TargetTalk

I was looking at some.Federal Gold Medal .22 lr. ammunition the other day at a local gun shop and was wondering if anyone has tried the newer stuff? Years ago I had bought some and it had same problem that all USA quote target ammunition had at the time in that it did not have a correct bullet lube to keep it from causing leading in the chamber. The newer stuff I looked at seemed to look good and our local gun shop has lots of it.
My local shop isn't into rimfire guns enough to know what I am talking about when I ask if it leads or not. I would try it again if Federal has improved the bullet lube that they use now. Any and all input would be great.

i believe the really spendy stuff FEDERAL GOLD MEDAL ULTRA MATCH is made by RWS

The new Federal Ultramatch is made by RWS to Federal specifications on the R50 production line.

Shoots pretty decent; almost as good as Eley Match in a couple of prone guns. Certainly good practice ammo.

The Devil as they say is in the details. As Benny says RWS makes it to Federal specs but I don't believe Federal (or any other ammo company) broadcast their requirements from their ammo.

Example: a former Eley importer told me that they made and packaged for him an ammo with proprietary labeling that Eley had tested to average spread. The importer had required extreme spread. That is a huge difference. Average spread could give you 9 x's and an 8 and still have an "acceptable" average spread.

In addition the current Federal should not be confused with the Federal from the 90s which was Olympic winning quality. This stuff certainly is not.

I think CCI Standard Velocity will out shoot the Federal Gold Medal.

Just a couple weeks ago while playing with my antiques, I did a comparison test of 5 types of 22LR. I shot 5 ten shot groups with each at 50 yds with my 40x and 52c. The results are averages of those groups. Following that I shot a 20 shot group with each at 100yds. Not terribly scientific but met my time limitations and the deteriorating wind conditions during the 100yd shooting. I didn't try to dope the wind or do anything fancy at all.

Analysing this: the Aguila (POS) will be used in my light rifles and indoor shooting with pistols.

Federal Premium Match - not gold medal!!! (boxes of 325 bulk) did better than I expected.
CCI Std was disappointing at 100yds but OK at 50.
Norma TAC22 did best overall.

Aguila High Velocity: 52c: 50yds 1.18" 100yds: 3.6" :::: 40x: 50yds 1.20" 100yds 3.75"
Aguila Std Velocity: 52c: 50yds 1.40" 100yds: 3.5" :::: 40x: 50yds 1.42" 100yds 3"
Federal Premium Match: 52c 50yds 0.81" 100yds: 3.5" ;;;; 40x 50yds 1.00" 100yds 1.75"
CCI Std Velocity: 52c 50yds 0.88" 100yds 3.25" :::: 40x 50yds 0.81" 100yds 3.0"
Norma TAC-22: 52c 50yds 0.82" 100yds 2.4" :::: 40X 50yds 0.66" 100yds 1.5"

Use this data as you will.

A qualifier, as I mentioned in other string, I was having a hard time with the 52c Fecker scope because my vision isn't as good as it could be. I replaced the 1/8 minute Lee Dot with the original coarser cross hairs and had better luck this week. I shot TAC22, CCI Std, a few RWS 50, and Fionnchi (sp?) at 50 yds to test the cross hair installation. All 10 groups that had a minimum of 10 shots in them were 1" or less and held on a 1" black paster target. That suggests that I might do better with the better cross hair arrangement and probably explains the small differences between the 40x and get 52c as the Unertl scope on the 40x had better crosshairs when the first stuff was shot.