pellet hype

[Dave1899]

Gerry you might have something there. The ones I got last summer from Pyramid were the bad ones and they were in .177. Pyramid did replace them but they still weren't 100%. In December I bought a sleeve of .20 from DAK in Canada and those are excellent. They may have been some old stock made before the factory change.

[riflejunkie]

Thinking about what Gene had to say about pushing over 900 fps challenges accuracy I remembered I had a tin of JSB Exact Heavy that I got at the same time I ordered the 8.4's.  Lower poi but still grouping poorly compared to cpl's and btw, the cphp's I got at Walmart are grouping about equal to cpl's.  The JSB heavies are in better shape, no bent skirts but not as clean an edge on the skirts as RWS Meisterkugeln's.  They are shooting better than the 8.4's but definitely unable to keep shots in the black on a 10 meter bull at 20 yds.  Crossmans are staying in the black.

[DanoInTx]

First the JSB Exacts.  These are 4.50 head size and are the best shooting in my old TF79T and my Air Arms S200



I noticed a bit of thin skirts on these, but not too bad.  What I did notice is that they roll all over on their own, meaning the skirts aren't round..., but also not too bad.



Next was the CPL's.  They are more "shiny" than the JSB's, but they left a residue on the paper I set them on for the pictures.  The skirt isn't nearly as deep as the skirt on the JSB's.  They shoot well in both my AA S200 and S400C, but neither shoots the "best" over others in those two guns.  The S400C LOVES Kodiaks, and the S200 as I said before likes the JSB 4.50's, although it loosens up quite a bit with JSB 4.52's...never tried 4.51's or 4.53's, don't have any.  CPL's in my S200 are a little looser than 4.52's or 4.50's, every gun has its favorite.



The skirt thickness is noticeably thicker than on the JSB's, and at first glance seemed rounder, but when I flipped these devils on their sides they rolled around on their own even worse than the JSB's....so I suspect the JSB's are actually rounder, just harder to tell because the skirts are so thin...kind of an "optimagical" illusion:)



Then I spotted this one CPL that I hadn't noticed before.  She had a flat tire....doh!



I also have some Crosman Heavies that shoot SUPER good in my long lost Career 707, but same gun didn't like anything else nearly as well.  The CP Heavies are compareable in quality to the CPL's, but are a bit dirtier, both came in the cardboard bulk box.  Also worth noteing, my R7 loved CPL's, but was marginally less accurate with JSB's.  I've also noticed that just about any airgun with a LW barrel that I have shot loves Kodiaks, including my FX Black Widow, AA S400C, and my Airforce TalonSS.  My Big Ed tuned B51 loved Crosman Heavies, and was deadly accurate with them.  Oddly enough I have a QB78 that doesn't shoot ANYTHING well except for Daisy Maxspeed wadcutters....go figure.

I think I have pretty muched come to the conclusion that every gun has a preference, and usually there is little rhyme or reason to it except for LW barrels and Kodiaks.  I keep a good selection of most popular pellets and usually try 4-5 different pellets before I find one I think the gun is truly happy with....can't judge a book by its cover:)

[riflejunkie]

Thanks for the pictures!  The skirts on my jsb's don't look as clean and consistent as those.

[DanoInTx]

riflejunkie - 3/4/2009  4:30 AM

Thanks for the pictures!  The skirts on my jsb's don't look as clean and consistent as those.

Not a problem, glad I could lay this mystery to rest:)  I still find it really funny that I have this selection of pellets and out of all of them the Daisy Maxspeed wadcutters shoot the best in my QB78.  I think it just goes to show that every gun wants its special diet.  I also have some JSB 4.52's that shoot obviously looser in my Air Arms guns, but I didn't have a tin handy to compare the skirts of those and the 4.50's.....so I'm not sure if it's a head diameter issue or a quality issue....I bought the 4.50's over a year ago and the 4.52's a couple months ago, so maybe what people above said is true about the quality slipping in the JSB's over the last few months.

[Stickbow]

From my .22 cal around 18-20 fpe rifle...at 25 yards...if the JSB 15.9er hits the center, the gamo hunter 15.4 will strike low and the 17.0 dynamic TM-2 will strike high...the Dynamic is .397" long and seems to fly like an arrow, with a very flat trajectory and holds it for many many yards....my assumption is the efficiency of both how much the pellet can extract from the power behind it and its overall flight caracteristics...will contribute to its point of contact...as i am finding in airgunning as in bowyery and archery altogether, what at first seems like the obvious is usually a paradox into the opposite. You must have received a bad tin, i have three tins of 500 right now and i think they are nearly all great.Especially in the heavier weights, the end of the skirt may be thin but it is supported by lots of lead right up to the last 1/64".