CCI

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silverbullet6oh

New member
Hello everyone,
So I have been doing research on the Phoenix HP-22 that I have owned for about 4 years and came across many threads that stated HP-22 owners are suppose to use Standard Velocity .22lr ammo in the pistol.

So earlier this year I had picked up 400 rounds of CCI .22LR stand velocity ammunition, and yesterday went out and shot it through my HP-22 and my Marlin 99c .22lr rifle.

The results of the ammo were TERRIBLE in regards to reliability. The accuracy was fine.

HP22:
Each 10 round magazine in the HP22 had on average 1 to 2 FTE, AND 1 FTF.

Marlin 99c:
The Marlin holds 17 rounds in the tube, and had averaged 2 to 3 FTE and 2 FTF.

Bottom Line: I will not be investing in Standard Velocity CCI Ammo ever again.

I have shot Remington Thunderbolt 40gr round nose for many, many years, and I will continue to use that as my primary.:D

I do have 700 round of CCI Mini Mag .22lr, I am hoping that it will be a different story.;)

I believe that I have posted experience here, and not an opinion. I feel that the 300 rounds I fired should be good enough to develop an experience to tell about.

I also know that every rifle is different when it comes to types of ammunition to use.

I just thought I would post my experience. Not my opinion:rolleyes:
 
failure to eject and failure to feed sounds an awful lot like a gun problem, not an ammo problem regarding the use if cci .22lr ammo.
 
silverbullet6oh said:
HP22:
Each 10 round magazine in the HP22 had on average 1 to 2 FTE, AND 1 FTF.

Marlin 99c:
The Marlin holds 17 rounds in the tube, and had averaged 2 to 3 FTE and 2 FTF.
Click to expand...
Does FTE mean "Failure to extract" or "Failure to eject"?

Does FTF mean "Failure to feed" or Failure to fire"?
 
Well my firearms are cleaned throughly. And I figured it was the pistol but then I got the same result with the standard velocity with the rifle as well then i figured it could be either. So either way I won't be using the CCI standard velocity. But if works for others that is great for them.

FTE is failure to eject ; at least that's what it means for me.

FTF is failure to fire ; at least that's what it means to me.

I am sure there are many so called "experts" on this forum. Judging by the many posts of OPINIONS.

But in regards to the Thunderbolt ammo, that is my preferred and I already stated thats what I go for. So I am not understanding the pointless post. But okay.

Anyways.... in regards to the firearms I am only reporting personal experiences with what ammo is being cycled the best with them.
 
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JERRY'S

I was wondering maybe the firearms don't like the standard velocity ammo and don't cycle it as well because of the lower amount of powder used.
 
CCI Standard Velocity is a target round, meant for target pistols and rifles. They will not work in any of my .22 semi auto firearms except my European target pistols.
 
try other brands of standard velocity ammo (besides the thunderbolts). it is odd that the thunderbolts (a standard pressure loading) would cycle your guns but the cci standard pressured loads didn't.

as far as failure to fire, that is surprising as cci is usually the best quality commercially (on the shelf) available ammo out there.

then again, for plinking or varminting why use anything but the thunderbolts if they work in your guns?
 
If there is a more tempermental gun than a .22 semi auto, I don't know what it is.

EVERYBODY has had trouble with somebody's ammo at some point. Especially the bulk packed stuff.

have heard bad things about this or that brand, have had some bricks that were worse than usual, some that were just fine.

one time shooting with a friend, I had CCI Blazer, and his S&W model 41 would not run it. Ran through my Ruger Mk I like a champ.

every gun seems to like what it likes, and so, just find an ammo your gun(s) like and stick with it, if you can.
 
My first range trip with any 22 auto is basically an ammo preference test. I take a box of as many varieties as I have on hand and test each one. Sometimes it isn't even ammo brand that a rifle or pistol likes but will prefer one bullet, lead vs plated, for reliability. Just keep track of the preferences and keep on shooting.

And I haven't ever run into a revolver with failure to feed issues. So if your auto doesn't like one brand use the ammo in a another gun.
 
