Testing the Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter

The Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter.

This report covers:

• Weights
• The test
• Three warmup shots
• FWB 600
• Crosman Challenger 2009
• HW 30S
• Now for the pistols
• Beeman P1
• FWB P44
• Discussion

Today we test the Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter pellet for accuracy potential. I learned a few things in the last pellet test of the Podium Basic pellet that I will be using today and I’ll tell you what they are when we get there.

Weights
3 — 7.9-grains
1 — 8.0-grains
3 — 8.1-grains
1 — 8.2-grains
2 — 8.3-grains

The test

I shot three different rifles and two air pistols in this test. Two of the three rifles were 10-meter target rifles and one was a sporter. One of the pistols was a 10-meter target pistol, and one was a sporting pistol.

I shot all targets from 10 meters. I shot five pellets per group.

Three warmup shots

I pulled a shot in the last pellet test because I wasn’t ready for the light trigger so today I fired three warmup shots to get comfortable with the airgun.

I’ll describe the hold for each airgun as we go.

FWB 600

The FWB 600 target rifle is my most accurate target air rifle. It eclipses the FWB 300S by a small margin. In previous tests the FWB 600’s best 10-meter group was 0.043-inches for 5 RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets and the worst group was 0.117-inches.

I was shocked by the poor performance of the 600 in the Podium Basic test. So today I wondered what would happen. Have I lost the ability to shoot?

Today the FWB 600 that I rested directly on the sandbag put five Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter pellets into a 0.179-inch group at 10 meters. The group is well-centered on the target, though that doesn’t matter because I’m not adjusting sights; I’m just looking at the group size. It’s a large group for the 600 but at least it indicates that old BB can still shoot.

The FWB 600 put five pellets into a 0.179-inch group at 10 meters.

Crosman Challenger 2009

The Crosman Challenger 2009 was a good affordable youth-oriented target rifle. The previous best 10-meter Challenger group with my rifle was five JSB Simply wadcutters in 0.143-inches. The worst was H&N Finale Match High Speed, with five in 0.398-inches. Today the Challenger that I rested directly on the sandbag put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into a 0.295-inch group at 10 meters. So this pellet is about in the middle of where that rifle can shoot.

Crosman’s Challenger 2009 did well, with a 10-meter group measuring 0.295-inches between centers.

HW 30S

Next up is the HW 30S. I love this little rifle that is the German basis for the Beeman R7. But it did not seem to like the Olympia Match Middle wadcutter. Today the HW 30S that I rested directly on the sandbag put five pelletst into 0.911-inches at 10 meters. That doesn’t mean that the rifle is inaccurate. It just doesn’t work well with this particular pellet.

The HW 30S put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into a 0.911-inches group at 10 meters.

Now for the pistols

I removed the Webley Hurricane pistol that was used in the Podium Basic test and added a Beeman P1. That’s another new twist I put into the test. I thought it would give me a better group.

Beeman P1

The last time I tested this P1 rested was back in 2019.  I got a best 5-shot 10-meter group that measured 1.166-inches between centers with Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets and a worst group that measured 2.199-inches with H&N Finale Match Light pellets. With the Olympia Match Middle pellets today five went into  1.871-inches between centers. I held the pistol in two hands that were rested on the sandbag. So this pellet is in the ballpark with other pellets in the P1. It’s just not the best.

The Beeman P1 put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into 1.871-inches at 10 meters.

FWB P44

Remember in the beginning I told you that I learned a few things shooting this pellet today? I’ve already addressed a couple of them but here comes the biggie. Give the accuracy we saw with the FWB 600 rifle I expected a similar result with the P44. It is my most accurate pellet pistol.

The P44 rested directly on the sandbag put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into 1.247-inches at 10 meters. That’s horrible for this pistol, but it’s not the strangest thing that happened.

Remember the three-shot warmups I was doing with each airgun? When I did one with the P44 I shot the target paper at the upper left corner. There was no aim point except the top left edge of the paper, so I held below that. Those three warmup shots went into a group that measures 0.458-inches between centers! Let’s look at both groups.

The FWB P44 put five Olympia match Middle pellets into a 1.247-inch group at 10 meters.

The three warmup shots that were fired with no aim point went into 0.458-inches at ten meters.

Discussion

I find the Olympia Match Middle wadcutter to be a fairly accurate pellet. It’s worth testing in your airguns because at a very reasonable price you get a target pellet that can hold it’s own with other premium wadcutters. I do note though that it seems not to work in some airguns that I know to be accurate. But at the price it’s worth a try.

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