Predator pellet issue

[fisherdude]

I got some JSB predator pellets to try in my .177 CFX and something really strange happened.  While shooting this afternoon, three different times, the rifle acted as if it dry fired!  It went Kapow! really loud!.. I thought I forgot to put in a pellet the first time, but it happened twice more in the same session.  Once, I noticed that the skirt on the pellet was slightly misshapen and when I fired, it not only made the really loud noise, but I have no clue where the pellet went.  Other than these three anomolies, the predators shot really well.  Does anyone know why this is hapening?  It seems that they are either getting some blow by or they sometimes go out really fast for some unknown reason.

[crazy4salmon]

My Whisper really likes them, but the skirts are so thin it seems as if every other pellet has a skirt issue. They seem to fit a little loose too from time to time. You must have  gotten a couple pellets that fit real loose and came out with some fire. Would have been cool to see what they cronied at. Just a guess. I am thinking of making a tool to straighten out the skirts so I dont have to waste so many.

Dan L

[longislandhunter]

The skirts on the Predators are pretty soft and do deform easily. I use the Beeman Pell-Seat to re-shape deformed pellets,,,,, works very well, especially on the soft skirted Predators... I got mine at Pyramydair,,, here's the link

http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/accessory.pl?accessory_id=711

Jeff

[crazy4salmon]

Hey Jeff, I was thinking of modding these Nintendo DS stylus my kids use on there touch screen games. For a pellet seater.  :p

Dan L
http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-DS-Stylus-3-PK/dp/B0006A9SMA

[longislandhunter]

Hey Dan,,,, I couldn't see them that well in the picture and I'm not familiar with them but if they'll work that's great......

Jeff

[SGTMEATSAUCE]

I use the Pell tool too, it works great, has a clip to clip to your pocket so you know where it is, I seat all my pellets now to get an even start pellet evaluation...

[RatPatrol]

Is it possible that they went supersonic?
Maybe it's intermittent because it's shooting right around the supersonic threshold...have you ever shot pba raptors? They're supersonic out of my varmint hunter and the scared the hell out of me when i tried them for the first (and last) time...

[fisherdude]

I am not sure if they went supersonic.  It sounded to me more like a blow-by - like a dry fire.  In fac, the first time it happened, I thought I had forgotten to put in a pellet.  I think it would have hit the tartet somewhere if it was a supersonic.  Plus,  i think the weight is too much(8.2 gr) for it to go supersonic in my .177.

[TexasShooter72]

Ron, I too have noticed a couple loud pops when firing the JSB Predators...  so too has it happened with a few other pellets.  Mine's a tuned Gamo Hunter Elite and it tends to chrony in the upper 900's.  I've realized that I get a sonic crack out of lead pellets at times.  I have no inclination to jack-up my gun so I don't use PBA's anymore.  Given the right circumstances you may be experiencing a sonic crack!

[r1derbike]

All my pells get "skirted" now.

[TCups]

I was thinking about having an adult cocktail or two and saving the plastic swivel sticks (the plastic ones with the little round ball on the end) to fabricate my own pellet skirt/seal tool.  I figure for the retail price of the tool on PA, I should be able to have a couple and still come out ahead.

[RatPatrol]

I like how this guy thinks.  

[SGTMEATSAUCE]

I tried a few versions of my own homemade pell tool like gadget, most worked fair enough, I do really like the real Pell tool which I eventually got(from PA-15 bucks) I am happy I did. One thing, most of my clones were round so when I put them down they rolled off and got lost, the Pell tool has a shirt clip right on it! Oh boy! Also on some pellets, like Rockets come to mind, you have to get quite aggressive to stuff their little pellet heads into the chamber and hard enough to jam them into the rifling till you hear the click. This has lead to more consistent shooting especially when shooting many diffenrent pellets for evaluation. Hope this helps.