Is All .22 Rimfire Ammo The Same?

Some shooters assume all ammo shoots about the same. In reality, as will be shown in this study, there can be dramatic differences. Using three different rifles, the researcher fired 15 5-shot groups at 40 yards with two different brands of .22LR ammunition. The most accurate groups, obviously, are the smallest. The brands of ammunition used were:

Walmart High Velocity Hollow Point (widely used; costs about $0.02 per round)
Wolf Match Target (made in Germany; costs about $0.04 per round)

Average Group Size at 40 yards (# of groups)
Rifle	Sight	WalMart HVHP	Wolf Match Target
Winchester model 52	Redfield 20x	0.52 (2)	0.32 (2)
CZ 452	Leupold 4x	1.09 (3)	0.69 (4)
Remington 521-T	aperture	1.42 (2)	0.50 (2)*

Conclusion: These two brands of ammunition differ significantly in accuracy, and the difference is consistent in three different rifles. The WalMart ammo averaged 1.09", while the Wolf ammo averaged 0.55". You could say the Wolf is twice as accurate and costs twice as much. Still the cost of this entire study was only $2.30 for expendible supplies (covered by a grant from Sirius Research).

*The smallest group of the day was 0.25", fired by the old Remington rifle with iron sights.