JSB is still the king of pellets...no takers?

My Marauder loves 25 cal Kings better than all others. We shall see if the new Hatsan does but I like H&N pellets for hunting at the modest ranges I shoot at. They offer different hollow points etc that JSBs don’t. If I were to shoot long range I probably would go with JSB heavies or slugs. I would definitely give the heavy Baracudas a try.

I think I get what you're getting at, you are asking the industry to get competitive and step up, or for someone new to start making pellets that can meet or beat JSB. H&N is very close already and in this economy is probably the only one who could do it. They have been coming out with new pellets and slugs at a much brisker pace lately too. That's probably the result of F/X adding an almost auto-industry-like new product cycle every year.

Vogel makes a great wadcutter and advertises custom made pellets. Would be a good time for them to step up and make some domes and in other calibers. Made in USA would be another selling point too.

Now if only JSB knew how to make a tin that didn't collapse under its own weight and bend skirts. Other companies make a tin that doesn't bend and mess up the pellets.

There are other manufacturers of 177 wadcutters that are more consistent (I am thinking Eley) but JSB/FX tend to be the best, with FX slightly more consistent than JSB brand. That's just my experience, tho.

Has anyone tried the Crosman Ultra Heavy? I’m curious enough that I not only paid too much, but ordered from Amazonia…wish me luck fellas.

Hello Scotty1

Be sure and give us your review and Good Luck , hopefully they will surprise you.

ThomasT

Griffin 48gr HP BTs......hits like a hammer

So you're asking anyone to step up to the big dog pellet maker, when pellets are on a downward slide to slugs? How much cash outlay is required to startup a pellet business? That's like saying someone step up to building springers 10 years ago when PCPs were on the rise. Pellets are the exception to me now (10M, .20, or Korean guns such as the Career). So its 80% slugs 20% pellets. Two years ago it was the opposite.

I bought 3 tins of the crosman ultra heavies before they hiked the price. They shoot well in my RTI compact.

Crosman was in JSB's market position for a decade, if not more. If they wanted to stay on top they could of easily done so.
What I'm trying to say is the airguns are getting more and more powerful, lending themselves to heavier projectiles such as slugs. it's a natural progression of the industry.

Actually it was H&N that moved the hobby forward towards accuracy and consistency. Beeman brought them over the pond in the late 70's and rebadged their entire product line, selling them for decades under the Beeman name. Guns such as the Daisy and Crosman suddenly performed exponentially better with H&N pellets.
JSB didn't get a foothold until the early 2000's when Tim Johnston was bringing them from over the pond, asking members for orders on the old yellow forum.
Crosman overlapped this time period (late 90's - late 2000's) with their premier line, sweeping competitions across the globe, mainly FT at the time.

sonnysan said:

So you're asking anyone to step up to the big dog pellet maker, when pellets are on a downward slide to slugs? How much cash outlay is required to startup a pellet business? That's like saying someone step up to building springers 10 years ago when PCPs were on the rise. Pellets are the exception to me now (10M, .20, or Korean guns such as the Career). So its 80% slugs 20% pellets. Two years ago it was the opposite.

Click to expand...

I really gotta disagree here. I think the cry's of "SLUGS, SLIGS, SLUGS" are a squeaky wheel getting the grease kinda thing. Lots of noise but not necessarily an accurate sign of the pulse of the industry.

Lots and lots and lots of guys still shooting huge volumes of pellets.

With all the shortages and back order and preorder statuses on the major pellet retailers websites, I feel like a company that could come out with a line of quality pellets that were as accurate and had BCs at least as good as JSBs(bonus points for even higher BCs).....they'd sell a bunch of them. Enough to pay off their investment and then be profitable? That I dunno, but potentially.

I think NSA would be a company that could probably get into the precision pellet game and give JSB some serious competition. They've already got the logistics of supplying lots of slugs to lots of shooters figured out. They've got a reputation for quality. Nick comes across in the vids that I've seen as somebody that not only understands airguns but enjoys shooting them. They've got various partnerships in place already, selling their line of slugs through numerous websites and airgun industry retailers, as well as the business agreements that have us seeing their slugs with rebranded names for other companies (just like JSB). Now, I have no idea if the interest is there on their part, but they've already got lots of pieces of the puzzle in place.

It makes no sense for a company to go backwards. Bullets are superior to a diabolo design with room for improvement. Diabolo design has reached a ceiling for many years now.
Does anyone one remember in the early 2000's when PCPs were the "dark side"? Yes, up to that point rams and springers dominated the market. Only PCP options were 3K for a home compressor or fill at a scuba shop.
We should all know what occurred in the coming years.
Projectile development is no different. Bullets will always offer a better BC, and it's only a matter of time until more and more people realize the benefits that a superior projectile offers. There is no way I'd want to dabble in antiquated technology when I'm leading the industry, such as NSA.

Pellets are still the best option for me when shooting at the dairies. Slugs have too much energy and range to be safe. I may have hit a cow with a pellet at a dairy. I don't think so, at least I've never witnessed it. No owner or heardsman has ever said anything to me. I would be worried about a slug penatrating a cow's skin.. I'm not against slugs but not for where I shoot.