The obsession with accuracy has ailed many rifleman over the years. Col. Townsend Whelen hit the nail on the head when he said “Only accurate rifles are interesting”. Early on in my shooting career I found myself fascinated with this same affliction. However, I had one small problem. I was a broke college student at the time and I hadn’t any money for premium rifles or ammunition.
My solution was to turn to rimfire. Rifles and ammunition were affordable. I bought a budget semi-automatic Marlin 795, mounted a Nikon Prostaff on it and I was off to the races. But as I delved into the world of precision 22LR I wondered if my budget rifle could take advantage of the consistency of more expensive ammunition from Eley and Lapua. The statistician in me was intrigued and I planned an experiment to test my suspicions.
The Experiment
I wanted to know if expensive ammunition for a cheap .22 had a significant and consistent impact on accuracy. To test this, I went and bought a box of expensive .22 ammo (Eley Club), and the cheapest .22 ammo I could find on clearance (Remington Thunderbolt). I then shot 9 5-shot groups with each type of ammunition. Groups were shot from the bench and then compared group sizes using a two-sample t-test of the difference in means. 9 5-shot groups was chosen because it utilized most of the box while leaving a few rounds in case of a dud. Group size was measured in MOA.
The Equipment
Rifle: Marlin 795
Optic: Nikon Prostaff Rimfire 3-9×40
Rings: One-Piece UTG .22 Aluminium Rings
Distance: 50 yards
Position: Fired from the bench
Ammunition 1: Eley Club 40gr
Ammunition 2: Remington Thunderbolt 40gr
Results
Results showed some very slight differences between the ammunition. The premium Eley ammunition had an average group size of Between group MOA and a variance of 0.56. Interestingly, the Remington Thunderbolt had an average group size that was only slightly larger at 2.51 MOA. However, the difference variance between groups was more significant with Remington turning in a variance of 0.77.
Analysis
The Eley did have both tighter groups and more consistent groups than the Remington. However, the t-test comparing the two did not show a statistically significant difference in the accuracy between the two ammunitions. This is interesting given that the huge price discrepancy between the two brands. The Remington ammunition cost 3.36 cents per round while the Eley cost 29.10 cents per round. While only one rifle was tested this could have broader implications on the ability of budget blowback semi-automatic .22 actions being repeatable enough to take advantage of more consistent ammunition.
Concluding Thoughts
In conclusion, just because the results aren’t statistically significant doesn’t mean that the Eley isn’t more accurate ammo. What it does mean is that the difference is too small to measure with one box. When taken in context that the ammunition is around nine time more expensive, for most people these gains aren’t worth the money. It is likely that the loose chamber specifications that make blowback rimfires reliable also decrease their accuracy potential. These conclusions should only be applied to factory rifles. I have a 10/22 with a Kidd barrel that will absolutely show a significant accuracy improvement with premium ammunition.