Thread: JW 15, or any 22 LR accuracy - group size

My 2 cents...What most people often call "flyers" are not flyers at all. they are simply the true grouping of the rifle. it is human nature that we want to believe that our rifles are more accurate than they really are. We want to believe that these 3 tight shots are the real group and the last one that was is 1 inch off is a flyer. Personally I only consider a group of 10 shots to be representative of a rifle's grouping. 3~5 shots are too small as a sample group to count.

There are only 2 applications for a rifle which you care about its grouping, non-close range hunting and target shooting. If your rifle often gives you flyers, say average 1 flyer in every 5 shots, then it is no good for either. Think about hunting, you get to go out once a month, you drive for an hour to your mate's farm, you walk for an hour before you find a rabbit/magpie at 60 meters, now you are going to have 1 in 5 chance of missing because the "flyers". I once wasted about two years with a rifle that I thought had a lot of "flyers". I would always mentally blame the misses on the flyers. I have since shot other rifles, unbelievably, far fewer flyers!

This is not to say there are not real flyers - slightly out-of-spec or deformed rounds - they do exist and we all get them every now and then. But I think most ammos today (anything over 7 bucks for 50) are fairly consistent. Obviously the more expensive the ammo the more consistent. The most economical "accurate" 22LR ammo is Lapua Standard Plus, roughly 12 dollars for 50.