I've settled on a couple of things related to air guns:
1) serious hunting rifles are PCP and are regulated
2) rifles I carry in my SUV are "springer" type (gas preferred)
3) pellet testing starts with JSB or H&N
As regards the third point: which pellet do you feel is THE STANDARD against which you compare all others? For me, I've currently narrowed them down to 8.44 grains in .177 or 15.89 and 18.13 grains in .22 calibers. I haven't been shooting .25s long enough to form an opinion, but my limited experience has me leaning towards 25-26 grain pellets.
So, when you've just bought a new rifle and mounted the scope... what pellet do YOU use to sight it in?
Mondo
1) serious hunting rifles are PCP and are regulated
2) rifles I carry in my SUV are "springer" type (gas preferred)
3) pellet testing starts with JSB or H&N
As regards the third point: which pellet do you feel is THE STANDARD against which you compare all others? For me, I've currently narrowed them down to 8.44 grains in .177 or 15.89 and 18.13 grains in .22 calibers. I haven't been shooting .25s long enough to form an opinion, but my limited experience has me leaning towards 25-26 grain pellets.
So, when you've just bought a new rifle and mounted the scope... what pellet do YOU use to sight it in?
Mondo
Well, apparently nobody knows, or are willing to say, what their most trusted ammo is. In that case, let me give you what I've gathered from months of watching air rifle videos. This is the pattern that seems to have emerged:
12% Air Arms
5% Crosman
34% H&N Sport
31% JSB Match
3% Predator
Now a couple of caveats are in order:
1) If the gun is an FX, there's a very high likelyhood of Hybrid Slugs being used. That ammo was specifically designed for use in the FX airguns.
2) If the shooter cannot afford expensive ammo, they're more likely to use Crosman. I, in fact, shoot a lot of Crosman Hollow Point ammo.
3) Then there's simple personal preference, such as those who swear by Polymag performance. Nobody doubts that it's an excellent hunting round.
However, when watching the experts review new air guns they will, more often than not, usually have JSB and/or H&N pellets included in their testing. This leads me to the assumption that those manufacturers turn out a very consistent product. So, when I'm in the need of such repeatable accuracy those are my go-to rounds. At least when starting out. Like I said before, every gun has it's own taste and (if you want to wring out the best yours has to offer) it's up to you to satisfy its appetite.
YMMV,
Mondo
12% Air Arms
5% Crosman
34% H&N Sport
31% JSB Match
3% Predator
Now a couple of caveats are in order:
1) If the gun is an FX, there's a very high likelyhood of Hybrid Slugs being used. That ammo was specifically designed for use in the FX airguns.
2) If the shooter cannot afford expensive ammo, they're more likely to use Crosman. I, in fact, shoot a lot of Crosman Hollow Point ammo.
3) Then there's simple personal preference, such as those who swear by Polymag performance. Nobody doubts that it's an excellent hunting round.
However, when watching the experts review new air guns they will, more often than not, usually have JSB and/or H&N pellets included in their testing. This leads me to the assumption that those manufacturers turn out a very consistent product. So, when I'm in the need of such repeatable accuracy those are my go-to rounds. At least when starting out. Like I said before, every gun has it's own taste and (if you want to wring out the best yours has to offer) it's up to you to satisfy its appetite.
YMMV,
Mondo
All depends on what you are aiming for.
I give you my example:
Do not hunt (Ilegal in Portugal) and do not competitive shoot (too much hassle).
So, my pellets are for plinking on washers and paper targets.
How do I chose the right pellet for my gun, from new and after every change I make on one:
Price/performance
I have hundreds of diferent pellets (not joking) ordered by price.
Whenever I want to test the best pellet I start with the cheapest one I have at the moment.
I go up in price tag untill I get the pellet that is:
1 - The least expensive
2 - More precise
3 - More regular in tin. i.e. if a tin carrys 500 pellets but only 50 are good, I have to consider the total price of the tin for only 50 pellets, making them usually more expensive.
Having this said, I have:
.177 HPA IB 79 runing on JSB express
.20 HW 97K runing on H&N Baracuda
.22 IB 78 running in HN Excite Hammer
The defiant range were the best in .177 and .22 but crazy expensive and now owned by H&N.
