Server differences, is it my imagination?

I had a question.  The last few nights of playing I have decided to try other servers besides my home server that the game puts me in on login.  I've noticed the 3 or 4 servers further from me have given me better hit reg, better teammates and matchmaking, and I haven't noticed one cheater lobby yet.  I have only won one match the last few nights I've been trying this, but the people who wind up killing me have been obvious better players and not people that are using cheats like aimbot/wallhacks and movement scripts.  I have been getting fairly good damage numbers even with what are normally guns with crappy numbers like the PK and Mastiff.  Normally the PK and Mastiff will only do like 6 or 9 damage on my home server, but these past few nights I get damage in the 60s every time and have downed players with these weapons even, so some of the damage has been even higher than that.  The automatic weapons like Flatline and Alternator get decent numbers as well and don't just make the noise like they hit while only doing damage in the 40s or so like on my home server.  I've been impressed with how the game has played the last few nights I've been trying this.

So, my question is, is this all in my mind and I'm just playing better, or could there be a reason that even servers with higher ping (no packet loss though) and further away from me are giving me better games and gameplay?  Could there be some work going on with those other servers that are repairing them that haven't started on my home server yet so I'm reaping the benefits of this?  I'm just curious because the game has been a lot more fun even though I lose a lot and I feel like I've had a fighting chance like I used to.  Anyone know what could be causing this or am I imagining things and maybe just playing better the past few nights? lol