Pellet Question

Well I have completed a couple of rounds of pellet testing.  I shot all 36 pellets from the Straight Shooters pellet sampler.  In round one I got down to about 10 pellets that shot well.  I eliminated anything over 10.0 gr. as someone advised this would overstress my spring (some of them shot very well however).  I am shooting the Gamo Varmint Hunter, which I think is part of the shadow series.  In round 2 I shot all of the top performers and worked the list down to 4:

1) Beeman H&N Match HS 7.55 gr
2) RWS R10 Heavy 8.3 gr
3) RWS Superdome 8.3 gr
4) RWS Diablo Basic 7.0 gr

Here is my question.  Three are wad cutters and one a round.  Are the wad cutters the best for target and the round for hunting or does it really matter?

Thanks.

[daved]

The answer is down range ballistics.  The wad cutters are usually only good out to 20 yards or so, the the groups open up pretty fast.  The Superedome may not be the most accurate at 15 yards, but it will be the most consistent at all reasonable ranges.  They work well in all my guns, both .177 and .22.  HTH.

Dave

Daved,

That's good information, I didn't realize that the wad cutters would open up down range.

Thanks.

The flat nose on a wadcutter slows down the pellet so fast after 25 yards  they drop like a box of rocks.

Superdomes are a good choice for a Shadow if the rifle likes them keep shooting them, have you tried crossman premier lites, they seen to work well in the Shadows also.
Beeman Field and Target Specials and JSB exacts also have good luck in Shadows.

On my first Shadow 1000 I did the same test with the Straight Shooters pellet sampler.  I shot 5 shot groups at ten yards. Here is the top 10 pellets with the average group size.

Beeman Ram Jet - 9.80g - 9.7mm
JSB Match Diabolo - 8.2g - 10.9mm
Beeman Laser Sport - 7.7g - 10.9mm
Crosman Accupell - 7.9g - 11.1mm
Beeman H&N Match - 8.20g - 11.6mm
Beeman FTS - 8.90g - 11.7mm
Gamo Match, flat, - 7.5g - 11.7mm
RWS Meisterkugein Pistol - 7.7g - 11.8mm
RWS R10 Heavy - 8.20g - 12.2mm
RWS Meisterkugeln - 8.3g - 12.2mm

Now I’m in the process of the same test with my new shadow 1000 that I had tuned by Rich in Mich., Do to the wind and weather, I’m still working on the first round, but all groups so far seem tighter. I only shoot 5 groups of 5 shots each day on days that I shoot. I also only shoot in the early mourning before the wind picks up and when I’m fresh. I try hard to keep it as constant as possible.

As of now, here the top 5 pellets numbers, realize that I have only shot one group of each pellet and haven’t made it threw the first 35 pellets. (only 35 types because the JSB Exact were missing).


RWS Hobby - 6.9g - 7.5mm
Gamo Hunter - 8.3g - 9.7mm
Beeman Laser Sport  - 7.7g - 11.8mm
RWS R10 Lite  - 7.0g - 12.6mm
Crosman Premier - 7.9g - 12.8mm

More test results to come later.

Glenn
 

[daved]

Welcome aboard, Glenn!  One quick question for both of you.  What range are you shooting at?  For reasons noted about, and others beyond ken, different pellets will shoot differently at different ranges.  Group size without range info is pretty meaningless.  Thanks!

Dave

Oops, just looked at your post again.  Ten yards, got it, damn, I gotta do something about some glasses...

All of my testing was at 10 yards indoors.

[-=ed]

.

A lot of the real differences don't show up until 20+ yards

.

[ribbonstone]

You'd think that pellets would increase their groups in proportion to the range...40yard groups being about 4X 10yard groups....they don't.  Are several reason they they don't, but the important thing is to test pellets at the range at which you intend to use them.

What i haven't seen are groups that faith-heal...10yards is a good way of sorting out the bad pellets...if they shoot a two foot group at 10yards, they aren't going to magically shoot tiny groups at 40yards.  It's worth testing at 10yards to get the "no ways" out of the progam, then test the pellets that pass the 10yard test at longer range.
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Vel. variations that pass nearly unoticed at 10yards really present themselves at 40yards (vertiacl spreads).  And windage is related to time of flight, so those wad cutters that slow down more thend to also get pushed around by lite breezes more (horizonatal spreads)...which is one reason why they are seldom the #1 choice for long range.

[Rixtrix]

With my new Shadow1000 I started shooting cheap Daisy wadcutters( all the Wally World had where I got the gun) both at 10 and 30 yards outside. After about 200(I'm a newbie) I was able to get 1- 1 1/2" patterns out of 10 shots at 10yds with the open sights freehanded. Then I built a bench and started shooting at 30 yards using a sandbag and open sights. Another 250 or so I was doing 2 1/2" patterns for 10 shots consistently. Got a box of Crosman Premier 7.9 domes at Airguns of Arizona today(1250 for $13.95, no freight, I live here) and for 5 groups of 10 was shooting under 1 1/2". Impressed me as I'm not a good shooter and my eyes are not that good, plus it was kind of breezy! Can't wait til I get a scope so I can see what I'm shooting at! the crosmans fit rather snugly while the Daisy's just dropped in, so I'll bet the speed was up quite a bit.

Ric G.

[Gene_SC]

Try Superdomes and Exacts and you will see some changes..... Most Shadows love them but not all. Also try Beeman Field Targe Specials, they may work as well. Or just by a sample pack from AOA. Thats what most of the guys do and it is economicle...

Gene