New to HFT and looking for advice on Pellets

[Johnny Double G]

So, I've purchased an Air Venturi Avenge-X .22 and have been shooting it for a few weeks now. (and loving it). Ultimately, I think I want to try HFT. While exploring the gun, I started with JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy .22 in 18.13 gr for the first tin with delivery of the gun. At 25 yards (my backyard) I was stacking pellets in very little time with the only adjustments on the gun being limited to trigger pull adjustments. Internet searches of "Tuning the .22" quickly landed me at "Steve's Ultimate Guide" in which he's using the "Redesigned" heavier version at 25.39gr. So, I ordered those and spent several days trying to achieve the tune that he was displaying. Well, I'm getting close but can't match his exact numbers but am getting similar performance. However, the calculated FPE (46.9-50.89ft/lbs) are well over the 20ft/lbs specified by the AAFTA.org. Those heavier pellets, while are accurate at 50 yds are no more accurate than what I was getting BEFORE I spent 36+ hours tuning for the 25.39gr pellets, away from the stock settings that were pretty darn good for the 18.13gr version. Of course, I now have 4 more tins of 25.39gr in my shop LOL. I honestly don't know the speeds or energy levels of the 18.13gr pellets because I didn't have a working chronograph when I was shooting that tin.

So my question is, what grain pellets and tuning specs should I be looking for to shoot HFT with my .22 Avenge-X? I know a lot of folks prefer .117 caliber due to the flatter trajectory compared to a .22 but that's what I have currently. I am ready to order more pellets and am looking for those who know what they are talking about for advice since I obviously don't no anything about it.

Thanks ahead of time for any advice. It's appreciated.
Johnny Double G

 

[airgunutty]

I came in 43th place in my first HFT shoot m at Pyramyd Cup this past weekend. I learned a lot and had a great time.

While this wasn’t an earth shattering score by any stretch of the imagination, it is a decent starting point.

Following advice from Tom Gaylord, the “Godfather of Airguns”, I decided to change my choice of pellets to a much lighter flavor. I’d explained to Tom that I was having issues keeping tight groups with any pellet in my inventory shoot beyond 37 yards. With my 3-5 shot groups abruptly changing from 1/2” at 35 yards and below, to 1-2” no matter which barrel I used (stock .22 cal versus the .177 cal received just 5 days before the competition. He immediately suggested changing from a JSB 13.43gr to something closer to 10gr. With the JSB’s being my lightest pellet I had bright with me, I’d need to work fast to find a suitable pellet and make any adjustments to the scope and our gun before the next morning’s HFT start.

Unfortunately, Pyramyd Air did not have ANY air gun related merchandise for sale. (I found it very disappointing to be at a major event and find not a single vendor selling ammo and no place with an hour’s drive that’s stocks pellets.) IMHO, this is such a wasted opportunity for sales. I did discuss it with Pyramyd Air‘a management but it does not sound like there would not be any change in policy for the future.

However, the great folks from JTS were giving away sample packs of DEAD CENTER at various weights, including 10.4gr . So with two sample packs equaling 240 pellets, off to the range we went. After working through the targets set at 10-55 yards the groups were much tighter, 3/4 ” if I didn’t screw up the shot. But, I found a tin of Benjamin Single Die 10.5gr I’d packed but had forgotten about. With the Benjamin’s, I was once again sub 1/2” at 50 yards.

Day 1, I was hampered by a misunderstanding of the rules, in that I had been advised that I could NOT use the parallaxx wheel for ranging in Hunter Class and spent 75% of the day struggling to hit anything. But I noticed others were doing it and inquired about it. After altering my method to allow for the parallax adjustments, I began hitting shot after shot. The results were 23/60 kill shots for round one.

Following the newly acquired ability to utilize the parallax wheel to my advantage, I headed back to the practice range we’d used the night before and quickly developed DOPE and updated the tick marks on my parallax wheel.

Later night, I created a scope lens cover sized DOPE Card and pasted it inside the lens cover using a child’s glue stick.

All this worked paid off on Day 2, resulting in my hitting 43 /60 shots. That’s an 87% improvement over Day 1!


So where do I go from there? Up of course. I plan to be on the podium at next year’s Pyramyd Cup and have the confidence to achieve this.

Well congratulations sir and good job too. Sounds like you had fun and picked up some new skills and gained some knowledge. I would say that was a productive day. I'm happy for you.

 

[Johnny Double G]

Well congratulations sir and good job too. Sounds like you had fun and picked up some new skills and gained some knowledge. I would say that was a productive day. I'm happy for you.

 

[Johnny Double G]

Oh I did learn things for sure. In fact I felt like I’d win a Golden Ticket of sorts with Tom Gaylord actually driving me around and introducing me to every “Big Wig” in the industry that was present. Very generous on his part to have offered his time and expertise to a stranger. A mutual friend had mentioned to him that I was going to be attending and that I was a complete newbie in HFT.

I’m looking forward to next year’s event and finding local HFT shoots within 2-3 hours drive.

Meanwhile I’m gathering info to make a proposal to bring HFT to the Fort Wayne area.