Just got my Airmarksman Ace slugs

FedEx just delivered my Airmarksman Ace slugs.
View attachment 584745

View attachment 584746

View attachment 584747

This is the 1st 10 shot group at 50 yards from my DRS Classic 22 700.

View attachment 584748

View attachment 584749

I have it set up shooting the H&N 34gr Heavy slugs at 975fps. I did not change any settings to shoot the Ace 40.1gr. slugs, they were going 937 fps.

After 5 sight in shots this is the 1st 100 yard group in gusty 12+ mph wind. I held .2 mil to the left for wind.

View attachment 584750

#7 was shooter.
The hole in the target is ⅞ of an inch.

Hopefully Airmarksman comes out with a high BC Boat Tail Hollow Point for hunting.

I am going to adjust my rifle to shoot them a little faster.

So far I really like the Airmarksman Ace slugs.

They easily fit in the Orion the Iguana Hunter magazines for the DRS.

View attachment 584772
I wonder if the flat meplat would tear up the wound channel like a wadcutter. Has any one tested these in something like clay or ballistic gel?
 
I wonder if the flat meplat would tear up the wound channel like a wadcutter. Has any one tested these in something like clay or ballistic gel?
I was wondering the same thing ? So I shot a baseball sized potato at 30 yards, it popped just like when I hit one with a hollow point.
 
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I received some of those Tuesday, and shot about a tin today. 700mm .22 cal 1:16 twist Superior Heavy liner in a Skout Evo.
I shot them at 950, 975, and 1000 fps at 104 yards. All speeds were very accurate, but 950 ish fps was best.
One thing that surprised me was BC G1. It seems many of the “Influencers” are getting crazy high BC. For me, that wasn’t the case. Over the three speeds tested BC was about 0.156 to 0.160. Not bad, but not in Altaros territory.

IMG_3594.jpeg


Just to make sure things were good, I shot my old standby .25 Panthera 600mm with @Altaros 49.5 grain slugs at 888 fps. BC was the usual, today right at 0.209 G1.

IMG_3596.jpeg
 
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I received some of those Tuesday, and shot about a tin today. 700mm .22 cal 1:16 twist Superior Heavy liner in a Skout Evo.
I shot them at 950, 975, and 1000 fps at 104 yards. All speeds were very accurate, but 950 ish fps was best.
One thing that surprised me was BC G1. It seems many of the “Influencers” are getting crazy high BC. For me, that wasn’t the case. Over the three speeds tested BC was about 0.156 to 0.160. Not bad, but not in Altaros territory.

View attachment 586449

Just to make sure things were good, I shot my old standby .25 Panthera 600mm with @Altaros 49.5 grain slugs at 888 fps. BC was the usual, today right at 0.209 G1.

View attachment 586450
Can you reduce the velocity of the Ace slugs down to 890fps.
 
I just did a little shooting this evening before the mosquitoes came out in full force.

I was only able to shoot at 30 yards. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to shoot at 100 yards.

I also shot 5 other slugs that I have been shooting from my DRS to see how they compare to the Ace.

I adjusted my DRS 22 700 to shoot the Ace 40.1gr slugs 957 fps.

image_cropper_1755308445174.jpg


Zan ELR 42.3gr @936fps

image_cropper_1755310036432.jpg


H&N Heavy 40gr @936fps.

image_cropper_1755308600189.jpg


H&N Heavy 34gr @1005fps.

image_cropper_1755309840796.jpg


H&N Precision 33gr @1011fps

image_cropper_1755310207133.jpg


Javelin 34gr @996fps.

image_cropper_1755310351326.jpg


I did not change any settings on the rifle after I had it set up for the Ace slugs.
 
Seems these AM Ace slugs may be a bit over hyped.
Seems so. I was sceptical when I saw one of the videos and they stated they only shoot to 50 as beyond there are to many variables.

While the Altaros guys are shooting 100/200/300 yards in their videos.

Hopefully we get more input from shooters as would be great to have more high BC accurate options. Will drive more innovation.

Mike
 
Pure lead is very soft. I'm not sure what brand or mix the 3 on the left are but the one on the right that looks so bad is 100% pure lead which is likely why it looks beat.
But if they shoot like this who really cares. Afterall, the bore puts it's own imprint on them.
I care, you need Flip Pallots view on this. watch and enjoy.. listen really close at about 1:07-..

 
Using the photos in this thread, I did a physical and aerodynamic analysis of these slugs. As they are solid, they are relatively simple to analyse for the physical properties. These are the results I got.

Mass 2.667 grams which is 41.1 grains
Ix 9.232E-09 Kg Metres squared
Iy 2.823E-08 Kg Metres squared

The CG was just over half way back along the slug. The mass is 1 grain over the claimed value, but is close enough for this exercise and is probably as good as I can get using photographs.

Using the calculated physical values, I used my aerodynamic prediction program. These are the results.


