Non-lead Predator GTO's or H&N Baracuda's vs. good ol' JSB's...any thoughts?

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Steelhead707

Steelhead707

Member
Sep 4, 2018
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California, United States
I've been avoiding the thought of a complete ban on lead in my state with airguns, but at some point it's probably going to be a reality. Has anyone used the .25 cal above-mentioned pellets in an FX Impact (or any other PCP) and if so, what are your thoughts on them? I'm not ready to jump ship, but it makes sense for me to get ahead of a potential variable and have an alternative in place if need be.
 
I have used all three. I weigh and lube my pellets and have found that the Predator GTO's are so uniform that I no longer weigh them. They shoot fast and flat so the holdovers are minimal. They are my go to pellet for small game pesting. I still use JSB's for FT (mainly the 13.4s) which I find very accurate and are less affected by the wind but need to be weighed because of about 1% having very low or very high weights.
 
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A previous owner of my Leshiy Classic told me the GTOs were the preferred pellet in 22 so I did recently order some GTOs in 177, 22, and 25 cal.

It is set up with the 250mm, 25 cal barrel currently and initial sight in at close range looks to be very promising. I only ordered these pellets to fill out an order so honestly I was hoping they wouldn't shoot well given their cost. But now I'm looking forward to seeing how they do at longer ranges and faster speeds.

I did not use a chronograph but this Leshiy is currently set up to shoot very slow with 25 grain pellets so I'm guessing the GTOs were well below 700 FPS. Previous owner said he was getting one hole accuracy at 35 yards with the 22 GTOs at ~850 FPS.

I do not know the twist rate or choke characteristics of the Edgun LW barrels much less which FX liner would most closely match but that might be interesting to look up.


 
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I'm hoping to compile some test data regarding lead free pellets for various guns. I'm a dealer & have access to almost every kind of lead free pellet out there, provided they're in stock. Would anyone be interested in some free samples? In exchange, I'd just like you to provide feedback, based on your gun, of which pellets seemed to be the best.

I don't know how we could standardize the test data. Just about any pellet can shoot well at 10 yards, once you adjust your scope. What distances are realistic? I would like to create sample packs, and then mail them out with some test targets, or a standardized setup.

Yesterday I shot 3 of the .177 GTO domed through the same hole with the Avenger Bullpup yesterday, at 20 yards. Back around 45 yards, once the wind picked up, they were spread out a few inches.

At the moment, I still need to place multiple $2,000 orders with Daisy, Gamo, and H&N, to restock. I have tons of the Crosman Powershot, which are only 99% lead free, and then Wadcutter GTO and Domed GTO in .177.

If anyone is interested, or has special requests for what to order, please let me know. I'll be getting these for sure:

H&N: Baracuda Green, Field Target Trophy Green

Gamo: Blue Flame, Luxor, PBA Platinum, PBA Raptor, Lethal.

Daisy: Wadcutter .177

GTO (backordered); .22 & .25 domed

Everyone seems to prefer the GTO, but the Baracuda Greens are heavier in .22 and .25. I haven't been able to run tests between them yet, as I don't have any .22 or .25 cal PCPs right now.

Thanks!
 
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I have a 25 caliber Benjamin marauder. I’ve always used the JSB lead pellet. I’ve had great success with that. My main use is to shoot ground squirrels that tear up my pasture. But I don’t want them to have lead, since I have a lot of birds of prey in the area. No matter how fast I run down there, there’s a chance a hawk will grab the thing before I get there.
The distance to my target is 60 yards. That’s kind of a long distance for these non-lead pellets. With the JSB, I can consistently get a grouping the size of a nickel at that distance. I was having almost no luck with the non-lead pellets. They were very erratic at that distance. I couldn’t get a decent grouping at all. And then I saw somebody made a comment in one of these forums that mentioned the non-lead pellets come out of the gun too hot.
I tried pumping my gun up to 2200 psi instead of 3000 psi. at that pressure, the barracuda is pretty accurate. I can get a grouping the size of a $.50 piece at 60 yards. It’s not as good as the lead pellets, but it’s good enough for what I need to do. The predator GTO pellets didn’t group nearly as well even at the lower pressure. So for me, the H&N barracuda is the right way to go.
I’m sure both would work just fine if you were a shorter distance like 40 yards instead of 60 yards.
 
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H&N Barracuda are lead pellets so might as well use JSBs. I get good accuracy with the GTO pellets but I have to turn the power down quite a bit on my .25 M-Rod to keep them from going supersonic. My strongest M-Rod shoots 34 grain JSBs at 900 fps (and it is not maxed out) for 16+ shots on the (Huma) reg. And it is hole for hole. But the GTOs come zinging out supersonic until I turn the rifle way down. If I keep the GTO pellets to 900 fps they too are dead accurate, maybe more so than the JSBs. But 30 yards is about it IMO.
 
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