Rat Sniper pellet
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I've used them quite a bit on targets, live animals and clear ballistic gel. Overall, I think they are a good pellet but there does seem to be some inconsistency at times that I've not had the time to track down in terms of weight difference or sizing. I've tried the 31 gr, 37 gr, 45 gr and Wicked Monsters with the 37 gr being my favorite. Some air rifles (i.e., S510) will require a manual shot tray as all of the pellets are too big for the magazine while other magazines like the Brocock Compatto will accommodate them. The Wicked Monsters are the longest of the four, and may not fit in the breech of some air rifles so make sure to measure it before ordering.
From my testing, they group as good or better than H&N Grizzly pellets at 50 yards and beyond most of the time (making them nice for longer range shots). With my air rifles, that means I can shoot at longer distances than the Polymags but not as far as the diabolo pellets. In terms of performance, they tend to mushroom versus peel the skirt like Polymags do; however, this also seems to be a hit and miss occurrence. In other words, if you hit hide or bone that is hard enough to case the mushroom they do so very nicely but if you hit nothing but soft tissue they don't do so much. I've shot clear ballistic gel at 40 yards without the pellet exiting the 8 1/2 inch block while the Air Arms Diabolo Field pellets went completely through it even on low power (I think around 28 fpe at the muzzle if I remember correctly) from the Compatto. The pellet showed minimal mushrooming at this distance but it still deformed which I believe is why they don't completely exit like the diabolo pellets did.
On live animals I've had mixed results. With chipmunk head shots at 20-30 yards they are devastating and tend to remove at least 1/4" diameter of hide, skull and brain and based on shot angle even other tissue until it exits up to 3 inches from point of impact. However, with body shots entrance and exit holes tend to be the same especially for broadside heat/lung shots making it common for the 'munk to run a few feet before dropping. Going to bigger rodents like ground squirrels, I've had pass throughs on almost all shots regardless if it was a body or head shot out to 50 yards. I think at longer distances this is due to the smaller mushrooming happening as the slug is loosing energy the further it travels and doesn't have the force to expand like it would at closer ranges. Again, wound entrance and exit have looked identical, but in all fairness I never skinned out the ground squirrels and measured like I did the chipmunks. The two woodchucks I've shot with the 31 grain slugs were unrecoverable so I can't say how well they performed and if the problem was the shots (both had two shots one in the head and a follow up in the chest area) or the shooter (i.e., if I'd hit the brain cavity no second shot would have been needed but without recovering the animal I can't say if it was me missing the brain and by how much or lack of penetration). I used a 37 gr slug with a straight on head shot at 10 yards on a badger and it didn't exit although the angle would have allowed it, dropping the badger immediately. The next tests will be for head and body shots on coyote. I'm sure at 10 yards and under the head shot will be no problem as I've already tested this distance with diabolo pellets, but when I tested head and body shots at 40 yards with 26 grain diabolo pellets I was surprised to find that while the body shot was effective, the skull shot didn't penetrate the bone so I'm interested to see if the 37 and 45 grain slugs in particular will penetrate or not at that distance.
In relation to using diabolo pellets versus the slugs, the slugs are significantly quieter when hitting which tells me that the diabolo is delivering more energy at the point of impact, but that could be because of the weight difference as they are going faster and/or pellet shape. When compared to the H&N Grizzly, the Rat Sniper slugs deliver more trauma at 30 yards and less but seem to be comparable at 40 yards and over. It's hard to compare them to Polymags in terms of performance especially when using the much heavier 37 or 45 grain versions. In general, it seems that the Polymags peel their skirt easier when hitting hide and soft tissue and thus don't penetrate as far but I don't have a lot of "same species" animals taken with both slugs and Polymags to really confirm that belief. What I will say is if I was shooting squirrels or rabbits and had safe backgrounds I'd use either but if pass throughs are a concern, then I'd choose the Polymags hands down. On raccoons, I'd use the Rat Sniper or diabolo pellets if I though I'd have to take a head shot as my testing shows the Polymags tend not to penetrate the skull into the brain after 10-15 yards. If I knew no head shot was happening (say night time coons grubbing in the yard or garbage) then I'd go with Polymags first and Rat Sniper second, again to prevent pass through issues.
In terms of accuracy, I noticed a big difference between batches with the Rat Sniper slugs. This isn't abnormal in the air rifle world but it does mean having to test more of the tins each time and possibly having to weigh, measure and size. Cost wise there is a huge difference between $28 for 100 or $75 for 300 Rat Sniper slugs versus $8 for 150 H&N Grizzly, $15 for 150 Polymags or $18 for 300 JSB King Heavies. Of course, the most important thing is to figure out the range you plan to do most of your shooting at and then pick the pellet that is the most accurate regardless of cost.
