Are hollow point pellets really needed?

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MEC17670

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May 8, 2015
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Hey Guys,

I love hunting ground squirrels. Plentiful opportunities, and ranchers appreciate the effort. 

I have killed literally thousands of them using my springers and my pcp's. Calibers range from .177 to .22. Google Robert Hamilton, farm pest hunting and you will find a hunting partner called Dr.PestDeath, that's me.

99.9% of the time I use standard diabolo pellets. 75%of the time, 1 shot kills as I hunt within my "effective range".

With all the hype about hollow point pellets, I just can't see the need for them, with the exception of slugs and there better bc characteristics.

So , when hunting small game and with a well placed shot, are hollow point pellets necessary?

Your thoughts?


 
IMHO, no hollows are not needed. Domes do a fine job and most hollows don't expand enough to make a difference. Small game, the dome and hollow just pass through most of the time. Still, imagine a 1.5 inch hole entry, and a would cavity probably half an inch wide on an 8 ounce squirrel. Yeah, domes are plenty deadly. My own opinion, and I welcome others.
 
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I think they’re so popular due to their more forgiving nature at shot placement. For those who aren’t confident, a hunting pellet like the hades or a hollow point will cause a bigger wound channel, and be more forgiving on shot placement for a humane kill. I don’t think they’re absolutely needed, but for me, it’s piece of mind
 
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The effect of a hollow point is essentially the same as stepping up in caliber. The problem is finding one that actually expands AND is sufficiently accurate at the max distance you will be shooting. I find that to be a rare combination. For example, a hollow point which produces 1” groups at 40 yards is way less desirable than a dome which produces 0.5” groups.
 
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I've tried almost all of them my 30fpe Regal XL. The most consistent at expanding are the Crow Magnums, but they don't group well past 20 yards. The H&N Hunters mushroom nice out 30 yards and are accurate to 40 yards, but don't mushroom at that distance. The Hunter Extremes group well at 40, but don't mushroom at any distance past 20 yards. Initially I had promising results with JSB Hades grouping well at 40 yards and opening up inside squirrels, but 2nd and 3rd tins of them did not produce the same effects. Polymags don't group well enough to hunt confidently with so now I'm back to hunting with JSB 15.9 Domes.

An expanding pellet doesn't do anything for putting game in the pot if it doesn't hit the kill zone.
 
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The effect of a hollow point is essentially the same as stepping up in caliber. The problem is finding one that actually expands AND is sufficiently accurate at the max distance you will be shooting. I find that to be a rare combination. For example, a hollow point which produces 1” groups at 40 yards is way less desirable than a dome which produces 0.5” groups.
Click to expand...

BUT do hollow points expand enough going through small game to make a difference? Ballistic jell test shows they have don't start expanding till 3- 6 inch in the jell. 

Maybe if used of fox or raccoon size targets , they might be beneficial. Although I'd take a headshot before a body shot to kill quickly. 

I totally agree with you with using a more accurate pellet.
 
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I have concluded the are not only not normally needed but also not wanted, at least in my case. The only "expanding pellets" I have tried in my Prod (22 caliber) are metal mags and Crosman hollow points. The HP do not expand at all at Prod speeds (I shoot it around 711 fps). Metal Mags do, a little, but do not penetrate as well because of the penetration. Prod only barely shoots through a squirrel on broadside shots and I would rather have the deeper penetration than a bigger but shallower hole. Last 9 squirrels were stopped almost immediately by one shot with a domed pellet.

I've also tested pellets for both my Prod and my 25 caliber Avenger in wet paper for expansion. I tried a few slugs in the AV but only the JSV knockouts were accurate enough for an expansion test. My AV is tuned to over 900 fps on a 25.4 grain, about 825 on the knockouts and they expanded nicely. But they only penetrated as far as the domed from my Prod. JSB domed went in twice as far. For squirrels, the knockouts would work but they drop from 22 domed pellets why do I need expanding 25 caliber slugs?

I see youtube videos of people shooting small birds with slugs from high power airguns. They often shoot over 100 yards. I can see slugs for this due to the bc and the small size of the prey. But not hollow point pellets.

If you want to use them, I think you should test them to be sure they are doing what you need done. I also shot a couple dead squirrels hanging by their tails to test penetration.


