Federal Auto Match

I was looking for a less expensive .22 ammo for indoor 50' league and timed/rapid fire practice. I was shooting CCI SV but had a couple misfires and a couple light loads that don't function the slide in slowfire and both were low 7's. The league range is unheated and was probably about 40 degrees and that was possibly part of the problem. A friend gave me 50 rounds of Federal Automatch to try that he has had for a couple of years. I took it to a different range that I belong to and shot a NM course with it and it worked great, a bit snappier recoil but with going back to a heavier spring and a recoil damper I thought it would be fine so I purchased a case from Midway at $138 for 3250 rounds. Next league night I loaded 10 rounds for the first slowfire target and started shooting. Called my first shot a 10 looked through the scope and it was a 5! I then took the other 9 rounds out of the gun and went back to CCI for the rest of the match. Afterwards we shot a little practice and shots were just not on call. I went to my other range the other day and put it on sand bags just to see what it was doing, also at 50 feet. Shot first 10 shots and once again the first round was very high but the rest were about an 1 3/4" group. Shot another 10 and same thing. I didn't expect it to be a 1/2" but I expected it to be a whole lot better than that. The lot I got 1GT694 deffinately does not like my gun. I put CCI in it and shot 2 quick 10 shot groups and both were about a 5/8" hole so it wasn't me or the rest. I didn't think something could shoot that bad at 50'. Luckily my friend is willing to trade me 230gr ball Federal Match for it. So the search continues, I might try some 711B. I still have some 711 left that I used to shoot and it shot well. Is the 711B similar to the old 711? Thanks, Scott

I switched to the new FD711 which is the replacement for the old 711B, i find it super accurate much more so than the cci i was using.

yep ...Federal Auto Match is good stuff....I shoot it or CCI SV...booth of which tend to be hard to find for me......The federal Auto MAtch stuff is lots of the 711 that dont quite meet there specs....so it is a match grade load.....Ive shot it @ 50 ft and 25yds and the accuracy is very useable out of my guns....I sand bagged one of my .22's @ 25yds with it and shot a 5/8'' 10 shot group so its a good rd to use ....what i find strange is your trouble with the CCI stuff ...Ive never had any trouble with the CCI SV...but I did have what you experenced with the Aquila SE so go figure.......

No automatch is not at all 711, it is high velocity ammo rated at 1200 fps where 711 is standard velocity rated at 1080 fps. Now CCI standard, paper, plastic, greentag and pistol match is all the same at 1080 fps.

I used Federal Automatch (AM22 325ct box) when I first started. I probably would have kept using them, until I found a cheap source for CCI SV Paper boxes.

The biggest negative is that Automatch is realllllllly iffy with lots. 99% of the time the rounds perform perfectly, often grouping as good as, or better than CCI SV. Other times, there are low-powder rounds (softer bang and recoil) that makes the bullet impact randomly. I haven't had a low-powder round yet with CCI SV.

DavidR wrote:No automatch is not at all 711, it is high velocity ammo rated at 1200 fps where 711 is standard velocity rated at 1080 fps. Now CCI standard, paper, plastic, greentag and pistol match is all the same at 1080 fps.

It is quite possible I was wrong saying 711...Federal makes a 1200 fps match ammo I thought is was the 711...Now I need to go to the federal sight and figure out which is which ....OK the auto match is the lots of Gold Medal 719 that dont quite meet the quality control specs......I stand corrected .....Thx Dave:oops:

I didn't have any soft rounds with tha Automatch in the few that I shot itjust shot horrible. It shot a pattern not a group. Thinking back to the soft rounds out of the CCI I am pretty dure it is temp. related. Our monday night league is in an unheated range and that is where I have had problems. One was just soft and didn't bring the slide back far enough to grab the next round. Another was soft and there was a a big flash out the side of the gun. And then I had 2 that were hit hard but just didn't go off. I have also been shooting the CCI SV at the other indoor range that I shoot at in my Walther SSP for international pistol matches. I shoot the SSP for both freepistol and standard pistol and have not had a single problem with it there but that range is heated. I am going to try the CCI for a couple more matches but just put it in the inside pocket of my jacket to keep it warm and see if the problems go away. I might try Automatch again if I can get a different lot but next time I will only buy 1 box to see how it works before I buy a case. Scott

I've been shooting Federal 510b (the box says federal lightning) I haven't doublechecked the accuracy but when I compared all of the normal ammo, i had some and it grouped just as good as eley and CCI SV, but you can get it 24hrs a day at any walmart for $1.97/50. I've shot thousands of rounds of this stuff and had maybe 2 or 3 duds. Seems fairly consistent--goes where I call it, but I've shot 273 with it. My Marvel, my High Standard, and my Ruger all shot it very accurately.

Specs=1240ft/sec 40gr bullet, So it's a little fast, but if it flies straight, and your gun likes it, what's the big deal?

nothin at all wrong with the 510's Rob.....I shot alot of those wo with no trouble at all.......in fact I may go back to them since I have nothing but trouble getting CCI SV or the AM22 ...the gun stores around here tend to charter to the concealed carry crowd and thats it and if you do find target stuff its the high end type...most of the time I end up driveing 40 miles and usaully get my CCI 5 bricks at a time for like 24.95 a brick

The Federal Automatch .22 ammo is very accurate and a bargain, but too hot for some guns. You can buy it 325 rounds for around $16 at Walmart. I have shot some very hot scores with this ammo in my Hammerli 280 but it is too hot for the gun. I get occasional doubles with it and that is not good. It functions fine in a FWB AW93 and seems OK for that gun. I would not shoot this ammo in a High Standard. It is a super deal for any revolver. You have to know if your pistol can handle hot ammo.

I'm going to switch back to cci sv. now that my marvel conversion is fixed, it's not extracting the federal 510. It's liking the SV all the time. no problems. I wish walmart sold SV...

I tried another lot of Automatch out of my M41 last night. Again at only 50 feet but that is what I wanted it for was indoor practice. This lot over a good rest 10 shots could have been covered with a dime. I have a recoil absorber in it now and am going to order an 8# spring also and the extra "hotness" should not be a problem. Scott

I'm also shooting federal again. New extractor problem and 1 mag out of adjustment. Now trouble free!