How do you chose the right pellet or slug

[smith007]

When you buy a new gun, what do you do? Do you have a broad selection of pellets that you experiment with or do you have some go-to brands? In such case, what brands and what is your heuristics in choosing?

I am asking cause I picked up a Diana Bandit and was putting different kinds of jumbos through it and was getting terrible groupings.. I was actually blaming the gun at this point(cant possibly be the shooter right?), jumbo's of different kinds have worked well for me in my rifles so....
But then I dug up these old gamo's and one case was these flat heads (tip is gone so dont even known the exact name and weight), and with these it is punching the same damn hole for 9 rounds straight. Crazy accurate this little piece.

So, how do you go about it?

 

[Peskådot671]

I usually start out with the usual suspects which of course is JSB in different weights. Depending on what the gun's intended purpose is, I'll tune for the ammo I'll be shooting through it.

 

[corny]

Well first of, u want to shoot pellets under 890fps typically, especially for testing. 

Keep note of the head diameter on the stuff that works. 

Most known barrel brand will work well with jsb pellets. 

 

[smith007]

I usually start out with the usual suspects which of course is JSB in different weights. Depending on what the gun's intended purpose is, I'll tune for the ammo I'll be shooting through it.

So you'll find the best fit pellet/slug for the purpose and then tune the gun from there?

What does tuning the gun entail? Adjusting pressure? (yes, I am noobish)

 

[smith007]

Well first of, u want to shoot pellets under 890fps typically, especially for testing. 

Keep note of the head diameter on the stuff that works. 

Most known barrel brand will work well with jsb pellets.

Why under 890fps? We're not pushing sonic yet?

By head diameter you mean as labelled 4.52 right? The "2".

See, the JSB's actually performed pretty bad with this gun, which was weird to me and partly why I posted this topic.

 

[Ripper]

Wadcutter pellets Usually work really good in pistols. Most of my pistols like the RWS Wadcutters.

 

[markT]

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

 

[dizzums]

lol, with springers i used to have to play with pellets like that .. maybe im just fortunate, but every 177 and 22 i own shoots cheap premeirs fine, domes are harder to find but even better ... im not locked into expensive pellets till the larger guns ..

 

[Peskådot671]

I usually start out with the usual suspects which of course is JSB in different weights. Depending on what the gun's intended purpose is, I'll tune for the ammo I'll be shooting through it.

So you'll find the best fit pellet/slug for the purpose and then tune the gun from there?

What does tuning the gun entail? Adjusting pressure? (yes, I am noobish)

I was just talking in general. I just realized you mentioned that you have a Diana Bandit which is a pistol. I have no experience with that gun or other PCP pistols. I was more referring to airguns with Lothar Walther and CZ barrels which do well with JSB branded pellets. Slugs is a different story all together. If I was in your shoes, I would just try an assortment of pellets from JSB, H&N, RWS, and Crosman. Main thing is always looking for accuracy. If you mainly hunt, you may want to choose a hollow point such as JSB Hades or Predator Polymags. It also depends on how far your targets or game will be and what's acceptable to you for accuracy. 

 

[ImpactX]

Go straight to JSB pellets and you don't go wrong. The jumbo isn't good for many rifle. 

 

[qball]

I would shoot crosman pellets out of the new guns and if it can’t shoot the crosman pellets then I’ll return or sell the gun. 

 

[WorriedMan]

007,

Look for Sampler Packs. Many popular pellet/slug brands offer them. Knowing how your gun shoots each type will give clues as to what it prefers in relation to materials, design and weight. Eventually you'll narrow down the best choices. WM

 

[FelixS]

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

There is that

Then, there is doing a search for a gun like yours and seeing what others are doing. That is a good start. Then back to

 

[carnage06]

Anyone figure out the best slug for a FX WC Compact?

 

[bdzjlz]

I have a "blend" of .177 and .22 pellets that I test every new rifle with. Invariably, one pellet will way out perform the others. I have attached a test target for a new Weihrauch HW100 I received yesterday that I just put through the test. I have also attached blank targets in both .22 and .177 should anyone find any value in using .

View attachment .177 Caliber Pellet Test Target.01.01.22.1648902524.pdf

View attachment .22 Caliber Pellet Test Target 1.1648902546.pdf

View attachment .22 Caliber Pellet Test Target 2.1648902546.pdf

 

[corny]

Well first of, u want to shoot pellets under 890fps typically, especially for testing. 

Keep note of the head diameter on the stuff that works. 

Most known barrel brand will work well with jsb pellets.

Why under 890fps? We're not pushing sonic yet?

By head diameter you mean as labelled 4.52 right? The "2".

See, the JSB's actually performed pretty bad with this gun, which was weird to me and partly why I posted this topic.

In most cases 860-880 is the sweet spot for standard Diablo pellets. Once u find one that performs well, u can try pushing the speed, but the more you push it, the higher the wind drift. 


yes, if you have issue finding a good shooting pellet, but have found one that seems to work. Measure it and compare it to what doesn’t work. Also compare the speeds they all shoot at. 

