I bought a 177 barrel for my prophet compact (originally a 25) from a forum member. I read his thread when he tried slugs and he wasn't impressed.. so I never gave slugs a try. I just shot the FX 10gr pellets.. which it shoots them great. But I always had the "I wanna try the 177 slugs" in my head. I ordered some JSB 10.03 KO slugs and shot a few... they definitely shot badly.. so I sat them aside and went on.. I got to thinking that really never gave it an honest effort. I pulled the barrel and gave it a good cleaning. Then polished the barrel real well. The choke was pretty snug (510mm LW barrel) so I focused on the choke...
Today I revisited the JSB KO 10.03gr slugs. One thing I found out it is how temperamental slugs can be.. I started at a 100b reg and adjusted the HS. I started at 850fps and went to 950fps in small adjustments.. nope! Couldn't get it to group.. I upped the reg to 110b and started at 850fps and worked my way up to 980fps.. well at 980 it was showing signs of wanted to group.. but was throwing a fit about it...I cranked on the HS and brought it up to 1010fps. Groups improved but not impressive by any means...I thought screw it...its not gonna be a 177 slug shooter... but I'll try one more time before I give up for the evening... I crank the reg up 125b and turn the HS down starting at 850fps again...working my way up in fps again...when I got to 1000fps... jackpot!! It was grouping freaking great at 50 yards.. load them with a single shot loader... it won't and will not group using the magazine.. but what I found interesting is... the reg set at 110b shooting 1010fps wouldn't group well but set the reg to 125b and work my way back to 1000fps it groups great at 50 yards... I didn't have time to shoot any further.. I was excited and headed out on the farm to pop a starling or two. I did shoot three. All from 50 to 60 yards. I couldn't believe how loud a 177 slug hitting a starling could be.. heck of a pop.. I'm simply tickled to death.. hopefully it continues to shoot 177 slugs well.. I have some NSA coming but now I don't wanna try them. I don't want to mess with the tune it has right now.
Today I revisited the JSB KO 10.03gr slugs. One thing I found out it is how temperamental slugs can be.. I started at a 100b reg and adjusted the HS. I started at 850fps and went to 950fps in small adjustments.. nope! Couldn't get it to group.. I upped the reg to 110b and started at 850fps and worked my way up to 980fps.. well at 980 it was showing signs of wanted to group.. but was throwing a fit about it...I cranked on the HS and brought it up to 1010fps. Groups improved but not impressive by any means...I thought screw it...its not gonna be a 177 slug shooter... but I'll try one more time before I give up for the evening... I crank the reg up 125b and turn the HS down starting at 850fps again...working my way up in fps again...when I got to 1000fps... jackpot!! It was grouping freaking great at 50 yards.. load them with a single shot loader... it won't and will not group using the magazine.. but what I found interesting is... the reg set at 110b shooting 1010fps wouldn't group well but set the reg to 125b and work my way back to 1000fps it groups great at 50 yards... I didn't have time to shoot any further.. I was excited and headed out on the farm to pop a starling or two. I did shoot three. All from 50 to 60 yards. I couldn't believe how loud a 177 slug hitting a starling could be.. heck of a pop.. I'm simply tickled to death.. hopefully it continues to shoot 177 slugs well.. I have some NSA coming but now I don't wanna try them. I don't want to mess with the tune it has right now.
