H&N vs JSB

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DML908

Member
Aug 18, 2020
60
1
Arizona, United States
The following is just my observation and opinion. (Worth exactly what you paid for it.)

For many years, I have used H&N Field Target Trophy pellets in .177, .20 and .22. They have always performed well. I decided to try .22 JSP pellets of the same weight as the H&N. The first thing that I noticed was that the skirts are thinner, softer and not very round. They also seem smaller when seated in the barrel. They shoot a little to the left and I get an occasional flyer. What I mean by that is 1 out of 10 will be slightly out of the group. It could be me. I haven't shot them any further than 15 yards. If I didn't know better, I would be happy with them. 

I found a partial can of .22 H&N Baracudas. I decided to try them in my HW30. They hit about 2 1/2 inches low at 15 yards, but group well. I don't know what the velocity is, but it takes awhile for them to make it to the target. 😊
 
Interesting. I'm certainly not an aficionado, but my experience has been almost the opposite. Various H&N pellets turned in good groups, but the JSBs did better. (All of this through a Condor .22, then .25) I have several other rifles now, but my experience with the Condor made me a JSB believer and I've never failed to achieve a good tune with any of them. I have found that my SK19 intermittently *loves* EunJin heavies, but haven't figured out why it's sometimes and not others...

I think both are high-quality pellets, but there's always the nature of the gun (and the user) that figure in the final equation.



GsT
 
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"I think both are high-quality pellets, but there's always the nature of the gun (and the user) that figure in the final equation."

Exactly. I can't get a clear photo of the JSB pellet skirts to show what I mean. I think that if I had a pellet sizer that would straighten the skirts, they would do better. Still, even with the out of round skirts, the shoot well. The next time I shoot them, I will try to select pellets that are in better condition to see what happens. When I shot them yesterday, I just took them randomly from the can and seated them in the barrel. 
 
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Let's talk pellet quality consistency. I HAVE to weigh and sort my JSB pellets because the spread can be as much as 1 grain or more in a tin. I've weighed out multiple tins of H&N in various weights and sizes. Most of the time they are consistent within 0.2 grains so I just stopped weighing H&Ns and shoot them out of the tin after cleaning them. 

Here's a current for example: I've been trying to find the golden pellet for my .177 AP16 pistol. I just couldn't get any consistency with the JSB pellets under 10gr. I ended up settling on the JSB 13.43gr .177 pellets because they would hold the best group - but a very slow rainbow out of the pistol. Fast forward to a few weeks back I decided to order the H&N FTT 8.64 gr. I got the 4.50, 4.51 and 4.52 head tins from Trenier (shameless plug for Jeff @ Trenier - great guy and a business I support) and started testing from small to big. 4.50 head was pretty decent - way better than any JSB did grouping. 4.51 was bit all over with fliers. 4.52 head and BINGO I found a pellet that does great out to 40 yards even in the wind - right out of the tin.

Most of the time it simply comes down to what your airgun will shoot the best, consistently. 
 
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It seems that there has been an enormous influx of people into the airgun world since the pandemic started. I’m wondering if pellet manufacturers are struggling with the sudden new demand and may themselves be hampered by seasoned employees being unavailable. Just a thought about recent quality and unavailability of some pellets. 

As for brands, some of my rifles like JSB, some like H&N. That’s really the only 2 brands I use. 
 
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