M​
CLa​
CMa​
CDa2​
CMq​
0.3​
1.628​
1.665​
2.026​
-1.413​
0.5​
1.746​
1.883​
2.181​
-2.06​
0.6​
1.721​
1.914​
2.215​
-3.103​
0.7​
1.736​
2.01​
2.269​
-4.252​
0.8​
1.744​
2.126​
2.32​
-5.408​
0.9​
1.726​
2.275​
2.263​
-6.555​
0.925​
1.707​
2.323​
2.423​
-6.834​
0.95​
1.633​
2.41​
2.536​
-6.813​
0.975​
1.905​
2.237​
2.845​
-6.182​
1​
1.939​
2.235​
2.946​
-5.297​
M​
CDo​
CLp​
CMpa​
CYpa​
0.3​
0.16​
-0.035​
0.365​
-0.532​
0.5​
0.16​
-0.029​
0.353​
-0.446​
0.6​
0.16​
-0.027​
0.38​
-0.49​
0.7​
0.162​
-0.026​
0.348​
-0.44​
0.8​
0.166​
-0.025​
0.317​
-0.392​
0.9​
0.264​
-0.024​
0.313​
-0.368​
0.925​
0.338​
-0.024​
0.623​
-0.426​
0.95​
0.39​
-0.024​
0.601​
-0.432​
0.975​
0.488​
-0.024​
0.499​
-0.402​
1​
0.594​
-0.024​
0.394​
-0.352​
M​
Sg​
Sd​
State​
sd*(2-Nd)*sg​
0.3​
1.344​
1.845​
Unstable​
0.384​
0.5​
1.189​
1.44​
Unstable​
0.959​
0.6​
1.17​
1.119​
Stable​
1.153​
0.7​
1.114​
0.845​
Stable​
1.087​
0.8​
1.053​
0.667​
Unstable​
0.936​
0.9​
0.984​
0.562​
Unstable​
0.795​
0.925​
0.964​
0.778​
Unstable​
0.916​
0.95​
0.929​
0.756​
Unstable​
0.873​
0.975​
1.001​
0.767​
Unstable​
0.946​
1​
1.002​
0.778​
Unstable​
0.952​

The most interesting result for many will be the stability. As you can see, with the 16-inch twist used in the calculation, the slug is predicted to be marginally unstable at most speeds above about 900 ft/sec. You will probably get away with a 16-inch twist, as the stability will improve as the slug moves down the trajectory. A 14-inch twist is needed for suitable stability, with a 12 inch-twist needed for a stability factor of 1.5ish, often taken as the ideal stability for best BC.
 
Strelok App
View attachment 586736

Applied Ballistics App

View attachment 586740

I've noticed 1:16 twist barely stabilizes 40gr slugs according to the ballistic apps I use, especially when it is below 40°.
That BC of 0.245 G1 at 957 fps is wildly optimistic. I shot mine from a 700mm 1:16 twist FX liner at 950-975-1000 fps and got 0.155 to 0.160 G1. My Altaros 40 grain Kings get approx 0.195 G1 at 900 fps and they are a smoother step from body to boat tail. For information, I get about 0.245 G1 from the .25 caliber Altaros Queen 60 grain at about 880 fps.

In Dubber’s video comparing the ACE. Altaros, and ZAN, he used an experimental 800mm 1:14 twist in his Impact M4 and got the best results with that. So @Ballisticboy has a valid point with twist rates.
 
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That BC of 0.245 G1 at 957 fps is wildly optimistic. I shot mine from a 700mm 1:16 twist FX liner at 950-975-1000 fps and got 0.155 to 0.160 G1. My Altaros 40 grain Kings get approx 0.195 G1 at 900 fps and they are a smoother step from body to boat tail. For information, I get about 0.245 G1 from the .25 caliber Altaros Queen 60 grain at about 880 fps.

In Dubber’s video comparing the ACE. Altaros, and ZAN, he used an experimental 800mm 1:14 twist in his Impact M4 and got the best results with that. So @Ballisticboy has a valid point with twist rates.

I just used the BC that Airmarksman claims.
I saw your actual BC results you got from FX Ballistic Chronograph.

I hope FX does come out with a 1:14 or 1:12 liner for the 22.

When they announced the Ace slugs were 40.1gr it made me wonder if the MDT pro shooters and others also had a prototype 1:14 or 1:12 liners in their rifles.
 
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I know the math says the 40.1gr Ace slugs shouldn't shoot the best from a 1:16 twist liner but, I just shot all of the slugs I shot the other evening.

The Ace shot the best of all of the slugs I have.

I shot 8 shots of each slug, 3 to confirm zero and then a 5 shot group.

Each of the slugs shot MOA or slightly over MOA. Any one of them capable of being a fine slug for shooting varmints.

Ace 3 shot group to confirm zero.
image_cropper_1755463694410.jpg


5 shot group that followed
image_cropper_1755463856744.jpg

I consider #2 shoot shooter error.

Now if they make it a hollow point boat tail of the same design and 34, 35 or 36 grain !
 
Neither Strelok nor the Element ballistic app have the capability to accurately calculate the gyroscopic stability factor. To do it properly, you have to have the moments of inertia, and the aerodynamic pitching moment coefficients at all Mach numbers. Software like McGyro and the Kolbe calculator can be used for supersonic bullets, but they make sweeping assumptions and fall apart between Mach 0.9 and 1.1, which is OK for bullets from firearms, but is not good for airguns, neither can they cope with large meplat projectiles.

The software I used is not exact, but it was good enough to be used for initial estimates for bullets, shells and anything else fired from guns at high spin rates. A very early version can be found on the JBM website called Intlift which was based on RARDLIFT, the original spinning projectile aerodynamic program developed here in the UK and sent over to Bob McCoy under a software exchange program.
 
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