should I get better ammunition to practice at this distance?
My goal is to land nearly every shot within a 1" circle at 7 yards.
Very good points made above -
1. Find out what the firearm likes by testing different ammo
2. At least recognize that the limitation could be the shooter, especially with handguns. I'm not saying that this is happening here, but don't immediately blame firearm/ammo for unsatisfactory results.
3. More expensive ammo is generally more consistent, but does not always translate into greater accuracy, especially with handguns
4. Remember that lower grade 22LR is "consistently inconsistent" and your great shooting firearm can turn into a dog by simply purchasing the next brick of a different lot number
Put this into perspective -
My running averages, out of a bone stock but relatively accurate "hunting" rifle in 22LR for 5 shot groups at 100yds are:
Remington GB 2.25"
CCI SV 2.19"
CCI AR Tactical 1.55"
CCI SGB 1.74"
CCI MM 40gr 1.87"
Win Xpert 36lead 1.56"
Federal AM 1.65"
Federal 710 2.20"
Those are my results, yours could be different. The frequently honored CCI SV has never shot that well for me. I said it. Flame away. Win Xpert and CCI AR Tactical has better averages, but they aren't stellar.
Of course there is other, more expensive ammo that groups better than these, but these of of similar price point.
So IMHO, even though the Rem GB's were the largest group that I tested, in the OP's case, it's only 7 yards. Even Rem GB should make the 1" at 7yds expectation. Maybe your lot has more flyers. Maybe it's something else.
I have to broad brush this one, but **most** of the ammos at this price point are very similar: approximately ES of 100, SD of 25. Of course you would have to test it for yourself out of your firearms to see.
My opinion is that unless you received ammo from a terrible lot, it is not necessary to get better practice ammo. But you could try a brick of something else - it never hurts to try other ammo.