Episode 1 — Airforce-Marine-Clark Custom-Kidd Supergrade-Mid Tier Ammo

How much accuracy can you really get from a high end 10/22 when you take the ammunition budget out of the equation?

That’s the question behind this series.

For Episode 1, we’re taking four highly respected 10/22 combinations and putting them to the test with ammunition that the average rimfire shooter can realistically afford.

There is no Eley Tenex.

No RWS R50.

No Lapua Xact.

No boutique, ultra premium ammunition costing considerably more per box.

Instead, we’re using mid-tier match ammunition in the neighborhood of $10–$13 per box and asking a simple question:

How accurate can these elite 10/22s really be with affordable ammunition?

The goal isn’t to find out which rifle can shoot the smallest possible group with unlimited ammunition budget. The goal is much more practical:

Can these rifles turn reasonably priced match ammunition into genuinely tiny groups?

And the answer from Episode 1 is already pretty interesting.

Across the 24 recorded groups, the overall average was 0.681 inches, with the 5-shot groups averaging 0.563 inches and the 10-shot groups averaging 0.812 inches.

The smallest group of the test measured an impressive 0.269 inches, fired by the Air Force shooter with the Clark Custom using SK Rifle Match.

But the real eye-opener came when we moved to 10-shot groups.

The best 10-shot group measured 0.487 inches, again from the Clark Custom, this time shooting RWS Rifle Match.

That is an impressive result from ammunition firmly planted in the mid-tier price category.

At the other end of the spectrum, the largest group measured 1.574 inches. That group came from the Marine shooter behind the Kidd Supergrade shooting RWS Rifle Match.

And this is where the test gets interesting.

The same Kidd Supergrade and Marine shooter produced a 0.664-inch 10-shot group with SK Long Range Match.

That’s a difference of more than nine tenths of an inch simply by changing ammunition.

The Ammo Matters

When we averaged the 10-shot groups across all four rifle/shooter combinations, SK Long Range Match came out on top with an average group size of 0.707 inches.

SK Rifle Match followed at 0.770 inches, while RWS Rifle Match averaged 0.946 inches.

That doesn’t mean SK Long Range Match is universally “better” ammunition. It means that, in these rifles, with these shooters, under these test conditions, it produced the best overall 10-shot average.

And that’s exactly why we test.

Rimfire rifles can be incredibly ammunition sensitive. A load that produces an outstanding group in one rifle may be merely average in another.

Clark Custom vs. Kidd Supergrade

The rifle comparison is equally interesting.

Looking specifically at the 10-shot groups, the Clark Custom averaged 0.722 inches, while the Kidd Supergrade averaged 0.893 inches.

However, the 5-shot averages were almost dead even:

Clark Custom — 0.554 inches

Kidd Supergrade — 0.556 inches

That difference is essentially negligible.

Once we went to 10 shots, however, the Clark Custom separated itself from the Kidd in this particular test.

And that’s an important distinction.

Five-shot groups can tell us what a rifle is capable of doing during a particularly good string.

Ten-shot groups begin telling us something more about consistency.

Which Ammo Won?

This may be the biggest takeaway from Episode 1.

Looking at the 10-shot averages across all four rifle/shooter combinations:

So in this particular test:

🥇 SK Long Range Match — 0.707″

🥈 SK Rifle Match — 0.770″

🥉 RWS Rifle Match — 0.946″

That’s a pretty compelling result because RWS Rifle Match produced some very good groups—but also the largest group of the entire test: 1.574 inches.

That’s rimfire for you.

The Interesting Part About the Shooters

Across the 10-shot groups:

• Air Force average: 0.732″
• Marine average: 0.884″

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The 1.574″ Group

The largest group deserves some attention because it provides an excellent reminder that a great rifle doesn’t guarantee great results with every ammunition/rifle/shooter combination.

The largest group was:

1.574″ — 10 shots

Marine shooter
Kidd Supergrade
RWS Rifle Match

Compare that with the same rifle/shooter combination using:

SK Long Range Match — 0.664″

That’s a difference of 0.910 inches between ammunition choices.

That’s huge at 50 yards.

And it makes a great argument for why ammunition testing matters so much with .22 LR.

That’s What This Series Is Really About

We’re not trying to prove that one brand is better than another.

We’re trying to answer a question that I think a lot of rimfire shooters have:

What happens when you take some of the best 10/22s available and feed them ammunition that doesn’t cost a fortune?

Can a $10–$13 box of ammunition still produce half-inch groups?

Can an elite 10/22 consistently shoot under an inch?

Does spending more on the rifle make a meaningful difference when we’re intentionally limiting the ammunition?

And perhaps most importantly:

How much of that tiny-group potential is actually hiding inside affordable ammunition?

Episode 1 gives us some pretty good clues.

A 0.269-inch 5-shot group proves that the potential is there.

A 0.487-inch 10-shot group shows that the potential isn’t limited to a lucky three- or five-shot cluster.

But the 1.574-inch 10-shot group reminds us of the other side of rimfire accuracy: even an elite rifle can strongly dislike a particular ammunition combination or have the shooter cause a flyer due to poor technique.

That’s why this is only Episode 1.

We’ve got more rifles, more ammunition and more groups to shoot.

And if the first episode tells us anything, it’s that this series is going to get very interesting.

The ammunition may be mid-tier.

The rifles aren’t.

Let’s see what they can do.