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Biathlon Ammunition Test – Which .22 LR Ammo Gives the Best Accuracy?

|15/05, 2026

Biathlon Ammunition Test – Which .22 LR Ammo Gives the Best Accuracy?

Two young biathletes from Mora Gymnasium in Sweden, Karl-Axel Utterström and Anine Karlsson, recently completed a very interesting school project focused on something many biathletes discuss — but few actually test properly:

How much does ammunition affect precision and shot grouping in biathlon?

When they contacted me at Skidskytteexperten and explained their project, I immediately felt this was something worth supporting. To make the testing as reliable as possible, they needed a large amount of ammunition and many shots fired under controlled conditions. I therefore chose to sponsor the project with ammunition.

The result became both serious and highly interesting.

The Test Setup

The students tested six different .22 LR biathlon ammunitions using two Anschütz 1827 Fortner rifles in an indoor ski tunnel environment with stable cold temperatures between -3°C and -5°C. 

A total of:

  • 360 shots were fired
  • 6 ammunition types were tested
  • Shot grouping and flyers were analyzed
  • Shooting was performed at 50 meters
  • The rifles were mounted in a fixed shooting setup to minimize human influence

The tested ammunition included:

  • SK Rifle Match
  • Lapua Center-X
  • Lapua Polar Biathlon
  • Norma Biathlon Sport-22
  • Norma Biathlon Match-22
  • ELEY Tenex Biathlon

Interesting Results

The results clearly showed measurable differences between the ammunition types.

Under the specific test conditions, Lapua Center-X produced:

  • the tightest average shot grouping
  • the lowest percentage of flyers

Another interesting conclusion was that ammunition performance also varied depending on the rifle barrel itself. Even two rifles from the same manufacturer could produce noticeably different results with the same ammunition.

The project also explored:

  • muzzle velocity
  • cold temperature effects
  • subsonic ammunition
  • ballistic theory
  • bullet design and stability

Interviews With Experts

What makes this project extra impressive is that the students also included interviews with experienced people from the biathlon and ammunition industry.

Among others:

  • Thomas Briffaz, shooting coach for the Swedish junior biathlon team
  • Erkki Seikkula from Nammo / Lapua

The interviews discuss how different barrels react differently to ammunition and how cold temperatures influence muzzle velocity and accuracy.

Knowledge Matters in Biathlon

For me, this project represents something important about biathlon.

Biathlon is not only about skiing fast or shooting quickly. It is also a sport built around details, precision, preparation and understanding your equipment.

It is genuinely inspiring to see young athletes exploring the technical side of the sport with this level of curiosity and dedication.

At Skidskytteexperten, I want to support not only athletes and clubs — but also knowledge and development within biathlon.

Full Report

The complete school project report is written in Swedish.

You can read the full report and attachments here:

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Skidskytteexperten