I recently upgraded calibre from a .177 to a .22, the main reason for this was to shoot heavier pellets but I recently read an article saying that it isn't good to shoot heavy pellets out of a break barrel if it isn't a magnum springer because it will damage the rifle. I bought a benjamin varmint hunter nitro piston and was wondering if anyone had experienced any problems with a benjamin/crosman nitro piston rifle after shooting heavy pellets?
shooting heavy pellets out of a nitro piston break barrel
- Thread starter dpalac19
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While there may be some truth to that you may find that the heavy pellets don't shoot very well anyway. Spring guns only have a set amount of power. There is an optimum pellet weight that your gun will like. It will probably be in the 14- 17 grain range for a gun like that. You will find that heavier pellets won't shoot very fast or flat and will be some what disapointing as the gun will struggle to launch them do to their weight. Its better to find the pellet that your gun shoots very well. When you find the right one just stick with it. When you find the right weight that the gun likes it will just feel right. There is a balance with power and weight that you want to find. You are already shooting heavier pellets by switching to a .22 cal. Spring guns (and yes nitro piston/gas rams are spring guns. Its just and air spring instead of a coil spring.) tend to work best with lighter pellets and pcp guns tend to like heaver pellets.
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Yeah, pretty much what 30cal said. Also to be considered: .22 trajectory (arc of travel from muzzle to target) is a lot more extreme than in the .177 caliber (due to lower velocity and heavier pellet weight). It's an unfortunate side effect of "economy" that Crosman/Benjamin NP guns (and probably all other manufacturers as well) share the same power plant between calibers. A .22 Trail NP has all the same parts (piston, seal, Nitro Piston, etc) as the .177 Trail NP, with the exception of the barrel. It would be great if the larger calibers moved more air to compensate for the larger slugs, but they don't. My Trail is currently a .22, but I'm considering going back to .177. I find it to be much more accurate and not significantly less powerful.
sorry, almost forgot: while my accuracy ain't stellar in .22, my trail seems to really like CP 14.3s from the brown box. I am also experimenting with some H&N hollow points that are just under 13 grains. They look promising for short range (25 yards and less) so far.
sorry, almost forgot: while my accuracy ain't stellar in .22, my trail seems to really like CP 14.3s from the brown box. I am also experimenting with some H&N hollow points that are just under 13 grains. They look promising for short range (25 yards and less) so far.
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The lightest pellet you should consider is the lightest one that won't go supersonic, and the heaviest pellet you should consider is the heaviest one that won't drop below your reticle at the longest distance you plan to shoot at. Within that range of weights, it's a question of flatter trajectory (lighter) vs. more downrange energy (heavier). Once you have a weight in mind, try a bunch of different pellets until you find one that your gun "likes."
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I also have the Benjamin varmint and I shoot the rws super domes they are 14.5 grain. They have the best group.
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Well I just had to join this forum - if not to reply solely to this, that I came across while surfing. Pellet weight has absolutely nothing to do with the arc of a .22 air rife. In fact, the only thing that creates a more pronounced arc is velocity - which you touched on. If you shoot .177 and .22 slugs at the same velocity - regardless of grain weight - the arc will be identical. Avid airgunner chiming in here. 17 years, over half my life behind the trigger.
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Tinyme that's true but he did say that it was due to the slower velocity of the .22 from the same power plant as the .177 and the .25 has a lower velocity yet than the .22 and a correspondingly greater arc.
Welcome to the forum!
Welcome to the forum!
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Yes, indeed. That he did (-; as a broad overview ( if you didn't know any better ) that quote may have sounded like all .22 pellets inherently travel in a more pronounced arc, regardless. Thanks for the welcome !
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Yes there is a lot of confusing notions floating around out there that can trip up new comers to air guns. Mostly due to misleading marketing by manufactures. I always try to help clarify things for new folks too.
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Nowhere in that quote did I imply that, I'm talking trajectory. You missed the rest of this thread, I assume ??!! Any how, obviously it does - assuming the pellets are fired from the same gun. The crux of my point is that the ARC / TRAJECTORY will be exactly the same, no matter what the grain weight of two pellets are, if fired at the same velocity. The only reason heavier pellets "fall faster" is they are exposed to gravity longer. But they only fall / arc more if the velocity differs.
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Only if they have exactly the same BC (which is very unlikely when comparing different calibers) or you're shooting in a vacuum.
