First Time Sorting Pellets By Weight

[MikeAllen]

I decided to take a shot at pellet sorting by weight. Watched the boot camp video that Chris from Airguns of Arizona did then I took about a half tin of .25 FX 34 grain pellets, washed them then began sorting. I used Chris's method of separating the pellets by .05 grain difference, plus or minus .02 grains. The photo below shows the spread. I was surprised to see the results. I expected to see one large number of pellets in the middle weight range and just a few trailing off lighter and heavier. My question is this - is keeping the .05 grain difference within each group really critical, or would the same results be gotten if the spread within a group is, maybe .10 grains or more? What weight difference within a group of pellets begins to affect accuracy? Thanks for any input!

 

[beerthief]

WOW i have sorted a lot of tins and never had a spread like that .

 

[tibor]

no wonder some group great.. and then others no so good..I see no quality control..for $20 bucks a tin.
if your into competion..you better be sorting.

 

[rsfrid]

I get same results. Mine are grouped in .08grain lots - for example 34.12-34.20, etc. Then I sort those groups by head size - 6.37, 6.38, 6.39. notice, there were no pellets head size 6.35, even tho that size was noted on tins. These were MKIIs. My sorted tins went from low of below 33.52 to above 34.80. I set aside those below 33.52 or above 34.80 for plinking.

 

[MikeAllen]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll keep sorting so I have a larger population and also do a little practical testing (shooting) and I'll update as I go along. It's interesting that FX is made by JSB - and FX claims that they require JSB to use only certain dies (or maybe only one die) in order to maintain consistency.

 

[Gerry52]

IMHO it depends on a few factors including shooter's ability, type of gun/barrel, distance, etc. My guns all have Original Smooth Twist barrels (pellets only) & seem to be MUCH more forgiving in regards to sleight weight differences & pellet deformities. I've never taken the time to sort, but then, I don't compete, I MOSTLY hunt. The 16th or 32nd of an inch difference I MIGHT see if I sorted isn't worth the effort & I'm not that curious about it. It might be different if I were competing. That IS quite a spread.

 

[MikeAllen]

IMHO it depends on a few factors including shooter's ability, type of gun/barrel, distance, etc. My guns all have Original Smooth Twist barrels (pellets only) & seem to be MUCH more forgiving in regards to sleight weight differences & pellet deformities. I've never taken the time to sort, but then, I don't compete, I MOSTLY hunt. The 16th or 32nd of an inch difference I MIGHT see if I sorted isn't worth the effort & I'm not that curious about it. It might be different if I were competing. That IS quite a spread.

I agree completely. I don't hunt - just shoot benchrest an always looking for that "one hole group!"

 

[jps2486]

If you are serious about competione shooting like Benchrest, sorting pellets is a must. Have you ever wondered why you got a mysterious flyer for no reason? One pellet on the other end of the weight spectrum can do it. Or, maybe the difference between an 8, 9, or 10 on a couple of targets. One or two point difference on you total scores, means winning or losing a match. Here is the results of my test at 25 yards.

 

[rsfrid]

If you are serious about competione shooting like Benchrest, sorting pellets is a must. Have you ever wondered why you got a mysterious flyer for no reason? One pellet on the other end of the weight spectrum can do it. Or, maybe the difference between an 8, 9, or 10 on a couple of targets. One or two point difference on you total scores, means winning or losing a match.

I'd bet you head size will make just as much difference and probably moreso. A sudden inclusion of a different headsize (assuming all shots from same weight group) will almost certainly send a "flier". At least that's been my experience.

 

[JungleShooter]

SHAME on you, JSB.
For printing pellet weights on the tins with TWO DIGITS AFTER THE DECIMAL.

In case of the .22cal MRD even THREE DIGITS AFTER THE DECIMAL.


In my book that's called a lie. A LIE.
And you charge us $20 to pay for your lie....

Matthias

 

[badger5th]

I have a precision powder scale I use for PB reloading. Accurate to +/-0.1gr. What I speculate the pellet makers are doing is taking a counted bulk quantity of pellets and take the total weight. Do the division and that's what they put on the tin. Never mind that a mid-grade laboratory grade scale can't measure +/-0.01gr, here is one:

U.S. Solid 0.001 g Precision Balance – Digital Lab Scale 1 mg Analytical Electronic Balance with 2 LCD Screens, 310 g x 0.001g

U.S. Solid

ussolid.com

The balance above is good for +/- 0.001 gram which equals +/- 0.015 grains. Yeah, it's close to 0.01 gr resolution but I don't believe they can even put a 2-decimal place significant figure on the tin with integrity. Enough nerd rant.