 
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Some of the hollow point pellets expand quite nicely. You just need to shoot them the right speed for that to happen and each off them has that special speed where they expand nicely and don't fragment into a bunch of pieces. It's very difficult to hit that speed and have an accurate shooting gun as well.

Like nervoustrig says it's a rare combination to get the hollow points to expand at the distance you want. Not only that but we need them to expand at the velocity we want also and then be accurate all at the same time. I have as yet not had much luck getting this trio of requirements all to happen in harmony in any useful way. Not that i have not tried.

I really do think that I will get it some day but with the pellet situation we have going on now it is not likely to be anytime soon.

The Crosman Hollow points are way to hard to expand in any useful manner at any speed I have seen them tested at. They have not been accurate in anything I have shot them in over twenty yards either.



Oh, and in answering your question no hollow point pellets are not needed but they can be useful in some situations.
 
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Hollow points are a blessing for iguana hunting. I love the Polymags, Baracuda Hunters, Hades. 

With a headshot with one of those I rarely have a pass through and that is very important in the environment I shoot.

I've used the JSB Kings and boy I'm always nervous about those. Always going all the way with those .

So yes, Hollow points has its applications. 
 
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BUT do hollow points expand enough going through small game to make a difference? Ballistic jell test shows they have don't start expanding till 3- 6 inch in the jell.
Click to expand...

Agreed, in my experience, most hollow point pellets do not expand to any meaningful extent. A couple of exceptions I can confirm from recovered pellets from small game are the Predator Polymags and Daisy Hollow Points, both in .22 cal. Contrast that with pellets that show almost no expansion like JSB Hades (.22), H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme (.177), Crosman Premier Hollow Points (.177 and .22) and JSB Ultra Shocks (.177). I could name a few others that I’ve purchased to try but which are simply too inaccurate from any gun I own to be a candidate for testing on live animals.

Regarding ballistic gel, it is great in terms of providing a consistent medium for comparing different projectiles and/or velocities but unfortunately it seems to give a vastly inflated sense of how much expansion can be expected. Same with wet newspaper or water jugs. For example I recall seeing impressive pictures of the Hades fanned out like a flower but recovering a couple from squirrels (900fps MV, 30 yards) revealed them to be virtually unchanged. They probably do tumble more readily after penetrating so there’s arguably a benefit but it wasn’t obvious to me that they anchor a squirrel any better than a dome.


 
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I can’t Say all are gimmicks especially the polymag. I’ve taken pest birds and have them come to pieces and or some reason the blood on larger vermin is impressive. Don’t get me wrong I like my domes for longer distances but when pest come to play , the polymag if your gun shoots them accurately Is very forgiving. The tin says “you don’t plat with these” so far all truth.
 
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 I've done quite a bit of hunting and I can say that the only reason I use polymags is when I am shooting at close distance and I don't want a pass through. I really like them for feathered prey. All my hunting guns from 177 to 25 are shooting high 800s to 950 or even 1100 fps in the case of the jsb knock outs. At high speed and close range I definitely think they do more damage and prevent punching holes in a tin roof or something. Most of the time I use domes though because they are more accurate at longer range and I usually want better penetration. I hunt anything from ground squirrel to raccoon so if I want one pellet to do it all I just go to domes in 25 cal. Hollow points definitely have a place in my systems but are they needed? I say yes.... sometimes....kinda. I can say that in the case of the 177 if you want to shoot rats indoors you either need to turn down the power or use a quality expanding pellet to slow things down after impact. Otherwise you are going to poke some holes into stuff you don't want to poke holes in. I love cohp but I agree that they don't expand any more than a premier dome. I shoot them for their price. You got to find a good expanding pellet like the polymags or hades. Btw the jsb knock outs expand at 60 yards and make birds pop when they leave my condor at 1100 fps. They are actually accurate too. I love them.
 
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When I tune up to 55 50FPE in my modestly sized TalonP I prefer all the terminal energy to be dumped into the quarry. So been using Hades in most mammal pesting situations. Those unwanted pass-throughs are just wasted energy to me. Sure, the animal is dead on the ground making "snow angels" from a domed diabolo, just don't like the lead out there who knows where.
 
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