Are you surprised that the propagandists and gun-grabbers at CNN don't know shit from shinola about guns?

I'm not. One of the variables you didn't mention regarding accuracy is bullet form. There is a huge difference between the performance of a Spitzer shaped bullet and a wadcutter. This is one of the reasons I used to memorize ballistics tables when I reloaded ammo for hunting purposes.

Each time I worked up a load, the ballistics would change, and I needed to be aware of the performance of the given load in order to ensure I would hit what I shot at in the variable conditions I would encounter.

Thanks!