I've had only 2 precision quality rifles in .177, and quite a few in .22. Both of the .177 rifles have been considerably more pellet finicky than the .22s. I expect it's just coincidence, but just curious if others have noticed any difference in the effect of pellet selection between these calibers.
Question for .177 shooters
- Thread starter elh0102
- Start date
Can’t say that I have noticed such, and I own several of each. Maybe that is because I am super demanding of my rifles and test a lot of pellets in each rifle to find the best performing combination anyway, knowing that one pellet will almost always stand out as the most consistent and tightest grouping.
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i'd say maybe speed and whats expected out of them ... im sure its possible to tune a quality gun in at high energy 177 speed but for the most part if you push any pellet really fast the air at mach velocities messes with them ..
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I agree. My current .177 is an HW 100. It's a laser with the first lot of AA/JSB pellets, and good, but not great with some other JSB pellets. But, haven't cleaned the barrel in a while either.....always something to fiddle with (or, with which to fiddle for all the English scholars).
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I have PCP's and Springers, .22 and .177. The pellets that are most finicky in my air guns like are those light lead-free pellets. But I was surprised to find that my .22 TX200 shots the GTO 11.75 gr pellets rather well. My lead-free pellets are .22. I guess I ought to buy some in .177 to see what gives.
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Mine doesn’t like pellets under 8 Gr. I’m shooting approximately 800-825 FPS. Other than that HPs, pointed, wadcutter, domed doesn’t seem to make a difference for plinking. For one hole groups at 30 yards JSB 8.44 Exact are my go to pellet but there are 3 or 4 others that would probably shoot just as well but I know the JSBs work so that’s what I buy.
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I found that the junk department store pellets wouldn't shoot out of my 177, but I see little difference in quality pellets. JSB 10.34gr seem to be the most consistent so that's what I buy.
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Which 177 rifles do you have?
My crosman guns with LW barrels will shoot just about anything into the same hole at 30 yards if the wind isn't blowing. My FX 177 barrels will do the same for the most part too but the LW barrels seem to shoot the crosman pellets just a tiny bit better. Haven't tried anything else besides crosman and jsb pellets with only exception of H&N leadfree pellets I reserve for the house sparrows in my back yard, 1 hole at 34 yards even at 480fps out of 1701P.
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My Daystate Red Wolf .177 HP with the LW polygon barrel is not pellet picky at all and will shoot a lot of different pellets and slugs very well 
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The HW100 in .177 I have in my possession has a magical barrel. Even when I think I pulled the shot it still hits the same group. On the weekend I was hitting cans out at 125yards with the 10.3 grain JSB . Shooting inside of 60 yards is just plain boring. I’ve also fitted a QB78 barrel to my impact and it is pellet on pellet inside the same range using 15 grain NSA bullets. It’s not as good with pellets but the speed is somewhat too high for anything under 12 grain coming in hot at 1020 FPS . I find 840 to 880 is the best speed for accuracy , in just about any caliber.
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If "finicky" means you have tried 8 different pellets, domed that should / could shoot well, and none or just one does then maybe take a close look at the crown of those barrel.
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No, it actually shoots most pellets well, but with a slightly more obvious preference for a couple, compared to my .22 rifles. But I think a couple of things may be in play here. My .22s are all well seasoned, and just luckily very accommodating barrels. My .177 Weihrauch is new, and I haven't had a really good calm day to do much testing. Not displeased with it at all.
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That's great! I just didn't know and I've had a finicky barrel that needed crown and scrubbing polishing to shoot ANY pellet.
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Which model 177 Weihrauch are you shooting? If springer what is your scope/mount setup? They all have some generalized patterns of liking certain pellets.
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I have some .177's that are a little "choosy" in what they like, and some that seemingly will shoot anything well. I bet it's that "coincidence" thing mentioned because I've seen similar in my .22 guns. Is it possible that such is A BIT less in .22? I'd bet it COULD be since MAYBE the larger pellets might be a little less sensitive to minor production errors (or minor damage) than the smaller pellets. Maybe.
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First thing did you knock the stock power level down to right around 18ftlbs? The HW100's all come setup shooting WAY WAY too fast for even the heaviest 177 pellets. Once you are under 900fps with heavy pellets you should notice a huge difference in accuracy on all pellets. Most people seem to find a sweet spot between 850fps and 890fps with some heavy 177. Your problem could be your tuned power level and not the pellets.
Once tuned down to that try the JSB 10.34, Crossman Premier 10.5 in milk carton or most anything around 10.5gr. If you like the lighter stuff for shorter range the JSB 8.44's are about the best but you can't blast them over 900fps either for more than 25yds. Once you get something like that dialed in good them play around with super heavy or the pellets with the goofy heads marketed to kill a rabbit deader than a Diablo.
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