[catnthehat]

I had a long talk with with an industry rep in the late 90's about .22LR accuracy as far as ultra accurate ammo quality and sorting for match rifles.
I was told that the biggest variable was the crimp - it was the only thing the manufacturers could not adjust for, and the only way to lot test for accuracy was by destructive testing( firing). When I asked about rim thickness sorting , I was told that even sorting with a precise gauge did not yield the variables that the crimp did.

I was also told that tuning ( yes, they had tuners back then) would not turn average ammo into good ammo .
There is always going to be a certain amount of outlying shots( flyers) in a group. On a good barrel however , tuning the barrel or adjusting the bed pressure can to an extent minimize outliers.
Better quality ammo will also have fewer outliers closer to the center of the group.
The only thing a person can do is shoot a selection of ammo and buy a large amount of it in the same lot .
I have found that in a good rifle built for extreme accuracy with a bench rest quality scope and good bags, the difference between excellent ammo brands can be small but noticeable , but not so much when an average rifle and scope are used .
Cat