Slugs I do not even bother with them, 24 Joule legal limit so I would be better using them on a slingshot.
I give you my example:
Do not hunt (Ilegal in Portugal) and do not competitive shoot (too much hassle).
So, my pellets are for plinking on washers and paper targets.
How do I chose the right pellet for my gun, from new and after every change I make on one:
Price/performance
I have hundreds of diferent pellets (not joking) ordered by price.
Whenever I want to test the best pellet I start with the cheapest one I have at the moment.
I go up in price tag untill I get the pellet that is:
1 - The least expensive
2 - More precise
3 - More regular in tin. i.e. if a tin carrys 500 pellets but only 50 are good, I have to consider the total price of the tin for only 50 pellets, making them usually more expensive.
Having this said, I have:
.177 HPA IB 79 runing on JSB express
.20 HW 97K runing on H&N Baracuda
.22 IB 78 running in HN Excite Hammer
The defiant range were the best in .177 and .22 but crazy expensive and now owned by H&N.
Slugs I do not even bother with them, 24 Joule legal limit so I would be better using them on a slingshot.
You cant realy just name one single pellet as a go to pellet in my opinion.
The velocity it self is a huge factor as to which pellet is suitable, just as much as the barrel and the twist rate has a big impact on what works and what doesnt.
I would bet that both H&N and JSB are the most used because they are consistent yes, but they are also without a doubt the ones sponsoring shooters the most. Keep that in mind when forming an opinion based upon others experience. Especially reviewers etc. Some do a realy good job testing all sorts of pellets, others not so much.
In other words, i dont have a go to pellet, i have an go to manufacturer though. And that is JSB.
The reasoning behind it is a mixture of availability vs. price. And that most of the guns i have or have had, show either good or deacent results with atleast one of the JSB versions.
With that said, i still have other brands, and sometimes, a completely no name pellet works better than top brands.
Even JSB have badges of pellets, that shoot very well, and the next badge has worse results when going to extreme details. This means that consistency is still a factor that changes with possibly each buy of pellets.
But i would consider this extreme benchrest lube your pellets and so on territory. Not especially relevant for your average shooter.
My personal opinion
The velocity it self is a huge factor as to which pellet is suitable, just as much as the barrel and the twist rate has a big impact on what works and what doesnt.
I would bet that both H&N and JSB are the most used because they are consistent yes, but they are also without a doubt the ones sponsoring shooters the most. Keep that in mind when forming an opinion based upon others experience. Especially reviewers etc. Some do a realy good job testing all sorts of pellets, others not so much.
In other words, i dont have a go to pellet, i have an go to manufacturer though. And that is JSB.
The reasoning behind it is a mixture of availability vs. price. And that most of the guns i have or have had, show either good or deacent results with atleast one of the JSB versions.
With that said, i still have other brands, and sometimes, a completely no name pellet works better than top brands.
Even JSB have badges of pellets, that shoot very well, and the next badge has worse results when going to extreme details. This means that consistency is still a factor that changes with possibly each buy of pellets.
But i would consider this extreme benchrest lube your pellets and so on territory. Not especially relevant for your average shooter.
My personal opinion
Thank you for your reply, Jun
Your comment about "sponsoring" may be true with regards to reviews of pellets. However, I doubt that it applies to the top gun reviewers. Especially when they are culling pellets down to what it likes most.
Also, I've spoken with Steve (AEAC) about his pellet collection and he has hundreds! Sure, they may have been supplied at no cost to him, but he's not reviewing pellets. He's testing the gun. If he made his living from pellet manufacturers he wouldn't need to test guns!
Thus: (picture)
Your comment about "sponsoring" may be true with regards to reviews of pellets. However, I doubt that it applies to the top gun reviewers. Especially when they are culling pellets down to what it likes most.
Also, I've spoken with Steve (AEAC) about his pellet collection and he has hundreds! Sure, they may have been supplied at no cost to him, but he's not reviewing pellets. He's testing the gun. If he made his living from pellet manufacturers he wouldn't need to test guns!
Thus: (picture)
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