Four new .177 pellets to test.
This report covers:
- Testbeds
- Do the testing airguns “like” the pellets tested in them?
- What are we testing?
- However
- Clamping an airgun in a vise
- Distance(s)
- Factors
- More tests ahead
- Summary
Today I’m asking your thoughts on testing some new pellets. They are the ones seen above.
The pellets in question are all .177 caliber. Three are wadcutters and the one at the bottom of the photo is a dome. I hope to run the same set of tests on each of the wadcutters and a slightly different test for the dome In fact that brings up my first question. I want to test each pellet separately so we get a reasonably good idea of how it performs.
One tin says the pellets inside are match pellets, but we have seen others where the word match is just a word and not descriptive. I’m trying hard not to prejudge, but the common misuse of that term throws up a red flag for me.
One of the pellets is made in the USA which should be interesting all by itself.
Testbeds
I have testbed airguns of known accuracy such as the FWB 300S, The FWB 600 and a couple other ten-meter rifles. That’s all fine and good except many readers don’t have ten-meter target rifles. I think any test needs more depth than just target rifles.
For air pistols I have the Beeman P1 (HW45), the Beeman P17 and the P3 (HW40). But I also have other air pistols that aren’t as accurate, like the BSF S20 and the BSA Scorpion. Should I also test each pellet in one of them?
Do the testing airguns “like” the pellets tested in them?
Testing pellets isn’t straightforward. Often a pellet will do well in one airgun and not as good in another. That will be one of the things we will discover as the test progresses. Of course we will be looking for pellets that perform well in most airguns as well as pellets that don’t seem to do well in any airgun.
What are we testing?
It comes down to this—what do we want to know? I do understand that many of you will have airguns in which these pellets do better or worse than my test results. That’s inevitable because each of us shoots differently and all airguns shoot differently. Before I ever tested JTS pellets I wondered how well they might do. Now that I’ve tested them in many airguns I know they usually do very well. However—
However
One JTS pellet I’ve tested does stand out. The Simply wadcutter tested poorly with several airguns it was tested in. I was ready to write it off. And then it turned in the smallest group of an accuracy test and if I recall correctly it did so more than once. That pellet stands apart as being picky about the airgun it is fired from.
Clamping an airgun in a vise
Several readers suggest clamping the test gun in a vise for a more uniform test. But I have told you several times that when the AirForce Airguns Edge target rifle was tested, John McCaslin one clamped in a vise and I shot alongside him at the same time with a different rifle that was rested on a sandbag. Both rifles shot groups that were within a few hundredths of an inch in size. So clamping is not necessary, not to mention with airguns like breakbarrels, next to impossible.
Number of shots
I think the target rifles should shoot 5-shot groups and the sporting rifles should shoot ten-shot groups. As far as the air pistols go, I think the same thing.
Distance(s)
I’m inclined to shoot the target guns at 10 meters and the sporters at 21 yards. I’d like to hear from you on that.
Factors
Besides the uncertainty of any pellet’s performance in an airgun there is also the drop-off of accuracy of wadcutters. I once demonstrated this on the television program, American Airgunner. A pellet that grouped well at 10 meters scattered its shots at 35 yards. Now 21 yards is a lot closer and might not be as big an influence, but what do you think?
More tests ahead
These are not the only new pellets I have to test. What I want is a standardized procedure for testing pellets that reaches beyond just shooting hem in as test airgun.
Summary
I am asking you for your thoughts on how best to test new pellets. I want to add things that haven’t been done before.
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