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A three day weekend provided the perfect storm of time, weather, and new equipment.
Daystate Huntsman Regal XL HR in .22 had been with me for a few weeks, with several hundred down the pipe. Wednesday brought the Pelletgage, and Thursday night the TR Robb pellet sizer.
Early results with the rifle had shown a preference for JSB 15.89 grain pellets, so all of the weekend’s testing was done with those.
Weather was hot, ~90F, but exceptionally still… what little breeze we had was light & predictable.
Started with an evaluation of the pellets on hand with the Pelletgage. Sticker on the back of the tin was marked 5.54mm, & the 100 pellets I put through the gate showed this to be fairly accurate. 18 were 5.53, 42 were 5.54, & 40 were 5.55. Nothing outside of that range. 15 pellets of each size were set aside for shooting groups after checking skirts & general pellet condition. Took a few pellets to get a feel for using the Pelletgage, but learning curve was short. Jerry sent some excellent instructions for use with the order confirmation email, which were a big help in getting started.
Had used a sampler pack of pellets during my first range session with the rifle, which included several different head sizes. At the time, I didn’t have the Pelletgage so couldn’t confirm the exact sizes were as labeled, but did find a solid trend showing the rifle preferred those marked with smaller head sizes. Starting with pellets on the larger side was a welcome stroke of luck, since the TR Robb can only size smaller. 5.53, 5.54, & 5.55 were provided out of the tin, & I could use the sizer to produce smaller head sizes.
The TR Robb sizer was surprisingly easy to set up. Some experimentation was necessary to get dialed in to the desired size(s), and to get a feel for how much pressure is necessary to size the pellet without damage (if over done, you’ll get a flat spot on the pellets nose). Was able to get things sorted in ½ dozen pellets, not bad at all. You can feel (& even hear, though very faint) the pellet “click” as it reaches the stop, & applying the right pressure becomes easy once you feel it happen a few times. Once I had a feel for it, proceeded to size ~20 pellets each in 5.52, 5.51, & 5.50 to go with the three sizes gleaned as-is from the tin.
Now the fun part- shooting those pellets. The setup:
And the results:
The data seems to confirm what I noted anecdotally from the sampler pack at the first range session- rifle does prefer the smaller head sizes, at least to a point.
What I could’ve done to make this little study better:
Thoughts & observations:
So, is sorting/sizing worth it??? I like the results I saw, so my personal opinion is yes, it’s worth it. Doesn’t mean I’ll never shoot an unsized pellet again. It does take some time, so I’ll sort/size when I have the time & feel like it. If time is short or I just don’t feel like it, straight from the tin will be just fine. No money riding on any of my shots, & the results I got from larger head sizes straight from the tin were hardly terrible.
Daystate Huntsman Regal XL HR in .22 had been with me for a few weeks, with several hundred down the pipe. Wednesday brought the Pelletgage, and Thursday night the TR Robb pellet sizer.
Early results with the rifle had shown a preference for JSB 15.89 grain pellets, so all of the weekend’s testing was done with those.
Weather was hot, ~90F, but exceptionally still… what little breeze we had was light & predictable.
Started with an evaluation of the pellets on hand with the Pelletgage. Sticker on the back of the tin was marked 5.54mm, & the 100 pellets I put through the gate showed this to be fairly accurate. 18 were 5.53, 42 were 5.54, & 40 were 5.55. Nothing outside of that range. 15 pellets of each size were set aside for shooting groups after checking skirts & general pellet condition. Took a few pellets to get a feel for using the Pelletgage, but learning curve was short. Jerry sent some excellent instructions for use with the order confirmation email, which were a big help in getting started.
Had used a sampler pack of pellets during my first range session with the rifle, which included several different head sizes. At the time, I didn’t have the Pelletgage so couldn’t confirm the exact sizes were as labeled, but did find a solid trend showing the rifle preferred those marked with smaller head sizes. Starting with pellets on the larger side was a welcome stroke of luck, since the TR Robb can only size smaller. 5.53, 5.54, & 5.55 were provided out of the tin, & I could use the sizer to produce smaller head sizes.
The TR Robb sizer was surprisingly easy to set up. Some experimentation was necessary to get dialed in to the desired size(s), and to get a feel for how much pressure is necessary to size the pellet without damage (if over done, you’ll get a flat spot on the pellets nose). Was able to get things sorted in ½ dozen pellets, not bad at all. You can feel (& even hear, though very faint) the pellet “click” as it reaches the stop, & applying the right pressure becomes easy once you feel it happen a few times. Once I had a feel for it, proceeded to size ~20 pellets each in 5.52, 5.51, & 5.50 to go with the three sizes gleaned as-is from the tin.
Now the fun part- shooting those pellets. The setup:
Daystate Huntsman Regal XL HR
SWFA 16x42 with bubble level
One piece rest cradling rifle at front rear of stock
All pellet sizes confirmed with Pelletgage
Three, 5-shot groups from each size
All shooting done from 50 meters
Filled rifle to same starting pressure for each size
Allowed at least 5 seconds between shots
And the results:
The data seems to confirm what I noted anecdotally from the sampler pack at the first range session- rifle does prefer the smaller head sizes, at least to a point.
What I could’ve done to make this little study better:
Photograph all groups for reference. Not gonna lie, I did cherry pick the two sub-0.4” groups for photos
Chronograph at least a few shots from each size
The 5.50 pellets had a noticeably different POI than the other sizes, ~½” lower. My theory is that the skirts seal to the rifling was borderline, & the resulting lower velocity caused the drop.
Shoot at least 30 pellets of each size
Mo data mo data mo data, at least that’s what all the engineers at work say. This was all a lot of fun, but I prefer to detach myself from the bench for most shooting. Offhand is a perishable skill, & I’ve been letting mine rot on the vine for too long. Time to break out the steel chickens.
Thoughts & observations:
Love the consistency: None of the 18 groups across 6 head sizes broke ¾”.
Both the Pelletgage & TR Robb work as advertised, & do their jobs well
50m groups under 0.4” make me giggle with joy
Sized pellet groups consistently had more vertical than horizontal spread
Maybe repeat the study using sized pellets also weight sorted???
Limited data to be sure, but the preference became clear:
0.591” average for three largest sizes, 0.488” for three smallest (0.471” for the two best sizes)
TR Robb is now set as close to the 5.51/5.22 borderline as I could get it
So, is sorting/sizing worth it??? I like the results I saw, so my personal opinion is yes, it’s worth it. Doesn’t mean I’ll never shoot an unsized pellet again. It does take some time, so I’ll sort/size when I have the time & feel like it. If time is short or I just don’t feel like it, straight from the tin will be just fine. No money riding on any of my shots, & the results I got from larger head sizes straight from the tin were hardly terrible.
