A few years ago, I inherited an old Marlin Model 60 semi-auto rifle, that was built sometime in the 60's. It has a certain sentimental value as it was the gun that my brothers and I learned to shoot with. However, when I got it, it probably hadn't been used for 10 years. So, I tore it down and cleaned it, put it back together again and worked the action. All seemed right.
The next day I took it out shooting and fed it some of the same old cheap .22 that I use for all my other plinking. It was a no go, with every other round resulting in failure to feed. Specifically, the rounds were being squished between the bolt and right above the bore. I changed to some premium ammo I happened to have, and it was a little better, but not much.
If it wasn't for the nostalgic value, I would probably have junked the gun right then and there. I took it into a local gunsmith to have it looked at. I immediately realized that I was not wearing the right cloths, or talked differently, or something that caused me to thrown into the box of "people that don't know guns." I pressed ahead with describing the problem and what I had done to try and fix it. I was told that it probably just needed a good cleaning. I thought I had done a good cleaning already, but, what the heck, they are the gun smithing experts.
About 1-1/2 months later I get a call that my gun is ready. I go down, and they tell me that it just needed a good cleaning, and to use premium ammo. like CCI Blazer. I pay them their fee and take the gun home in good spirits. A couple weeks go by without being to test it, then I finally head out to the range to put some rounds downrange. I lode up the Blazer, chamber the first round, pull the trigger. That bullet shoots fine, but in the next round I had another failure to feed. This went on for about 25 rounds until I was sick of the whole issue and went home.
After dissembling the gun for the second time, I noticed two things. First, there was no evidence that the gun had been cleaned by anyone but myself. Second, the lifter assembly fits into a frame that also has a feed ramp. However, the frame is cast into two pieces that are screwed together. When I looked at the device, I suddenly realized that the screws were loose. What this did is allow a bullet being lifted on the raiser to force the frame apart slightly, and then the bullet would feed at too steep of an angle, forcing the bullet into the chamber right above the barrel and causing my failure to feed.
However, I noticed that the gun was still being picky about ammunition, and even premium ammo, it would still have a failure to feed about every third-round.
It was about that time I first noticed Federal Automatch .22 Long Rifle in a 325 round box. It was $14 to $15 per box, but was still slightly cheaper than CCI Minimags I had been using. What caught my attention was that it advertised as "ideal for semi-autos." I gave it shot, and have not turned back. It works very well and seems fairly accurate.
Later on, I went shooting with a friend that had an old Colt Woodsman .22 pistol that was going through many of the same problems. I had about half of a box left, and gave it to my friend. He went from having, on average, a failure to feed or extract every two to three rounds, to shooting the rest of the box with only a single hick-up.
I've shot considerably more with the ammo, and have to say that it is most reliable .22 ammo I have shot using .22. Two thumbs up from me.
Updated (July 23, 2013): I have a friend who owns a GSG-5 (a .22 LR replica of the HK MP-5) and had been having chronic problems with misfeeds ever since he bought it a couple years back. I recently gave him a box of the Federal Automatch, and tried out he tried out his GSG-5 this weekend. He reported that it fired without a hitch--apparently the first time, despite trying other brands and types of .22 ammo.
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