Can someone explain to me the nomenclature of ammo

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Vern_in_IL

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I watch reviewers online, and they refer to vague things like "white box" "matched ammo" "bulk" "mag" "mini mag" "dirty ammo" "standard American Eagle"(standard??) etc.


What do these terms mean, and is this stuff special order or something that is not sitting in the Ammo cage at Wal-Mart?
 
White Box- standard Winchester ammo
Bulk - usually standard grade loose packed 250-500 etc. count
Mini mag - CCI high velocity 22 long rifle ammo
American Eagle - ammo allegedly priced lower than Federal labeled ammo

dirty ammo - leaves behind soot / powder fowling, fowls up the barrel, breach, magazines, etc.
 
White Box - Winchester Wildcat with Super X stamped on the bottom of the shells.

Matched Ammo - My guess is when someone takes cheap ammo and puts it on an accurate digi-scale to sort them by total weight. Heaviest ones usually have the largest powder charge (it's the hope) and lightest of the very lightest would be ones that may not cycle a semi-auto like a Ruger 10/22.

Bulk Ammo is anything in a box, usually 550 rounds, where they are all just dumped in. These are usually worthless in anything but a single shot or a bolt action, or a lever gun etc. Generally jam a semi auto.

Mag, Mini-Mag - Generally refer to shell categories made by CCI.

Dirty Ammo - Generally Remington bulk ammo or Remington Thunderbolt junk. These jam, and leave piles of powder residue in the ejection port and all over the mag lips and follower. A lot of times you will find UNBURNED granules! Only use this ammo in a bolt action or a single shot of little value. A squib load can happen, or the shell will completely misfire.

Just do not buy "Dirty Ammo".

Standard American Eagle is just red boxed stuff, pretty sure it is all High Velocity, but maybe there is a line that is Standard Velocity that I am not aware of (has been years but I have a few boxes of AE ammo laying around.)
 
Originally Posted By: Falken
Bulk Ammo is anything in a box, usually 550 rounds, where they are all just dumped in. These are usually worthless in anything but a single shot or a bolt action, or a lever gun etc. Generally jam a semi auto.


I don't agree that bulk ammo is generally good only for single shots or bolt actions. Bulk ammo is generally less expensive ammunition, but I've had great results with it through my 10/22 (555 ct box of Federal Champion JHP .22LR) and through any of my 9mms when I use a bulk packed box of 9mm.

I would say that "bulk ammo" is generally bulk-packed ammunition that is designed for plinking or target practice. It's generally less expensive stuff that you wouldn't use at a target match or in your self defense pistol, but should still work well in most firearms. .22LR firearms can sometimes be picky, and some bulk ammo doesn't run well in some of them, but I've had as much trouble with premium .22LR ammunition in one of my guns (a Ruger 22/45 I used to own). My 10/22 has consumed anything I've put in the magazine without complaint.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I don't agree that bulk ammo is generally good only for single shots or bolt actions.


I don't agree with that either. It's nonsense. There is nothing wrong with bulk .22 ammunition. If you have a semi auto .22, (either rifle or pistol), that won't perform with ANY of the available high velocity bulk packaged ammo, then it's most likely a gun or magazine issue, and NOT the ammunition. That holds true even today as .22 ammunition manufacturers are running at full speed, around the clock. All in an attempt to keep up with demand, along with the high prices that support it. Another thing is all of this ammunition, be it box or bulk, is all produced on the exact same type of equipment.

I contend that bulk ammunition produced 10 years ago is actually better in quality than much of the plastic boxed Mini Mags and such is today. Because back then production was done at a much slower pace, and inspection more demanding and deliberate. Today, .22 ammunition makers are more concerned with quantity, than they are quality. They have to be. The market demands it. Any time production is more concerned with numbers than quality, you will have issues. Remember, none of this equipment is any different. The only changes have been to the speed at which they're being run. This effect is the same regardless if they're punching out bulk.... Or Mini Mags. It's no different than when a shooter handloads. The more exacting and deliberate he is, the less chance there is for problems with the ammunition being produced. I've heard on firearms boards everywhere like this one, how they've encountered loose bullets. Bad priming that resulted in inconsistent ignition. Rounds that contained no powder, etc. All as a direct result of stepped up, non stop production in an attempt to keep up with demand.

The .22 ammunition market has not seen anything like this in the last 60+ years, if ever. It's unprecedented. Poor quality ammunition across the board is more often than not the direct result. Today if you want to be assured of high quality and accurate .22 ammunition, you are almost forced to purchase the high priced / high quality ammunition from Eley, Lapua, or any of the European manufacturers, where this severe shortage doesn't exist like it does here. That was not the case a decade ago before all of this nonsense started.
 
