I tested one of Federal’s cheapest 22LR. Range Pack a.k.a “Blue Box”. It’s a 40gr LRN that looks identical to Federal AutoMatch but at a lower price. I wonder if it’s actually AutoMatch that didn’t pass or that Federal doesn’t run as thorough a quality check.
I ran 20 rounds through the Ruger 10/22 with one dud round that failed to fire. I got middling group sizes averaging about 3″ at 50yrds. But when I ran it through the Marlin 60, the shots were all over the place. Average group sizes were over 5 1/2″ and numerous failures to cycle.
I thought something might be wrong with my rifle so shot a few rounds of Aguila Super Extra HV and those shot normally in a 1.8″ group. Then I reloaded it with more Fed Range and again got loose, inconsistent groups. While this ammo works ok in my Ruger for plinking, my Marlin really does not like this ammo.
In 3 testing sessions, I noted that the rounds sounded more muffled when fired in the Marlin than the Ruger. I experienced 3 failures to cycle; where the spent case was ejected but the bolt did not feed the next round. And one squib that I had to push out with a cleaning rod. We’ve all been told that ammo do shoot very differently in different rifles; this is one of most extreme examples.
