12fpe Springer Slug Test

[intenseaty22]

I was told that 12fpe guns will not even expel slugs out of the barrel, so the logical thing to do is to try it myself. But, since I don’t own a 12fpe PCP.......yet, I gave it a go with a Springer.

Short video tells ya everything you need to know. Like, subscribe, send me lots of money, click on the notification bell, love it on IG, share it with 100 of your friends. Just kidding, I really don’t give a . But I do hope it’s useful information for some. 

https://youtu.be/W2yshqXd2-k

 

[Guest]

Awesome video

 

[Moog]

Thanks for doing that test because I wondered the exact same things about slugs in a 12 fpe springer. I also shoot an HW95 in both .177 and .22 and have been always curious about what would happen if you tried shooting slugs.

I've been a bit reluctant to try it my self because I've heard slugs can be hard on the spring. Someone I can't remember who posted photos taken from a bore scope showing a lot of grease and lead build up from shooting slugs. Nice video and thanks for posting.

 

[Malsonb]

I tried shooting griffen 15gr slugs in my Gamo swarm fusion .22cal gen 2. FPS average was 563. 10 shot Groups at 12 yards was small as a dime. At 25 yards it opened up some to about 1.75". H& N greens shoot the best in it. I think if you could get some lighter slugs one may have good results. To much friction between the slug and barrel to get any speed out if it. I am waiting for the lead free slugs to try. 

 

[Guest]

Not a 12fpe springer, 15-17fpe springer depending on pellet weight. The rifle is a Turk built Webley Tomahawk .177 and it's favorite pellet is the H&N Sniper Medium 8.5gr which avg right around 950 fps. Yep I know, faster than you might want for .177 but very accurate.

Slugs in question were the new NSA 12.5gr 178's. I figured ok, 4 grains heavier, should park fps in the low to mid 700's. Here's the chrony numbers. Upper target was trying to sight in, lower target was about 15 shots.

Compare that to the target shot with the Sniper Mediums, 5 yards farther out and 20 shots. Your mileage may vary depending on the rifle used but at l

east with the Tommy, I think I'll stick with the Snipers although it also shoots the RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets very well too.

Tommy with the Sniper Mediums:

Tommy with the R10 Match Heavies:

 

[JayJay]

Dang, excuse me as I retrieve my pince-nez off the floor.... Did my eyes deceive me? An HW95 getting only 400 fps with 12.5 grain slugs? That's only 4.5 foot pounds. A stock HW95 puts out about 15 foot pounds. Somewhere it lost over 11 foot pounds!

 

[intenseaty22]

@jayjay my 95 has been turned to shoot at 12fpe with pellets. So it “lost” 7.5, but either way it was just an experiment. 

 

[BeeGee11]

What's the reasoning behind shooting a 12.5gr slug over a 12.5gr pellet? With the same mass and increased accuracy and velocity, it seems like the pellet would be the no brainer.

Yes, I know that the pellets in the video were lighter than the slugs, this is a question comparing leads of equal masses.

 

[Guest]

Least in my case, it was boredom and curious to see what would happen...lol

 

[bandg]

Slugs need rotation to stabilize whereas the pellet is mostly drag stabilized. The lower energy/velocity guns are probably gaining nothing in shooting a slug over a pellet. They probably don't have the velocity (directly related to rotational speed of the projectile) to stabilize a slug at any distance. But, as with most guns and different pellets, some may shoot a particular projectile better than others.

My Diana 460 shoots the NSA 12.5 slugs better than any pellet I've found for it. Consistently accurate out to 65 yards. But the muzzle velocity is much higher than that noted in Intenseaty's video.

Scp52-"Yep I know, faster than you might want for .177 but very accurate."-if very accurate then why is it faster than one might want?

 

[Guest]

Slugs need rotation to stabilize whereas the pellet is mostly drag stabilized. The lower energy/velocity guns are probably gaining nothing in shooting a slug over a pellet. They probably don't have the velocity (directly related to rotational speed of the projectile) to stabilize a slug at any distance. But, as with most guns and different pellets, some may shoot a particular projectile better than others.

My Diana 460 shoots the NSA 12.5 slugs better than any pellet I've found for it. Consistently accurate out to 65 yards. But the muzzle velocity is much higher than that noted in Intenseaty's video.

Scp52-"Yep I know, faster than you might want for .177 but very accurate."-if very accurate then why is it faster than one might want?

LOL...because all the gods and experts of springer airguns (and I ain't one) always happily tell everyone 850-900 is the optimal speed for .177 and that's too fast and I need to de-tune that gun and any number of other things about how wrong I am...lolololol.

The RWS R10 Match Heavies actually shoot even faster and averaged 975 for 10 shots over the chrony.

 

[intenseaty22]

What's the reasoning behind shooting a 12.5gr slug over a 12.5gr

Pure curiosity & simply put, because I could. Not something I will continue to do for sure, but as stated before, people wonder about these things, so I figure I will find out. 

 

[bandg]

What's the reasoning behind shooting a 12.5gr slug over a 12.5gr

Pure curiosity & simply put, because I could. Not something I will continue to do for sure, but as stated before, people wonder about these things, so I figure I will find out.

A more than good enough reason. Thanks for taking the time to answer an interesting question. I'm not at all sure where the point of advantage would begin for slugs but as noted my Diana 460 shoots 12.5 gr. NSA slugs very well at just about double the velocity you got from your rifle. I shot a few today over the chronograph (cold here) and saw 790-800 fps with the slugs. At 50 yards they drop about 5" with a 30 yard zero but the wind doesn't move them around much at all. A 2 dot holdover on that setup produces consistent hits on my 2" plate at that range. FWIW.

 

[intenseaty22]

That’s fantastic. As for “point of advantage” I would say it will have a couple variables. Physics don’t favor a platform vs another, so I would assume that the advantage of ballistic coefficient would apply to a slug out of a Springer just as well as a PCP. So, retained energy at further distance is the sales pitch for slugs. I would say that if you had a Springer shooting slugs just as well or better than a pellet, well, why not. I would not hesitate to shoot a squirrel with it.

Lately I have been more and more interested in the Slow and Heavy hunting. Tim over at Edgun Leshiy channel has been doing that for a while. I have my .25 PT Cricket tuned at low speeds, about 620fps, right now with the 34gr JSB. Only problem is, squirrels have been scarce lately. Not sure if it’s the Winter or nesting or what. Have not seen but one (& it’s dead now) in a few weeks.

So there’s no reason in my book why a properly placed slug couldn’t be used at a slower speed to take out a tree rat. 

 

[bandg]

Agree completely. What I was referring to was the point (power/velocity) where a slug would shoot well enough to surpass the utility of a pellet. Certainly should be related to the individual gun in question-the velocity it can produce, twist rate of the barrel, etc. There should be a "rough area" where such would reach a point that one could generally say that maybe slugs would be truly useful from this type gun. Generally and maybe.

On a personal level for this, I have been more than pleasantly surprised at how well the Diana 460 shoots the 12.5 slugs-better accuracy than any pellet and enough energy to utilize the trajectory. But my Diana 430 did not impress me when I tried the slugs in it-decent accuracy but not as good as the 7.33 AA Falcons that it shoots great and a much more "loopy" trajectory with the slugs.