I always thought "white box" and "dirty ammo" were the same thing.
laugh.gif


No idea actually.. I've only used Winchester's waterfowl 12 gauge loads.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460


I contend that bulk ammunition produced 10 years ago is actually better in quality than much of the plastic boxed Mini Mags and such is today. Because back then production was done at a much slower pace, and inspection more demanding and deliberate. Today, .22 ammunition makers are more concerned with quantity, than they are quality. They have to be. The market demands it. Any time production is more concerned with numbers than quality, you will have issues. Remember, none of this equipment is any different. The only changes have been to the speed at which they're being run. This effect is the same regardless if they're punching out bulk.... Or Mini Mags. It's no different than when a shooter handloads. The more exacting and deliberate he is, the less chance there is for problems with the ammunition being produced. I've heard on firearms boards everywhere like this one, how they've encountered loose bullets. Bad priming that resulted in inconsistent ignition. Rounds that contained no powder, etc. All as a direct result of stepped up, non stop production in an attempt to keep up with demand.

The .22 ammunition market has not seen anything like this in the last 60+ years, if ever. It's unprecedented. Poor quality ammunition across the board is more often than not the direct result. Today if you want to be assured of high quality and accurate .22 ammunition, you are almost forced to purchase the high priced / high quality ammunition from Eley, Lapua, or any of the European manufacturers, where this severe shortage doesn't exist like it does here. That was not the case a decade ago before all of this nonsense started.
I've not seen any deterioration of CCI quality. They make nice ammo. I didn't know their was so much hands on work done to produce .22.
 
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
I watch reviewers online, and they refer to vague things like "white box" "matched ammo" "bulk" "mag" "mini mag" "dirty ammo" "standard American Eagle"(standard??) etc.


What do these terms mean, and is this stuff special order or something that is not sitting in the Ammo cage at Wal-Mart?



I buy white box .40's, .45's, and 357's at Wally. They function just fine.
 
The quality of WWB seems to have become hit or miss the last few years. I used to be very much a Winchester ammo guy but these days prefer American Eagle or PMC for blasting ammo.
 
The ONLY centerfire pistol ammo I have had stop up my guns was Winchester White Box. I had several rounds of 9mm in a box of 100 that had the cases literally smashed a bit out of round into a super subtle oval profile. Jammed up my Steyr when it tried to load them.
 
Originally Posted By: KCJeep
The quality of WWB seems to have become hit or miss the last few years. I used to be very much a Winchester ammo guy but these days prefer American Eagle or PMC for blasting ammo.


I've had similar experiences, sadly.

Found three rounds that were unacceptable in a box of 100 WWB 9mm. One had a damaged case (it would not have fed, the case was rolled up as if the die hit off center and crushed it) and two failed to fire. 97% reliability isn't good enough, even for range ammo...

I've still got a few thousand rounds of WWB in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, and I'll shoot those rounds...but I'm not exactly buying any more lately... Just bought 1,000 rounds of 10mm Sellier & Bellot, for example. I'll see how they do...
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Just bought 1,000 rounds of 10mm Sellier & Bellot, for example. I'll see how they do...


S&B is good ammo. I've shot a ton of their 9 MM. I would definitely buy more. A lot of their FMJ pistol ammo is brass jacketed, not copper. If that matters to you.
 
That's good to hear, Bill!

I've gone through quite a bit of Prvi Partizan ammo recently and been very pleased with it. 9mm, 10mm, 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 8mm mauser, and 7.5mm Swiss...it's all been clean, accurate and reliable.
 
Originally Posted By: billt460
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Just bought 1,000 rounds of 10mm Sellier & Bellot, for example. I'll see how they do...


S&B is good ammo. I've shot a ton of their 9 MM. I would definitely buy more. A lot of their FMJ pistol ammo is brass jacketed, not copper. If that matters to you.


S&B is the cheapest box .338LM ammo I can find, their 250gr "match" stuff. Shoots quite well for the price, which is like 1/2 the price of Hornady.
 
Originally Posted By: KCJeep
The quality of WWB seems to have become hit or miss the last few years. I used to be very much a Winchester ammo guy but these days prefer American Eagle or PMC for blasting ammo.
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
The ONLY centerfire pistol ammo I have had stop up my guns was Winchester White Box. I had several rounds of 9mm in a box of 100 that had the cases literally smashed a bit out of round into a super subtle oval profile. Jammed up my Steyr when it tried to load them.
I share the same experiences both of you have; WWB is the only mass produced ammo that I have had a problem with. I still have way too much of it in 9MM too. The only saving grace is that it was cheap and reloadable.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
That's good to hear, Bill!

I've gone through quite a bit of Prvi Partizan ammo recently and been very pleased with it. 9mm, 10mm, 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 8mm mauser, and 7.5mm Swiss...it's all been clean, accurate and reliable.


I'm a big Prvi Partizan fan as well. Their brass is extremely reloadable. I've shot a ton of the 7.62 X 54R, .303 British, 8 MM Mauser, and their .300 Win. Mag. The brass resizes and reloads beautifully. I have found the primer pockets are more consistent in depth and tension than W.W. and Federal brass.
 
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