A Tale Of Three Pellets...minus One

Jay Edward (deceased) · June 15, 2006, 03:09:47 PM

Not being completely happy with the groups I was getting out of the Winchester XS .177 airgun, I ordered some different pellets... heavier pellets... to see if it made a difference. After all, I use this rifle to get rid of unwanted pests and I need accuracy above all else due to the small size of the garden pests.

I measured off 13 yards exactly and proceeded to try the new pellets. The Beeman Crow Magnum Pellet weighs in at 8.8 grains and the Crossman Premier Domed Pellet weighs in at 10.5 grains.

You can see the results after repositioning the scope. 'A' denotes the first shot on target with the Crow Magnum... too far right and too low for the longer shots. I adjusted and shot 'B'. I tried the Crossman Premier Domed and it printed a group right at 3/4 inch center-to-center. Too low but the greater weight accounts for that. Group size was down by 1/4 inch from the RWS Super H Point.

I switched back to the Crow Magnums and adjusted left on the scope. The group size is 1/4 inch center-to-center and about 1 inch high. Just right.

I've ordered the 8.61 grain Silver Sting 8.61 grain hunting pellet made by Beeman and we shall see what we shall see. It is a pointed pellet and more for penetration. I like the Crow Magnum as the 'hollow point' is almost as large as the pellet diameter.

Looks like this rifle does not care for the RWS pellet at 1000 fps so that is the 'minus One'.

Now for some offending critter to tempt me.

Brithunter · June 16, 2006, 11:34:01 AM

Hi Jay,

I am wondering why the short dstance?

What range are the pests you usually shoot?

I was playing with my spring guns the other day, set out the target in the field at 35 paces and found that i need some more practice again, now all I need is to find the time.

gitano · June 16, 2006, 11:43:17 AM

When I looked at pellets, the Crow Magnum certainly got my attention. However, aside from "accuracy", I suspect that short of 30 paces, most "will do the job". 'Course I don't have those kinda varmints up here. A pine squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) doesnt hold a candle to those squirrels in your woodpile.

Paul

Jay Edward (deceased) · June 16, 2006, 04:26:34 PM

Paul's pretty well nailed it BH... 25 yards would be about maximum for pest control around my place. If they don't come near the garden, or build in my house or out buildings, I leave them alone.

It's been raining pretty steady around here, overcast wind and temps in the low 50s in the mornings... so I've been doing the shooting from in my basement through to a stump near the mill in my metal shop. I shoot a few about every 3rd time through the shop and don't pay any attention to weather or lighting.

I've been scheming on a .25 caliber Model 48 to do a little woods walking with but I've got to get the pesos together and allocated first.

buckshot roberts · June 18, 2006, 06:17:07 AM

:) Jay thats is some shooing;) they are a few around here that squirrel hunt with the air,Ron

Jay Edward (deceased) · June 18, 2006, 10:12:44 AM

Gracias Buckshot... I was out this morning lining out a place for a 25 - 35 yard space for both primitive bow and airgun. I already have a good archery range set up but I wanted one that is protected from the wind for testing purposes.

beretta96 · June 22, 2006, 07:41:22 PM

I bought an RWS gun a while back and found pellets to be a big issue in accuracy. I t came with RWS pellets a tin dome and one tin match. Across my basement 20ft or so I can get one hole with three shots. I tried Crossman pointed field pellets and couldn't keep them in a 4" circle. If your looking for accuracy try RWS match or domed scott

Brithunter · June 23, 2006, 01:10:38 AM

Hi All,

One thing to watch for at least in the .22 cal is that there is two bore sizes

the old British No2 Bore is 5.6mm whilst the European .22 is 5.5mm, but to confusicate things even more the East Germans at least used the British measurement as my Haenel Mod 302 is marked on the barrel 5.6mm

.

And yes the type of pellet as well as the actual size can make a huge difference in accuracy. Crossman Premier seems to have a very good reputation ofr accuracy and a lot of the Field Target shooters seem to use them

. In my Feinwerbau Mod 127 I am finding that although I used to get excellent accuracy using RWS Pointed pellets the tin I have now (don't know how old it is :o ) is not so hot perhaps the lubricant has vanished? and I am getting better accuracy with some H&N Field & Target Trophy domed pellets.

The other day i was doing a little practice and I put a fired .410 2 1/2" cartridge case at about 15 paces standing on the grass and shot at it. Standing on it's base that case made a testing target as with the grass only half of it's length was visable and it flew through the air very satisfingly when hit :D . Took a few shots to connect and I had to fine tune the sight :o . Another good practice safe reactive target is empty 35mm film cannisters

.

buckshot roberts · June 23, 2006, 10:17:29 AM

:D Hey Brithunter that good shooting, I'll have to try that with my ruger MK 2, Ron

Brithunter · June 23, 2006, 10:45:31 AM

Hi Buckshot,

Hmm not to good I am afraid as the Feinwerkbau air rifle has a 4x scope fitted so I should have connected sooner rather than later! Need more practice in fact as it's a nice evening here I mihgt just braek it it and have at some targets in a little while.

scoper-uk · July 19, 2007, 12:01:38 PM

ive been running in my new hw 97k(beeman 97) i think you guys call it,i soon ran out of pellets they didnt have my usual batch of cp lights,so i got some crossman accupels, not as accurate,not by a long shot, they lasted me two days, then my buddy wanted a night lamping, hes got lots of bunnies trashing his land,so dropped a tin of air arms super field pellets off,these pellets are a revelation after the accupels, i was belting a golf ball around a field out to 70 yards,just getting the cross on the tip at ten times,and had two rabbits to 85 yards,brilliant, putting a clip on you tube soon /take note ive noticed two different sizes in the pellets its on the under side of the tin,one says 4.52 which is what i use , the other is 4.51 and looks totaly different when looking into the skirt,

scoper-uk · August 06, 2007, 05:50:20 AM

ive been using air arms field pellets and am reaping the rewards, but have got down to my last tin to find the bottom of the tin bears a different code- 4.51 where as the two previous were 4.52-65/ i was a little puzzled at first, but like the crossman pellets they do different sizes, so i had to find a couple of my previous pellets to compare to,,the hole in the skirt isnt as deep or as tapered its similar to the premier -nice and flat bottomed also theres a step cut on the inside of the skirt as it starts to taper, so watch for batch numbers,the chances are they will fly slightly differently

gitano · August 06, 2007, 06:20:32 AM

The difference in lots is quite surprising. Seems a bit fishy to me. If you can't rely on consistent shape from lot-to-lot, that's pretty poor quality control.

Paul

scoper-uk · August 08, 2007, 04:13:05 AM

i always look at batch numbers on tins , so when my shooting buddy went to pickup his new rifle, i said id go with him to get a couple of tins of pellets,but he went straight from work got me the pellets but didnt check the batch no,s,it does meke a big difference thats why i stick to one type of pellet, usually crossman premiers 7.9 has a number 2 die on the bottom of the box, theyre a good tight fit, but are becoming increasingly rare due to cheap coppies,so again its trial and error,ive had some good feedback from target shooters on the net, so it helps narrow things down a little,