 

[JimD]

One of my 3 PCPs really likes JSB made pellets (a 25 cal Avenger) and two do not (Prod and P35). I plan to buy another P35 in 22 caliber and will test it with JSBs (I have a sampler pack) but also with Crosman and H&Ns. Both my guns that do not like JSBs like H&N FTT. The Prod is 22 and the P35 is 25 caliber. The Prod's favorite is the copper plated FTTs.

I wonder if it has anything to do with twist rate of the barrel. Possibly slower twist tends to mean it will like JSBs and a little faster twist H&Ns. Other than something like that, I fall back to my powder burner experience. The pressure impulse from firing the gun sets off vibrations in the barrel. I think of a sine wave but it is undoubtedly a lot more complicated than that. If the vibrations are lower, the barrel isn't moving as much and you should have more accuracy. Some airgunners believe they can hear a good tune because the gun sounds different - that would mean it is vibrating different. With the 60,000 psi PB center fires make, the barrel is vibrating so you try to find a bullet, powder, and load that causes the gun to be at a high or low point of it's vibrations when the bullet leaves the muzzle. That way it leaving a little earlier or later has much less effect on the point of impact than it would if the barrel was right in the middle of it's flexing when the bullet leaves. You learn this by shooting groups.

I look for what others say their similar gun likes and be sure to test that. It caused me to get some copper plated FTTs for my Prod. I otherwise test what I have on hand from testing other guns.

 

[smith007]

I have a "blend" of .177 and .22 pellets that I test every new rifle with. Invariably, one pellet will way out perform the others. I have attached a test target for a new Weihrauch HW100 I received yesterday that I just put through the test. I have also attached blank targets in both .22 and .177 should anyone find any value in using .

View attachment .177 Caliber Pellet Test Target.01.01.22.1648902524.pdf

View attachment .22 Caliber Pellet Test Target 1.1648902546.pdf

View attachment .22 Caliber Pellet Test Target 2.1648902546.pdf

Damn man, that looks a lot like the groupings I got, like center right vs center left.

I get the general consensus here is that you have so go-to pellets that you will try first and beyond that it IS simply a case of having a BROAD selection available. I mean they're not that expensive, I will now be on a quest to acquire samples of all pellets known to man .


Thanks.

 

[smith007]

One of my 3 PCPs really likes JSB made pellets (a 25 cal Avenger) and two do not (Prod and P35). I plan to buy another P35 in 22 caliber and will test it with JSBs (I have a sampler pack) but also with Crosman and H&Ns. Both my guns that do not like JSBs like H&N FTT. The Prod is 22 and the P35 is 25 caliber. The Prod's favorite is the copper plated FTTs.

I wonder if it has anything to do with twist rate of the barrel. Possibly slower twist tends to mean it will like JSBs and a little faster twist H&Ns. Other than something like that, I fall back to my powder burner experience. The pressure impulse from firing the gun sets off vibrations in the barrel. I think of a sine wave but it is undoubtedly a lot more complicated than that. If the vibrations are lower, the barrel isn't moving as much and you should have more accuracy. Some airgunners believe they can hear a good tune because the gun sounds different - that would mean it is vibrating different. With the 60,000 psi PB center fires make, the barrel is vibrating so you try to find a bullet, powder, and load that causes the gun to be at a high or low point of it's vibrations when the bullet leaves the muzzle. That way it leaving a little earlier or later has much less effect on the point of impact than it would if the barrel was right in the middle of it's flexing when the bullet leaves. You learn this by shooting groups.

I look for what others say their similar gun likes and be sure to test that. It caused me to get some copper plated FTTs for my Prod. I otherwise test what I have on hand from testing other guns.

Damn man, good info thanks.

About powder (air too), is it true (I read this some time ago somewhere else), that for super accuracy some people ship off their guns to be tested with batches of ammo, procedure something like 1. oil, 2. five shots to dry off and 3. a poop ton of different ammo is put through and for the best grouping ammo you buy like 10.000 rounds or something of that specific batch/lot no?
Theory is that there is noticeable differences even within the same brand, batch to batch.

 

[smith007]

I usually start out with the usual suspects which of course is JSB in different weights. Depending on what the gun's intended purpose is, I'll tune for the ammo I'll be shooting through it.

So you'll find the best fit pellet/slug for the purpose and then tune the gun from there?

What does tuning the gun entail? Adjusting pressure? (yes, I am noobish)

I was just talking in general. I just realized you mentioned that you have a Diana Bandit which is a pistol. I have no experience with that gun or other PCP pistols. I was more referring to airguns with Lothar Walther and CZ barrels which do well with JSB branded pellets. Slugs is a different story all together. If I was in your shoes, I would just try an assortment of pellets from JSB, H&N, RWS, and Crosman. Main thing is always looking for accuracy. If you mainly hunt, you may want to choose a hollow point such as JSB Hades or Predator Polymags. It also depends on how far your targets or game will be and what's acceptable to you for accuracy.

Thanks man. Taken note about the hollow.