Hades misconception?

In my FX Impact X 25 cal, I shoot the JSB 34gr pellets exclusively from 620fps(power wheel Min setting) to 900fps(power wheel Max setting) with pinpoint accuracy. I couldn't get the JSB 25 cal Hades to group in my FX Impact in any setting at all. I heard some folks have good luck with their barrels and get great accuracy with the Hades. That has not been my experience. Furthermore, I get really bad BC numbers on the Hades as compared to the JSB 34gr. 

My Benjamin Armada 25 cal does not like the Hades either and prefers the 25 cal Polymags and JSB 34gr.

"this is possibly just my opinion". 

No, it is definitely just your opinion, but it is as valid as any other opinion. If your experience is that they don't work for you then that is good information. Especially since you note the gun and caliber you shoot. Might help others, might not since even the same rifle in the same caliber will sometimes shoot differently for different people. As with many things (especially in the air gun world), all relative. And I haven't shot the Hades in anything.

Well, I'll just say I was excited to see the early photos of expansion like an opened flower. And then I was even more excited to see how well they grouped at 40 - 50 yards at 900fps from my DAR gen 2. Then I drove one lengthwise through a gray squirrel at just 30 yards and retrieved it to revel at the glorious expansion and found it virtually unchanged.

It's accurate, I'll give them that. That's not a small feat, to rival the accuracy of a good dome at 50 yards. And I love JSB pellets but I have to call a spade a spade. It's yet another gimmick pellet placed on the market at an elevated price that brings nothing worthwhile to the table. For me at least. I'll just stick with wadcutters out to 30 yards or so and domes for everything else. It's a proven recipe.

Interesting. The Hades thread shows several people noting good accuracy as is noted above. One of those posters also mentions better expansion (shot through a "bag of water") than expected. I guess the hunters and pesters will have to decide for themselves if they are worthwhile.

I got good accuracy with .25 hades with my impact. I tried both 650FPS and 920FPS and both are very good but the lower speed spreads a little at 50-60 yards which is expected, they do have very low BC which I’m ok with since I use them in my yard. I most likely will not used them anywhere that’s windy and open. 33.4 JSB heavy pellets are straight up awesome in all speed up to 850 FPS for me so far. For reference I am using the 700mm slug liner only. 


expansion wise I found it disappointing at lower speed/650 FPS. This is from 3 pellets I was able to recover from using them on squirrels, none showed even a sign of opening up. Only one had the head deformed and looks like from a bone but still no expansion. However since the pellet is kinda long I found It to tumble more than regular JSB king. Exist holes are bigger or no pass through at times but I only shoot them at 650FPS. Once my next order of JSB king/air arm pellets show up I probably will only shoot those since they are cheaper, maybe I’ll just blow through them and move on. Not sure if I’ll order them again. 

my dream tac likes the hades and as far as expansion i have hit pest with normal 15.89 JSB pellets and with the hades it does do a lot more damage you can see it

I have always been wary of large claims on pellet expansion. Recently I saw a video from STKO where he took a pointed pellet from crosman and put it up against a hollow point. The hollow point had a more controlled expansion but the pointed mushroomed even better. I simply do not care what the pellet does. I pick whatever one is most accurate and focus on shot placement. One exception I will note is that I got polymags for my airforce condor 25 cal. They were cruising at 1100 fps. They don't become unstable at that speed until about 15 yards in my gun. I used it to kill a raccoon and the expansion was real! Instead of a deep penetrating hole I got a golf all sized hole out the back of its skull. Part of it was his skull fractured and flew off but honestly I was impressed. Since then I tuned it down to 880 and make great shots at starlings up to 45 yards. The birds die just the same with domes but polymags make a pop sound and more feathers fly. I don't know if it's worth the price tho. 

Buy them NOW before their dies start to get worn out. Yo!

I like them enough to use them for hunting/pesting. They are very accurate for me at 30 yards, that’s my range, so it’s good enough. Have had them blossom, have had them barely open. Either way, they have a bit of a shredding effect, maybe. The Polymags have been hit or miss (get it....hit or miss, I made a funny) 

*I should have the .177s here on Saturday. Will report on those as I can. 

They shoot like lasers from my 380mm 22 Crown. Tons of energy transfer on liquid targets. Game... not so much. If you want real expansion, get some crow magnums.

When I first shot the Hades in my SK-19 they did very well but my second and tins after do not fit well in the magazine. They want to fall out and accuracy has suffered as well. ;^(

Getting a pellet to mushroom almost defies physics. When the head of a pellet/bullet strikes something The nose slows down as the base keeps driving forward. With a bullet, the nose is more feeble and less dense than the base. So as the base keeps driving forward, you get a mushroom. With a pellet, the base is less dense than the head. It just ain’t gonna happen. That’s why when you pancake a pellet on a spinner and it turns into a nice flat little disc, it’s base/skirt actually flattened out behind the head. Now shoot a pellet skirt first, you will get expansion. When someone introduces a pellet that has a head that looks like a juice glass, I might buy it with the anticipation of it expanding. But it won’t be accurate.

Like Nervoustrig said, if you want to really smack something with a pellet, tune your gun to like wadcutters.

I too have accuracy issues with the .25 Hades at 50yds and beyond

I have the Hades shooting very accurate out to about 60 yards through my .25 slug liner at about 940 fps. However they start to lose consistency at 85 yards. For me that’s no big deal since I’m shooting squirrels in thick woods.

I have the Hades shooting very accurate out to about 60 yards through my .25 slug liner at about 940 fps. However they start to lose consistency at 85 yards. For me that’s no big deal since I’m shooting squirrels in thick woods.

Click to expand...

How is the terminal performance on the squirrel compared to other pellets you've tried? Seems some like the accuracy and some like the expansion. One person's gimmick may be another person's go to pellet.

The only squirrel I have shot was .22 cal. 29fpe 17yrds only a tiny piece passed through and his guts were scrambled