If there is a more tempermental gun than a .22 semi auto, I don't know what it is.

EVERYBODY has had trouble with somebody's ammo at some point.
Click to expand...

Agreed. No such thing as "good' or "bad" ammo. It's a matter of what works best in a particular gun, especially semi-autos. Most semis like ammo with just a little more oomph to function the action.
 
ligonierbill said:
Never had a misfire with CCI standard velocity. Shooting it in 3 different rifles.
Click to expand...

That's great is works for your rifles, but let us know what models of rifles those are.

TimSr said:
Agreed. No such thing as "good' or "bad" ammo. It's a matter of what works best in a particular gun, especially semi-autos. Most semis like ammo with just a little more oomph to function the action.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, I just want everyone to know I hope it didn't come off that I was bashing CCI, just that it didn't seem to work in my particular models of firearms.
 
I hope it didn't come off that I was bashing CCI,
Click to expand...

I'd say you were fine, stating you wouldn't be investing in CCI Standard Vel again (a specific load)

Too often we get a report of "CCI /Rem/Fed/Win/etc. is crap, I'm never buying anything from that company again, ever!!, rant, rant, rant..." That, I think is a bit over the top. ;)

At one time, Remington Golden Bullets were considered the "gold standard", Thunderbolt was the cheap "crap" grade stuff. Lately I've been hearing bad reports about Golden Bullets.

OK, maybe its the ammo maker trying to save a buck, or maybe its just some batches are not as good as others, in your gun, or in mine. These things seem to come and go.

One thing you can do, which about nobody does, (myself included) is note the LOT # of the ammo that isn't working right. If you have a real problem (something other than just your gun not liking the ammo), a call to the maker, including the lot# of the bad stuff might get you a replacement, or something.

By "bad" I mean an unacceptable number of misfires, for example. Something that happens in every gun, not just one, etc. Expect the occasional failure to fire, it goes with rimfire ammo. But when it goes above 2 or 3 out of a few hundred (and its proven to NOT be the gun), it is too much.

BTW, did you "pop off" the FTF's you had? Did they fire when rechambered so the firing pin hit a different place on the rim? This is what usually happens with rimfires, simply a combination of a spot in the rim where the priming compound didn't get properly, and the random chance of THAT spot being where the firing pin hit.
 
44 AMP said:
BTW, did you "pop off" the FTF's you had? Did they fire when rechambered so the firing pin hit a different place on the rim? This is what usually happens with rimfires, simply a combination of a spot in the rim where the priming compound didn't get properly, and the random chance of THAT spot being where the firing pin hit.
Click to expand...

I did not hear any noise from the chamber with the round, but I did re-chamber the same round and it fired just fine.

44 AMP said:
Too often we get a report of "CCI /Rem/Fed/Win/etc. is crap, I'm never buying anything from that company again, ever!!, rant, rant, rant..." That, I think is a bit over the top.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the kind of responses and reporting on this forum I stay away from in regards to ammo, and firearms.
 
My rifles? The good, the bad and the ugly: CZ 452 (the good), Rossi break action (the bad!), Mossberg 802, IMC (that's International Machine of Cugir) 2 (definitely the ugly) and a Remington 540 XR target rifle. No misfires with CCI standard velocity cartridges in any of these 5.
 
I also own the HP22 and like it a lot.
I've only used CCI Minimags in it so I can't say what happened with the standard velocity. However, a few suggestions with your HP22.

My HP22s work fine when you change the recoil spring every 500-600 rounds. You can buy them for ~$2 each thru Phoenix. I buy them 5 at a time and always have some in my range bag. When the gun starts to fail to feed and it's been 500 or more rounds just change the recoil spring.

You said you had many failures to fire but they fired on the next chambering with them. I've never had light primer strikes but I keep the firing pin channel cleaned out. I clean it every time I put in a new recoil spring and it works like a charm.

So, if you haven't cleaned the firing pin channel and have more than 500 rounds on you recoil spring, I think it's the gun and not the ammo. I love my HP22 and a little maintenance goes a long way with it.
 
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