From my testing, they group as good or better than H&N Grizzly pellets at 50 yards and beyond most of the time (making them nice for longer range shots). With my air rifles, that means I can shoot at longer distances than the Polymags but not as far as the diabolo pellets. In terms of performance, they tend to mushroom versus peel the skirt like Polymags do; however, this also seems to be a hit and miss occurrence. In other words, if you hit hide or bone that is hard enough to case the mushroom they do so very nicely but if you hit nothing but soft tissue they don't do so much. I've shot clear ballistic gel at 40 yards without the pellet exiting the 8 1/2 inch block while the Air Arms Diabolo Field pellets went completely through it even on low power (I think around 28 fpe at the muzzle if I remember correctly) from the Compatto. The pellet showed minimal mushrooming at this distance but it still deformed which I believe is why they don't completely exit like the diabolo pellets did.
On live animals I've had mixed results. With chipmunk head shots at 20-30 yards they are devastating and tend to remove at least 1/4" diameter of hide, skull and brain and based on shot angle even other tissue until it exits up to 3 inches from point of impact. However, with body shots entrance and exit holes tend to be the same especially for broadside heat/lung shots making it common for the 'munk to run a few feet before dropping. Going to bigger rodents like ground squirrels, I've had pass throughs on almost all shots regardless if it was a body or head shot out to 50 yards. I think at longer distances this is due to the smaller mushrooming happening as the slug is loosing energy the further it travels and doesn't have the force to expand like it would at closer ranges. Again, wound entrance and exit have looked identical, but in all fairness I never skinned out the ground squirrels and measured like I did the chipmunks. The two woodchucks I've shot with the 31 grain slugs were unrecoverable so I can't say how well they performed and if the problem was the shots (both had two shots one in the head and a follow up in the chest area) or the shooter (i.e., if I'd hit the brain cavity no second shot would have been needed but without recovering the animal I can't say if it was me missing the brain and by how much or lack of penetration). I used a 37 gr slug with a straight on head shot at 10 yards on a badger and it didn't exit although the angle would have allowed it, dropping the badger immediately. The next tests will be for head and body shots on coyote. I'm sure at 10 yards and under the head shot will be no problem as I've already tested this distance with diabolo pellets, but when I tested head and body shots at 40 yards with 26 grain diabolo pellets I was surprised to find that while the body shot was effective, the skull shot didn't penetrate the bone so I'm interested to see if the 37 and 45 grain slugs in particular will penetrate or not at that distance.
In relation to using diabolo pellets versus the slugs, the slugs are significantly quieter when hitting which tells me that the diabolo is delivering more energy at the point of impact, but that could be because of the weight difference as they are going faster and/or pellet shape. When compared to the H&N Grizzly, the Rat Sniper slugs deliver more trauma at 30 yards and less but seem to be comparable at 40 yards and over. It's hard to compare them to Polymags in terms of performance especially when using the much heavier 37 or 45 grain versions. In general, it seems that the Polymags peel their skirt easier when hitting hide and soft tissue and thus don't penetrate as far but I don't have a lot of "same species" animals taken with both slugs and Polymags to really confirm that belief. What I will say is if I was shooting squirrels or rabbits and had safe backgrounds I'd use either but if pass throughs are a concern, then I'd choose the Polymags hands down. On raccoons, I'd use the Rat Sniper or diabolo pellets if I though I'd have to take a head shot as my testing shows the Polymags tend not to penetrate the skull into the brain after 10-15 yards. If I knew no head shot was happening (say night time coons grubbing in the yard or garbage) then I'd go with Polymags first and Rat Sniper second, again to prevent pass through issues.
In terms of accuracy, I noticed a big difference between batches with the Rat Sniper slugs. This isn't abnormal in the air rifle world but it does mean having to test more of the tins each time and possibly having to weigh, measure and size. Cost wise there is a huge difference between $28 for 100 or $75 for 300 Rat Sniper slugs versus $8 for 150 H&N Grizzly, $15 for 150 Polymags or $18 for 300 JSB King Heavies. Of course, the most important thing is to figure out the range you plan to do most of your shooting at and then pick the pellet that is the most accurate regardless of cost.
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I had trouble ever getting my slugs I ordered from him and I notice he is no longer a vendor on the GTA forum. Unless someone could verify they bought and recieved slugs recently I would be careful. I would try Nielsen ammo which is a sponsor here on AGN.
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I also had problems originally getting my order, but I did 600 pellets (300 31 gr, 300 37 gr) for my trip to Montana where I did the ground squirrel testing and was lucky to be in the right place and time with badger, back in June and had them in a week.
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