Federal UM1 & UM900 22lr ammo

[JG26_Irish]

Remember when Federal stood up and decided that they would design and produce the best olympic grade 22lr ammo in the world and they succeeded in the 1990's with their excellent Federal UM1 and UM2 and the lower grade UM900 ammo? It is the ammo with the little "Dimple" in the case head. I think they were called Ultra Match and Gold Medal Match. Well this month, I was cleaning out a closet full of shooting related things and I found an old box of UM900 ammo marked Gold Medal Match.

I had purchased it in the early 90's and had only fired 5 rds from the box. I did not own a match grade rifle then so, I have no idea why I got it. The bullet lube was dried out and all white and crusty looking. The box was worn and dog eared from sliding around in my shooting bag. I took it to the range the other day and fired 5 rds thru my fine old Win Mod 52 from a bench at 50 yds. The ammo seemed to be slightly supersonic, probably running a little hotter than Eley or Lapua match ammo. Guessing about 1100 fps-ish. I know I was zeroed with Lapua/Wolf ammo at the time and the Fed ammo was printing to a 1/4" higher POI. The Lapua ammo is about 1080fps more or less in this gun. The Federal had a little crack to the report. Indicating that it was right on the edge of SS speeds.

I was pleased to see that despite the poor condition of the ammo, it still placed all 5 shots into one hole. A big ragged hole with a good bit of left right dispersion due to the winds that day. Still, it was good shooting ammo. I do wish our USA suppliers still believed in being winners in the shooting sports. Winchester, Federal, CCI could all do this if they had the will to win. Instead they seem to want to hide and hope that our anti-gun government does not notice them. Who here remembers the old UM1 and UM2 ammos? Wish I could buy a fresh case of it....

Irish

 

[Kebo57]

Irish....FYI
Back in the late 90's early 2000's I shot the 900B exclusively and still have a pretty good stash reserved for special occasions. During that time frame I was shooting schuetzen at Nationals in Raton along side Lones Wigger. If that name doesn't ring any bells run a search. Lones was a Federal rep of sorts and had been to the facility where the UM1 and 900 were being made. Both ammos were made on the same line and were identical. The factor determining which box a particular lot went into was determined in their test facility with their rifle. Lones always told people to try the 900 series before paying almost double for the UM1 because as we all know RF rifles don't always like the same ammo.

 

[JG26_Irish]

Irish....FYI
Back in the late 90's early 2000's I shot the 900B exclusively and still have a pretty good stash reserved for special occasions. During that time frame I was shooting schuetzen at Nationals in Raton along side Lones Wigger. If that name doesn't ring any bells run a search. Lones was a Federal rep of sorts and had been to the facility where the UM1 and 900 were being made. Both ammos were made on the same line and were identical. The factor determining which box a particular lot went into was determined in their test facility with their rifle. Lones always told people to try the 900 series before paying almost double for the UM1 because as we all know RF rifles don't always like the same ammo.

I have been to Raton a few times. Man what a wonderful place. And such nice people running the place. I would like to retire there. I met a former Olympic shooter this weekend and he said some of them used the UM1 also, depending which ammo their rifle liked best. Some used 10x, some used Lapua or RWS. But the UM1 was made for them and many liked it. I wish I knew then what I know now (on so many levels, lol).

Irish

 

[DocUSMCRetired]

I actually got a box of CCI Standard Velocity, ran it through a Performance Center 15-22 and it put 5 rounds inside of what looks like only 2 holes. I fired 6 rounds intentionally because I was on barrel break in, and knew the first shot would be off, which it was by over an inch. But the other 5 rounds all grouped incredibly well. Here is a photo, keep in mind too, that I wasn't worried about zeroing the sights, I know it hit low, that's my fault. This was done during a barrel break in, on one of the last 6 round groups. I was walking the sights up at 100yards.