NSA .25 33.5 slugs not expanding

[RALPHK]

I’ve been shooting the 33.5 nsa slug for sometime now and have found they don’t expand or kill very well on squirrel and rabbit sized game. They seem to pencil through about 99% of the time, only once have I noticed any expansion. The jsb king pellets seem to plant them much quicker.
Has anyone else had this problem.

 

[stoti]

At what velocity do you normally shoot them and what’s a common distance? I use Varmint Knocker slugs more often than the NSA’s anymore because my gun loves them and I don’t have to changed tunes between the VK slugs and JSB MKII pellets. I have absolutely destroyed stuff with the 33.5gr. slugs at between 940-990fps though. A big part of expansion, as I’m sure you know, is the velocity, the energy upon impact and what part of the animal the slug hits.

I’ve heard these complaints about them not expanding before but have never really experienced the lack of expansion myself. What’s interesting is that there have been plenty of videos posted on line, showing the expansion of these slugs. Some video’s show them expanding like crazy in water, others shot in water, no expansion at all. Same thing in ballistic gelatin, clay and meat. It is a little perplexing and hard to explain after watching videos that show exact opposite results.

If you really want expansion and complete devastation, try the Varmint Knocker 32.8 or 34 grin slugs. They’re made of much softer lead and have a larger hollow point. My son was practicing with the VK slugs one day, shooting our 135yd. gong when a digger squirrel ran under the gong. My son asked if he could shoot it, I said yes and even at that distance, it was blown completely in two pieces...Other than a little bit of fur and skin. That shot hit the squirrel right in the abdomen and made contact with no large bones, maybe just a rib or two. The damage was done from the expansion and hydrostatic shock and it was gnarly!!!

Have a good Sunday afternoon!

Stoti





Below are a sampling of just a few of the slugs I tested over the past couple years. There are so many variations in lead/antimony content and the size and shape of the hollow point that contribute to expansion.

 

 

[Vetmx]

The VK slugs were always very consistent with expansion for me also. And velocity didn’t seem to matter much. Unfortunately I don’t have a gun that shoots them right now. I shoot other brands and have noticed the same thing with expansion. I’m not sure if it’s a balancing act with their lead recipe or what. Are softer slugs more expensive to produce? Does NSA’s high speed slug process require them to change the recipe and the result is a harder slug? That info would have to come from guys who actually melt lead and make slugs.

 

[RALPHK]

Thanks Stoti, with all the testing you have done I’ll heed your advice. I am shooting the nsa’s at 950, distances from 30 to 185 yards. My gun shoots them well through a superior liner but I have ordered the heavy superior to see how it works.

When shooting at long distance you can’t pick exactly where you want to hit them and I want to put them down quickly, I’ll try some varmint knockers!

vetmx, they do seem to be pretty hard when I tried to cut one in half.

 

[nielsenammo]

NSA lead has a BHN of around 8. There is a misconception that the lead is hard. While 8 BHN is not pure lead it is still soft lead. Pistol bullets use a BHN of around 16 and pure lead is around 5-6. It is only slightly hardened to aid in the high speed process. The slightly hardened lead will also help with leading issues in your barrel. The amount of hardness is so slight it is hardly noticeable and we only harden enough to make the high speed process possible.

 

[8thman]

I have shot over 10,000 shots with the nsa 36.2 slugs until my regulator failed and then got a power plenum and huma regulator, and have not had the need to even clean the barrel! But at this point I have not shot over the 910-920fps with the nsa 36.2 slugs. I can only speak for my results with my gun.

 

[RALPHK]

NSA lead has a BHN of around 8. There is a misconception that the lead is hard. While 8 BHN is not pure lead it is still soft lead. Pistol bullets use a BHN of around 16 and pure lead is around 5-6. It is only slightly hardened to aid in the high speed process. The slightly hardened lead will also help with leading issues in your barrel. The amount of hardness is so slight it is hardly noticeable and we only harden enough to make the high speed process possible.

Could I have got a batch that had a higher BHN? I do like the way they shoot but wish they had more expansion.

 

[Quad82]

I shot 3 Fox squirrels yesterday with the NSA 33.5. All we’re pass through head shots so I couldn’t recover the slugs. I have an order of them coming and will be doing some expansion testing of my own. My MK3 is shooting them at just over 900 as of yesterday. Today’s tuning have them averaging 933. At 50 yards, the JSB 33.95 is holding 1 hole groups. The slugs aren’t far behind. But at 75 and 100, the slugs take the cake with groups I can cover with a quarter. 

 

[wahoowad]

If they pencil thru 99% of the time how do you know they are not expanding? C'mon. And shooting a little squirrel with a 34 grain slug at 950 fps is going to pass through. Shoot em in the head and tell me they don't kill very well. All my squirrels shot with a slug get dead pretty quick.

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

There is two ways to get the expansion and energy dump that you are seeking with an airgun. The first is through high velocity and the second is through a larger or deeper hollow point within the slug. Those JSB pellets we're probably traveling at a pretty good speed (proportionately) compared to the slugs, due to slugs having more surface area in contact with the barrel, so they appeared to perform different. To get the energy dump that you are seeking try both the Varmint Knockers or the FX Hybrids as both have large hollow point cavities.

 

[RALPHK]

wahoowa- the exit hole is no larger than the entrance and the critters do NOT expire very quickly. If you can shooting them in the head at 150 yards plus you are a much better shot than I.

The problem is that the jsb pellets travel at a lower or equal speed seem to make them expire much quicker. This isn't just one or two squirrels it over dozens.

I am going to try varmint knockers next, unfortunately my fx impact didn't like the fx hybrids.

 

[TrinityMaker]

NSA lead has a BHN of around 8. There is a misconception that the lead is hard. While 8 BHN is not pure lead it is still soft lead. Pistol bullets use a BHN of around 16 and pure lead is around 5-6. It is only slightly hardened to aid in the high speed process. The slightly hardened lead will also help with leading issues in your barrel. The amount of hardness is so slight it is hardly noticeable and we only harden enough to make the high speed process possible.

 

[zan89]

 

Wetmx..

With softer lead is harder to fullfill the die, specialy on machine. Also softer are harder not to damage in the process, pushing them off the hollow point needle, falling in the basket, cleaning etc. 

 

[Quad82]

I know that this is a p-pore excuse of a good expansion test. But it’s what I had to work with tonight. I just took a ball of Duct-Seal and shot into it at different ranges. I know it’s harder then tissue. But with head shots, I figure the skull should help even things out a bit. The .25 NSA35.5 Do exspand. 

 

[RALPHK]

OK, I got my first red mist. Tried the new superior heavy with the .25 hybrids at a little over a 1000fps, they seemed to shoot well at that speed and barrel combo. 
The shot was at 110 yards quartering at me, put it on his shoulder and low and behold I actually saw some red mist. First time ever with an air rifle.