I really like the old Federal "red box" .22 ammo I used to buy a bunch of when my wife and I were practicing for and participating in a weekly competition at local gun store. I had a friend who always used CCI green tag (or something like that) for these pistol matches. He always scored very well at these matches. I convinced him to try my cheapo Federal from Walmart and it made zero difference in performance. I converted him. lol I am convinced most folks who shoot target with .22 "handguns" would ever notice a difference in accuracy due to using expensive vs cheap .22 ammo. There is some truth however that .22 handguns cycle better with different brands of ammo. Some of the cheap brands are also likely to contain duds. The Federal red box however is very reliable in my experience.
With .22 rifles shooting longer distances, I do not doubt that match grade ammo makes a difference however.
My trusty old slab side stainless Ruger .22 with modified trigger and grips.... Not a high end competition gun but it is better than I am. lol
