Another RWS 34 .22 Panther Review and Pellet Test

I am sure many of you are sick and tired of RWS Panther Reviews, but I just got bought a new Alpha Chrony from fellow forum member raterminator and tested 7 pellets through it.

I am not sure why, but my numbers are about 150FPS higher than Straightshooters.com posted numbers for the RWS 34 .22.  

I shot indoors with a 300-watt type t halogen bulb in a portable light fixture that has a frosted diffuser below the bulb.
It was about 2 feet above the Alpha Chrony centered between both sensors.
The crown of the muzzle was exactly 22 inches from the Chrony's first sensor.
Below are my results for 10 shot strings in order from fastest to lowest FPS using CharlieDaTuna's Excel Chrony Data Sheets.

Beeman Silver Bear
Highest Velocity- 814.3
Lowest Velocity- 788.8
Average Velocity- 799.41
Extreme Deviation- 25.5
Average Deviation-4.77

Beeman Trophy
Highest Velocity-787.2
Lowest Velocity-753.2
Average Velocity-764.53
Extreme Deviation-34
Average Deviation-8.042

Daisy Premium Wadcutter
Highest Velocity-778.6
Lowest Velocity-752.4
Average Velocity-763.46
Extreme Deviation-26.2
Average Deviation-6.66

Beeman FTS
Highest Velocity-757.6
Lowest Velocity-736
Average Velocity-749.87
Extreme Deviation-21.6
Average Deviation-3.796

RWS Superdome
Highest Velocity-749.9
Lowest Velocity-737.3
Average Velocity-744.67
Extreme Deviation-12.6
Average Deviation-2.81

Crosman Premier
Highest Velocity-748.8
Lowest Velocity-735.7
Average Velocity-741.32
Extreme Deviation-13.1
Average Deviation-3.54

Beeman Crow Magnums
Highest Velocity-648.2
Lowest Velocity-621.9
Average Velocity-635.09
 Extreme Deviation-26.3
Average Deviation-6.552

Before the arrival of the Alpha Chrony I also tested pellets for groupings at 10, 15, 25, and 50 yards.
10 yard testing was done at my indoor range others were done at a public outdoor range (Markham Park).  The wind started blowing pretty hard toward the end and messed up my testing for 50 yards, but my most consistent groups (10 Shots) are ranked in order below. I did not test Crow Magnums beyond 10 yards or Daisy Premiums at all.

At 10 yards it was pretty much a wash all were about equal (clovers)

At 15 yards
Beeman Trophy and Crosman Premier were tied for first (Largest Spread 10mm center to center)
Beeman FTS  a close second all within 12mm.  
RWS Superdomes and Beeman Silver Bears came in last with an extreme spread of 14mm.
 
At 25 Yards
1st Beeman FTS without flyer had 10 mm extreme spread!)
2nd Crosman Premier 14mm Spread/Beeman Trophy 15mm Spread (without flyer 11mm)
3rd Beeman Silver Bear and RWS Superdomes had an extreme spread of about 16-18mm (3 to 4 Flyers outside of 20mm)

The most ft/lbs. of energy based on Chrony results above and assuming advertised pellet weight came from the

1st Beeman FTS 18.23
2nd Beeman Trophy 18.17
3rd Beeman Silver Bear 17.96
4th RWS Superdome 17.61
5th Crosman Premier 17.45
6th Beeman Crow Magnum 16.3
Daisy Premium (Didn't know weight of pellet)

So from my results it appears that for the Beeman Trophy and Beeman FTS are the pellets my particular RWS  34 Panther likes.  Haven't tried the JSB Exacts, but will once I get my hands on some!

As far as my rifle I love it, its no Gold Finger, but it'll give one a run.  

I am surprised by the Chrony results and think they may be off, but its what I got, wish a had a second Chrony to verify numbers. If any forum members have achieved similar results out of your RWS 34 Panther .22 please verify or if my numbers appear to be off, could you please offer some suggestions on what I could be doing wrong.

Thank you in advance,

Robert Perez

[leftcoast1]

I've read that the lighting if not in the rigt posistion will give false readings. The lighting set up for the chrony shows a light on top of each so that may have something to do with it but not sure.

[DanoInTx]

I don't know about your gun, but indoor chrony results can be pretty far off unless you get the lighting "just" right.  Retry a few shots outdoors and you'll know for sure.  I have tried all sorts of different indoor lighting for a chony and never got it to work exactly right....usually tons of errors though.  I don't know much about the M34, only shot one once, but those numbers DO seem a little high....never know though, maybe yours came with an extra ounce or two of whoop@$$!  Gene has a couple of these, maybe he will chime in with some chrony numbers.  Outdoor chrony results on a slightly overcast day seemed to work best for me......hehe, worked REALLY well until Steve shot Joels chrony and Joel took it back from me:)