New .22 Peletgage

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Helimech

Member
Jun 9, 2015
325
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MI
I got a Pelletgage for Christmas and started to use it today. It's pretty easy to use, but requires proper technique and consistency with that technique. I sorted what was left of my 5.52 head size JSB 18 grain pellets that I've been tagging .5" holes at 50 yards with every group. The results shocked me. I got 5 different head sized in that tin with 3 sizes being more of. This made up my mind to do a video of shooting these sorted pellets because if I'm getting awesome accuracy without sorting them, then I should get even better accuracy after sorting and figuring out what head size my barrel likes best. I've attached some pics and a video of sorting. In my video, I'll sort 3 different tins of pellets, all JSB 18 grain, to see if there is any variation between tins and to see if a certain head size of one tin shoots the same as the same head size of a different tin. It'll take me a while to do because I have to find time to make it to my 50 yard indoor range. 



 
Helimech, I have the same set up except for .177. Plus I use their Pellet Inspector prior to head sizing. I have been sorting Crosman Premier 10.5 gr. that I use in my Steyr LG110 for FT. I have been buying the boxed CPs because they are supposed to be better sorted & more consistent. Well the first box I did was from 2012 & the sizes were all over the place. I had from 4.46 to over 4.55( that's the largest hole & some wouldn't fit). Plus a lot of skirt deformities( flat sides, casting flash in the skirt, etc.)& head deformities. I just finished a second box dated 12-14 & they're not quite as bad. Not any head deformities & less skirt deformities.Most are undersize. I'm only keeping 4.51, 4.52, & 4.53's. I did some testing and any smaller or larger & the groups really open up. I've only kept about 40% of the pellets from a 1250 round box. That's not good.I want to do more testing with the JSB 10.34s. I have sorted about 100 pellets. they are supposed to be 4.52 but they all were either 4.50 or 4.51. Skirts & heads look better than the Crosmans. Go figure right??



Oh yeah, cold Blue Moons really help with this tedious & boring job. LOL!!!
 
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But did you weigh them? I bought a tin of JSB Match Exact .177 pellets, which were listed as 8.44 grains. I could not get them to hold any sort of grouping, even at 10 yards. Then I gauged a batch of 25. The variance in head and skirt size was over 5 thousands, and a lot of them were out of round by nearly that much! Then I weighed them. Out of the 25, only 4 weighed 8.44 grains. Most were lighter, and one was well over at 8.56 grains. 

My most accurate pellet is the Gamo Red Fires which weigh 7.8 grains. I get consistent 1/2 inch groups at 25 yards. They gauge much closer than the JSBs, but still vary as much as 2 thousands, and a lot less variance in weight at less than .2 grains.

Now it would stand to reason, that larger pellets would hold a better tolerance than smaller ones. From your findings, apparently not. 

But in spite of everything, they group! At least at 25 yards in my case.
 
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I have now weighed the pellets because I don't have a scale. I'll eventually get one, but I'm saving for a .25 cal bull pup. I was going to get the bobcat, but I'm waiting for the impact now. I had the money saved up, but the wife got diamonds instead. Stupid anniversary. But she said because I spent my rifle money on her, she won't care how much I spend on a new rifle. I'll see how the sized pellets shoot from 3 different tins and if there is a difference, I'll do another test on weight after I get the impact. 
 
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 The boxed crosman can be good esp. if you always wash, sort, lube and have a barrel that likes the harder alloy.
Crosman boxed .177's got a well desired rap as being an excellent pellet back in the die #2 day's, that was a long time ago. If they would make a pellet that good again ( and why can they not?) they could give JSB a run for the money. I've never heard of the .22 boxed crosman's being first pic in competition. 
Nice to have airgun things to do when the Snow is deep though.



John
 
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It is a Benjamin 397. I have 20 different brands and weights, and nothing shoots in it as good as the Red Fires (1/2 inch groups at 25 yards). A couple come close, but no cigar. For example, several folks have suggested using Crosman's 10.5 grainers, but they won't hold a group smaller than 2 inches at 10 yards! Oddly enough, a tin of circa 1950 pellets which weigh 6.7 grains, shoot almost as good as the Red Fires (3/4 inch groups). I suspect Spysir is correct.
 
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I got a pellet gage for Christmas and only had a bit of time to play "she loves me - she loves me not" with some JSBs. Still figuring out the best technique for using the gage, been working from smallest to largest aperture.

How are you guys using your gage?

I tried dropping the pellet in and "tapping" it up from underneath to see if it will drop in - that takes some time. Plan "B" is that I drop the pellet in place and it should settle immediately or with a little shake of the gauge and this is much faster.

I am guessing that if I am consistent in how I sort then the results will be valid. Curious if the pellet weight will track with the head size.

Winter here in Canada so I have 4 months to kill before the outdoor shooting season starts, might as well sort some pellets eh.

 
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