IMO diameter is far more critical to accuracy than weight. A 1% variation in diameter is far more detrimental to accuracy than a 1% variation in weight.

 

[MikeAllen]

I'd bet you head size will make just as much difference and probably moreso. A sudden inclusion of a different headsize (assuming all shots from same weight group) will almost certainly send a "flier". At least that's been my experience.

I agree - I think ANY variation is shape or weight will make a difference in POI. That's why I ordered a PelletGage yesterday. If I'm going to go deep I may as well GO DEEP!

 

[MikeAllen]

SHAME on you, JSB.
For printing pellet weights on the tins with TWO DIGITS AFTER THE DECIMAL.

In case of the .22cal MRD even THREE DIGITS AFTER THE DECIMAL.


In my book that's called a lie. A LIE.
And you charge us $20 to pay for your lie....

Matthias

Sorry Matthias I have to disagree. I don't think you will get weight accuracy - to the third decimal place - for any product intended for consumer use. If that degree of accuracy was a requirement you'd probably be paying $200 a tin instead of $20 a tin.

 

[bigHUN]

Don't forget one thing when you weight sort the pellets......... don't breath on the scale ........ proven....
btw
This year I have tested at least ten size/weight pellets shoot about 5-6K in .22 alone. Starting from 15 gr every pellet possible to get from shelfs,
Today finished with 19 and started with 21.2 gr.
The biggest job is with MRD's and still when I am done with that miserable sorting work ... there comes a fliyer.
Ist that pissing?

 

[dgeesaman]

Here's my sorting data from most of six tins of JSB 44.75s. The average weight was 44.75. This graph excludes a handful of even lighter and heavier pellets.

By doing several tins I was able to take the 5 biggest sort bins and make a tin for each of them, and the rest are separated and used for messing around.

As for the question of whether it matters, that's hard to say. I think I also need to be sorting for head size to really make this effort pay off.

 

[JungleShooter]

I don't think you will get weight accuracy - to the third decimal place - for any product intended for consumer use.

Mike,

that's not my beef with JSB....
It's that they make us believe — by telling us pellet weights with a 2-digit degree of precision — for a produc with much much less precision.

It's this blatant (yet somehow legal-ish) dishonesty and abuse of customer trust.


Matthias

 

[MikeAllen]

Here's my sorting data from most of six tins of JSB 44.75s. The average weight was 44.75. This graph excludes a handful of even lighter and heavier pellets.

By doing several tins I was able to take the 5 biggest sort bins and make a tin for each of them, and the rest are separated and used for messing around.

As for the question of whether it matters, that's hard to say. I think I also need to be sorting for head size to really make this effort pay off.

View attachment 298017

I think (know!) you are correct on two counts. Head size makes a difference....ANY difference in size or weight must make a difference. Secondly, using larger population (multiple tins) is definitely useful in getting good information. Many thanks for sharing your information

 

[MikeAllen]

Mike,

that's not my beef with JSB....
It's that they make us believe — by telling us pellet weights with a 2-digit degree of precision — for a produc with much much less precision.

It's this blatant (yet somehow legal-ish) dishonesty and abuse of customer trust.


Matthias

Okay, gotcha! Maybe ALL pellet manufactures should put a disclaimer on each tin. Something like "Average pellet weight 33.95 grains. Individual pellet weight may vary."

 

[BackStop]

Okay, gotcha! Maybe ALL pellet manufactures should put a disclaimer on each tin. Something like "Average pellet weight 33.95 grains. Individual pellet weight may vary."

And even then, I doubt the "average" will come really close to the claimed weight, but since I haven't sorted by weight (don't have a scale that can do it) I might be totally wrong about that.

 

[rsfrid]

Mike,

that's not my beef with JSB....
It's that they make us believe — by telling us pellet weights with a 2-digit degree of precision — for a produc with much much less precision.

It's this blatant (yet somehow legal-ish) dishonesty and abuse of customer trust.


Matthias

This has been my complaint since I started shooting pellets (and slugs) seriously. I could understand JSB (or others) stating "approximate average weight 34 grains" or something similar. But to advertise 6.35 weight implies that pellets weigh 6.35 grains. But that has never been true in my experience. In fact the bin with this size is often the one with the least pellets. Same goes for head size. I have bought tins of JSB pellets in 22 with stated head size of 5.52 and none of them measured 5.52 - they were mostly 5.53-5.55. I have no idea where they get their measurements from.