My point is that saying "Pellet weight has absolutely nothing to do with [trajectory]" is extremely misleading. And yes, I read the context. You're talking about a hypothetical scenario with no real-world application. In the real world, pellet weight is the single largest factor in trajectory because it has a large effect on both velocity and BC.
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Umm wow. You did miss the crux. That being that there is a general misinterpretation that "a .177 flies flatter than a .22", which people think is because the pellets generally weigh more - hence my in-context quote you tried to shoot down. That is what's going on here. I am not too sure what you are trying to say ? A pellets weight only affects the velocity when fired from the same rifle.... All calibers can be fired fast or slow - again, I am only debunking the different calibre myth. What is misleading is saying "a .177 flies flatter than a .22".
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A .177 generally does fly flatter than a .22, and it is because the .22 pellet weighs more, at least indirectly. Similar rifles that differ only in caliber generally have similar or even identical power plants. The difference in muzzle energy is generally less than the difference in projectile mass, hence the .177 generally has a higher muzzle velocity and consequently flatter trajectory. This is especially true in countries where FPE is limited by law. A .177 tuned to 12 FPE has a much higher muzzle velocity than a .22 tuned to the same FPE.
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Well my trail xl 1500 prefers .177 h&n sport sniper magnums they weigh in at 15 grains
i get 2" groups out as far as 100 yards. The pellet is dropping around 10-11 " at that distance
I've tried many pellets and these just shoot where their told
I found that any pellet like the crosman ultra mags were really good for a long time then on a whim I went for the exact heavys
this sent the pellet at about the same poi
bit with better groups most of the Time .. I did notice that every so often even at 30 yards I was getting pellet shaped holes in things ( flight inability)
this explained the fliers I was getting from a seemingly great pellet
I tried the h&n snipers and they were hitting 6" low and 2" left I was like wtf these pellets are crap .. Anyway I was bored so I set up a brand new target and aimed for center with ten shots and I had less than a 1" group at the 30 yards all shots low and left. I've now zeroed the scope and it's a tack driver
definitely if you own a 177 with a lot of spring recoil the heavier the better .. Les kick means more accuracy and the kill power will stay there.. Tho I swear birds can see the pellet coming of its under 800 fps
comments welcom
i get 2" groups out as far as 100 yards. The pellet is dropping around 10-11 " at that distance
I've tried many pellets and these just shoot where their told
I found that any pellet like the crosman ultra mags were really good for a long time then on a whim I went for the exact heavys
this sent the pellet at about the same poi
bit with better groups most of the Time .. I did notice that every so often even at 30 yards I was getting pellet shaped holes in things ( flight inability)
this explained the fliers I was getting from a seemingly great pellet
I tried the h&n snipers and they were hitting 6" low and 2" left I was like wtf these pellets are crap .. Anyway I was bored so I set up a brand new target and aimed for center with ten shots and I had less than a 1" group at the 30 yards all shots low and left. I've now zeroed the scope and it's a tack driver
definitely if you own a 177 with a lot of spring recoil the heavier the better .. Les kick means more accuracy and the kill power will stay there.. Tho I swear birds can see the pellet coming of its under 800 fps
comments welcom
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I have the exact rifle and shoot the same 18 grain JSB's and 21 grain H&N's out of it as I do my PCP rifle. I will have a chrony in 2-3 days and will let you know what the results are. Out to 30yds I don't notice much difference honestly. They both shoot really well. I have shot the JSB's off hand @118yds (laser range finder) and landed smack dab on the bottle after a few shots. I made a thread about it I believe, so that's my first hand experience. I will get as scientific as I can when I get my Chrony.
Edit: it's my little picture actually. Just realized I haven't changed that to my new Krosa!
Edit: it's my little picture actually. Just realized I haven't changed that to my new Krosa!
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When I still had my Hatsan Striker Edge, I tried shooting JSB Jumbo Monsters out of it (21+grains, I think). Surprisingly, they grouped fairly well at under 30 yards, and the point of impact was not significantly below my point of aim. Anyway when I Chrony'd those pellets the velocity was in the lower 500 fps (JSB 14.35 pellets were blazing out of that gun in the low 800/high 700 fops). I never tried them past 30 yards...now I kinda wish I had. I would never bother even trying them out of my Trail, as it just doesn't make that kind of power.
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