a box of 50 there were 20-some that would not fire. I pulled the bullets and all had normal charge of powder. I put them in my vise and heated them with a torch and a number of them would not even pop! No priming compound. Some popped really lightly.

So I took the cartons and have been using them for practice in my Single Six. Today I fired 150 rounds .. or attempted to. I had 14 that failed to fire. I took them and turned them 180 degrees in the chamber and 10 of them fired. Four of them I could not get to go at all.

It's like they had a problem on the production line ... at least when running this batch off.

[GunnyMack]

Jim i had some Federal years ago that misfired, I called Federal ( long before email), they wanted the remaining ammo back. I mailed it and got a couple boxes returned. Not long after I put on a jacket that had more of that same ammo in a pocket, the last time I wore that jacket and washed it. It was then I remembered the bad ammo had gone through the wash!

[JimT]

HA! Well .. these were all still in the boxes and the boxes were in the cartons.

I recycle all of the .22's that don't fire. I pull the bullets and add them to my lead pot. I salvage the powder and use it reloading .22's.

I pick up all the live .22's that I find on the range, even the one's that have been snapped and didn't go off. I have found hundreds over the last 8 years. Some are good enough that I shoot them. Others I just salvage. Last year I found 20-something in one batch that someone had dumped out. The majority of them were fine and I shot them.

[LeverGunner]

I haven't shot a whole bunch of Armscor, but what I did shoot wasn't very consistent in sound or in hitting the target. Didn't run any across the chrono, course... you take the chance of a weak one going low and taking out said chronograph.

[jeepnik]

I did a long term storage test on a mix of already old .22 lr's. I put several hundred rounds into a 2" piece of PVC pipe and glued a cap on one end and screwed a cap on the other. Then I put it in my Jeep box.

There it sat unmolested for over a decade (I had always wondered where it went). I found it at the bottom of the box when the box was replaced.

It required two 24" pipe wrenches to open. The ammo inside looked good. On a trip to the desert I decided to use it up. Out of those rounds I had less than ten that failed to fire.

I have often thought about repeating my "experiment" but running it for two decades. Problem is I doubt I will be here to complete the experiment.

[JimT]

In 1978 my wife and i bought a house from a widow lady. When we were helping her she said that her husband had left some ammunition in the storage shed and that I could have it. It was old Super-X from the late 40's/early 50's. It had set in an uninsulated home-made wooden shed for 10 years, in weather from 95 F to -10 F. I took all she had and shot it. Never had one dud.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I just finished going through 5000 rounds of Armscor standard velocity .22 ammo and didn’t have a single misfire.

I wonder what is different?

[JimT]

There was no priming compound in some of the cartridges .. or else it was contaminated. Something went wrong during the run of this batch. I've shot others and had no issues but with these it's been different.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I’ve known you long enough not to doubt anything you say my friend. I certainly believe that you are having this experience.

I’m kinda glad you brought this up because I need to restock. I’m testing different ammo right now to see what I can trust.

[JimT]

I thought it was the gun at first. I have had .22's that misfired but nothing like these. But I have tried them in 5 different guns. I just figured they probably had an issue in the production line. Things happen.

My Single Six likes Federals and Aquila the best.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Could be. I was recently shooting with a Ruger MK IV and having misfires. The ammo shot fine in revolvers.

Took the bolt out and wiped the firing pin and it went right back to being reliable.

But there’s a problem if the ammo misfires in multiple guns.

[marlinman93]

I found some old Russian Junior brand ammo yesterday when I hit the range to do accuracy testing. I'd used this ammo for adult smallbore back 35 years ago, and never a problem. But yesterday I had several that got good hard strikes, but didn't go bang. I turned them 180 degrees and they went off fine. Seems the priming solution was equally distributed around the rims?