I think I'm getting closer!!! Howdy folks out it GTA Land. Thomas here with a story on finding the best pellet for an air powered rifle. So this is my tale. About six months ago,...I broke down and bought a Mike Mellick tuned .177 cal B-28 rifle. Since I enjoyed the .22 so much, I figured the17 model would be a great accompanimentto the bigger sister. I've tried many different pellets in it,....but the only ones that shot good, hit the target good,...and sounded good were the 8.8 Crow-Magnums and FTS's. When I first got it, it was shooting the Cro's at around the 1230 to 40 fps range!!!! Mike wasn't BS'n when he sayed this was a hot-rod shooter. But after the break in period,....and a later chroney test,... the Cro's settled down to a nice 'zippy' 1100 to 1125. But yet I wanted to slow it down some more and add a better FPErating with it. So like alot of folks,...I tried a few different'heavies' in it. RWS Super-Mag WC's(9.5's)and Crosman Ultra Magnum Domes(10.5).
The RWS SM's fit 'very' tight in the breech, and when shot,....the rifle just didn't feel or sound right. It was like the piston was hesitating hitting home and gave the 'boing' sound to it. They had to go!!! I didn't even bother trying to group them too much. Hope Harry has better luck with them than I did!!!!! Not what I expected from a fine pellet maker like RWS.
Now for the Crosman UMDomes. While they didn't fit as tight in the breech,...still kinda tight though,...I got the same effect,....but to a lesser degree. Compounded with the fact that IREALLY don't care too much for "coated" pellets. Groupings were ok,...but not to my likeing. Shot and sound (from the action)just didn't give me that 'warm fuzzy' feeling. Except for the Crosman Destroyers,....no Crosman pellet has ever given me that "sense of security" on an accuracy level. These pelletswill be posted onin the classifieds later.
And now for today's report!!!! I placed and order from PA to try out some different lead. The came today,...yippeeee. Enclosed was a tin of H&N Baracuda's @ 10.65 grs, a tin of Beeman Kodiaks @ 10.6 gr, a tin of JSB Exact Heavy's @ 10.2 gr,...and one of my newer favs,.... in .22 cal,...the AA Falcon pellets @ 13.4 grains (same as the JSB RS's minus $2.50 a tin!!!!) They went straight to the tin locker!!!!
I started out with the JSB's. Nice looking pellets and kind of resembling those funky looking cylindrical pellets from our kin folk across the pond. The fit was almost loose in the breech,...no need to seat these suckers. When Fired,...they felt great, shot great,....and just as important to me,....they sounded great providing a solid piston "pop" at the end of the firing cycle!!!! Lock timeis very close to the Beeman Crow-Mags. OK, so far so good!
Next came out the Baracuda's. I took one out and set it on the counter,...openned up the Beeman Kodiaks, set one of them next to it...and did my own un-scientificpellet comparison. I've read where some folksthink they are the same pel's with a different label. I beg to differ. The Baracuda's do seem to have a slightly rounder head where as the Kodiaks are a bit more pointed. Comparison over,....let's see how they work!!!!
The H&N's fit the breech fine and seated without much effort.When fired,they hadslighly more solid sound in the action than the JSB's. No boing sound,...but you could tell it was throwing some serious weight for a .177 cal rifle. Things are looking up!!!! These are very nice pellets, and I've a feeling we be getting some more!
And finally the world reknowned famous Beeman Kodiaks!!,....the king of all pellets,...or so I've heard. They fit the breech in a similar fashion as the H&N's. But,....got just a hint of "Boing" sound when fired. Not too much,...just an ever so slightly...it's hard to describeunless you've shot "BB-Guns" for a while. But on a good note,..they have grouped very well. Hitting my 30 spinners,...you'd swear they were being hit with a .22 pellet!!!!!
All in all, I'm very pleased with the performance of these .177 cal pellets. So if you're like me,...looking for that "golden Pellet" for you're particular rifle,...you may give these a try. But it's like we've all heard before,...each rifledoes prefer a certain pellet over all others. The trick is findingit!!!! Happy shooting folks!!! Thomas
PS I realized this might be more appropriate in the Pellet reviews gate,...but I wanted to reach as many shooters out there so I chose the the general "airgun gate". tjk
