First off, I love the GRT III. I installed it before any testing, and got used to it shooting some superdomes. I couldn't have had so much fun testing with the stock gamo trigger. Thank you CDT.
I had a blast testing all 36 different pellets, I really did. I was glad I had built the silent pellet trap, it held my index cards perfectly! The way I did the testing was I drew two approx. 1cm circles with a inner dot per index card. Each circle for its own pellet. I did one 8 shot group of each pellet from about 14 yards, I moved my table back as far as I could to get the extra two yards. Normally I only have 12 yards. I labeled the targets with numbers, that corresponded with the pellet sampler. Number 1 for the first pellet in the lights box and 36 for the bottom right pellet in the heavies box. I went from low to high just because I felt like it. I was blown away by some of the pellets I had doubted, and distraught when the ones I believed in failed. Most groups were average, except for a few. Some were better than average, and some were worse. What was also a shock was how loose and how tight some pellets were. The JSB predators were so loose I had to hold my gun horizontally while I replaced the barrel to the upright position so they wouldn't fall out. I think the tightest fitting were the silver arrows.
One thing to note is the very weird change my gun underwent while shooting RWS supermags. They are a heavy weight wad cutter at 9.3 grains and they were also a tight fit. I wasn't 'surprised' with how tight they were, but it was noticable when I loaded the first one. Then I fired and heard the distressing sound I had experienced twice before. There was a *thud* instead of a twang. I was almost positive the spring had broken. I slowly cocked the gun waiting to feel a difference in the cocking motion, but none was detected. I loaded another supermag and fired again. The sound was no different then the first shot. I was feeling helpless. I had just taken so much time testing pellets with my current stock spring and I thought I would have to start over with a new spring. I loaded in a superdome this time, and fired. I was estatic when I heard my normal spring twang. For once I was glad to hear/feel some twang. I finished up the supermag group, and winced every single time I heard that depressing thud. It was very much different and unexpected from that pellet. There was no dieseling that I could notice either. Weird.
After all the testing, I picked out the groups that looked and/or measured the best. They are...
RWS diablo basic 7.0grain
Beeman silver bear 7.1
RWS super H 7.4
Beeman HN match 7.55
Beeman laser sport 7.7
RWS CO2 7.7
RWS R-10 8.2
RWS meisters 8.3
Beeman kodiak 10.6
Beeman silver arrow 11.5
I was particularly surprised with the RWS diablo basics. There less than 1 cent per pellet, yet they were one of the best groups. They grouped in a C shape instead of a circle, which worried me, and they are fairy light(not that its a problem, but I don't want the possibility of excess spring fatigue) so I don't think I'm going to stick with them. The meisters are mid weight at 8.3 and moderately priced at $9 a tin of 500. I think I'm going to go with them, and maybe a tin of RWS super H points for pest control.
I still have enough pellets to do another one of these assessments if I need to. I might even have enough for two more! Well, all thats left now is to order up some pellets and get back to my normal plinking. Happy shooting everyone, and again thanks for helping me become more accustomed to airgunning.
