Does pellet testing make sense?

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Vana2

Vana2

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May 11, 2015
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Ontario, Canada
We're seeing new brands and models of pellets being offered these days which is is great. Competition and choice is always good.

I've seen a couple of videos/blogs where people are evaluating and testing these new pellets in their "known to be accurate" airguns.

This doesn't make sense to me as the airgun is the biggest variable.

If we have a non-adjustable airgun we go through the process of finding the "golden pellet" that is most compatible with that particular airguns' factory tune and harmonics. Sometimes slightly different manufacturing tolerances will even cause airguns off the same production line to prefer different pellets.

With tunable airguns we can adjust the power to get excellent performance with a particular pellet.

Some airguns are less "pellet picky" than others but in both cases (fixed or tunable) we can't randomly choose a pellet and expect it to perform well.

So what is the purpose/value in "testing" pellets? The new pellet being evaluated may or may not be compatible with that particular airgun through no fault of the pellet's design or manufacture.

I think that you can check a pellet's quality to see if it's consistent in weight and size and inspect it for imperfections and cleanliness but you can't "test" it because the testing is only valid for that particular airgun.

Seems to me that the caveat "your milage may vary" strongly applies to pellet testing.

Don't know, am I missing something obvious?

Cheers!
 
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I've never watched the kind of videos to which you refer, but unless they are sponsored by a pellet maker, I would be surprised if they suggest that a certain pellet should be good or bad in general, without respect to the individual barrel. They should demonstrate the value of testing, but only with respect to that specific barrel/pellet combination. Maybe they assume a knowledgeable viewer and don't feel the need for such disclosure.
 
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Pellet testing is the only way to find that one or several pellet brand /type that your gun likes , or shoots to your liking . Maybe "your " goal is to knock over beverage cans @ 20 yards ? OR :is it to put a .22 pellet into the center of a .25 dot @ 50 yards every time .
 
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Generally, I don’t trust YouTube reviews. There are just too many shills.

Further I think the testing methods of many in the Airgun community and the powder burner community are inherently flawed, and particularly prone to small sample size fallacies.

That said, a singular pellet test from one source is basically worthless. The value of these tests comes from the mass of data that we as a collective are able to construct.

If 1 person says JSB heavies shoot well in his HW97, it’s like neat. But whatever.

But if hundreds of people report that same experience over a plethora of guns and conditions, well it starts to take on some meaning.
 
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beerthief said:
Pellet testing is the only way to find that one or several pellet brand /type that your gun likes , or shoots to your liking . Maybe "your " goal is to knock over beverage cans @ 20 yards ? OR :is it to put a .22 pellet into the center of a .25 dot @ 50 yards every time .
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Agreed 100%

You testing pellets in your gun makes perfect sense what ever your goal is.

If I'm just plinking tins I'll use economy pellets or culls from sorting, when shooting serious targets I use the good stuff 🙂

My point was that me shooting pellets that may or may not work in my gun has no value for you or anyone else.

Cheers!
 
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Struckat said:
The barrel likes the pellet or it doesn’t. Test to find out.
I don’t watch videos.
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I hear you about watching videos.

Unfortunately, when looking to purchase a new airgun I have limited opportunities to handle or try the products and am forced to glean what I can from advertising and YouTubers 😬

Thank heaven for Airgun Nation where I can find real world information and ask questions!

Cheers!
 
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Testing is part of the fun of a new AG for me.

IMG_7733.jpeg
 
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Not sure if you’re speaking to specific testers or video series, but I’ll go against the grain and ask why not?? It you take it as a data point and not an absolute, it is no different than reading product reviews or asking for opinions on a forum. Clearly there will be digital content that has bias in just about any review category you could think of, but you can still get information regardless of the reviewer’s “conclusion”.
 
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I have watched pellet reviews and I think "whatever"...
In our community, seasoned shooters just KNOW that there are too many variables to consider a projectile "the one". For me, consistency in quality, weight and size make the difference. Luckily for me all of my guns LOVE JTS pellets. I especially like them since I don't have to spend an evening or two sorting them. My choices based on experience should not dictate that they WILL work as well in someone else's gun. I can only suggest that someone try them out and see if they work well for them.
I actually learn more about products from the folks on this forum. No motivation from retailers or manufacturers, just bold findings and experiences.
Testing is the only way to go.
 
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Pellet testing makes sense
Relying on information from videos does not

On the "known to be accurate" ..i would equate this to someone saying that a top beer brand "Taste good"
it's a reputation ..not a fact

"Seems to me that the caveat "your milage may vary" strongly applies to pellet testing." .. didn't this answer your question on why it makes sense?
 
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WNYBill said:
IMHO to do accurate testing you must make sure the pellets are uniform. So you need some kind of sizing die and a very accurate scale. If they don't look and weigh the same, how can they shoot the same?
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Yup, typical pellet sorting procedure envolves checking weight and head size. Anyone with the equipment can do that for themselves or for you.

What they can't do is test a pellet in their their airgun and say whether it will be good or bad in your airgun. You have to do that yourself.
 
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manabeknives said:
Pellet testing makes sense
Relying on information from videos does not

On the "known to be accurate" ..i would equate this to someone saying that a top beer brand "Taste good"
it's a reputation ..not a fact

"Seems to me that the caveat "your milage may vary" strongly applies to pellet testing." .. didn't this answer your question on why it makes sense?
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Agree completely!

Yeah, I answered my own YMMV question, but not if i missed something.
 
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@Vana2, great point(s)! I've responded here many times on this subject regarding how even 2 identical airguns might display different performances shooting the same pellet. It doesn't mean anything to me when I see someone post results here on how THEIR gun shoots a particular brand/type of projectiles. I still need to see how it performs in MY gun because the results could be vastly different!
 
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Rizz01 said:
I have watched pellet reviews and I think "whatever"...
In our community, seasoned shooters just KNOW that there are too many variables to consider a projectile "the one". For me, consistency in quality, weight and size make the difference. Luckily for me all of my guns LOVE JTS pellets. I especially like them since I don't have to spend an evening or two sorting them. My choices based on experience should not dictate that they WILL work as well in someone else's gun. I can only suggest that someone try them out and see if they work well for them.
I actually learn more about products from the folks on this forum. No motivation from retailers or manufacturers, just bold findings and experiences.
Testing is the only way to go.
Click to expand...
*** In our community, seasoned shooters just KNOW that there are too many variables to consider a projectile "the one". ***

I guess that's what bugs me. The seasoned shooters who frequent this forum know this but we are a minority. It's the majority of people who don't know any better that make purchases based on some guy's test of how the pellets work in his gun. So if he says "good" the people go out and buy (possibly) in appropriate product. If he says "bad" then the company is unfairly black-balled and loses sales.

Could be that the reviewer doesn't know any better ...or maybe he is being paid off.

As you say, Testing is the only way to go.
 
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