I got a P35 in 177 (and 22) in June of this year and have enjoyed figuring out what pellets it likes and making other adjustments. I've mainly been using H&N 10.65 grain pellets including the copper plated "Power", the Barracuda, and the Barracuda Match in both 4.5 and 4.52 head size. I initially noticed the Power shot better than the 4.52 Match I had on hand and wondered if it was the 4.5 head size of the Power. A tin of 4.5 Baracuda seemed to confirm that.
Then I noticed a tin of Crosman 10.5 grain in my collection and tried them, not expecting much. To my surprise they shot as well as the H&Ns. I shot a 184 with this gun on the 30 yard challenge with both the H&N Baracuda Match and the Crosman 10.5s. Since the Crosmans were so much cheaper I got a couple more tins. They don't shoot even close to the same. Why? Suspecting head size, I ordered a PelletGauge. It arrived yesterday and I started testing.
I had 18 from the "Good Tin" of Crosmans left to test. So I tested those and a sample of 20 pellets of several other types:
Good Crosmans were between 4.55 and 4.51 with most pellets at 4.54
First tin of bad Crosmans ranged from 4.55 to 4.46 (the full range of the gauge) with 4.54 and 4.52 being the most common
Second tin of bad Crosmans also had the full range of sizes with 4.51 and 4.46 the most common
Based upon these results I decided there was indeed a head size difference in the Crosman tins. I decided to test the other types I had been shooting.
Baracudas were 4.54 to 4.5 with the highest quantity 4.52.
Baracuda Power were 4.52 to 4.49 with the greatest quantity at 4.51
I opened a tin of Baracuda Match 4.5s I have not shot and they measured 4.5 to 4.46 with 4.5s the most common.
Baracuda Match 4.52s were all 4.53 to 4.51 with 4.52 the most common.
The similarity of the Match 4.52s to the others I thought shot better caused me to retest accuracy and I found they shoot well at this point. I am not sure if the gun has gotten broken in or my previous testing was bad.
Then I took the tin of Crosmans with the most 4.46 head size pellets and sorted out 10+ for a couple more groups. They were bad, well over an inch at 100 feet (which I used for all the accuracy testing). So it seems my gun does not like small head size.
Then I sorted the rest of that tin of nearly 500 pellets. I got usable quantities of all 10 head sizes of the gauge. Today I shot those. I won't go into the same gory detail on that exercise but it seems my gun likes 4.49 through at least 4.54 head size pretty well. I got 5 shot groups around 1/2 inch with all those sizes. 4.55 was not as bad as the small sizes but was a bit bigger. My little 20 pellet samples did not find 4.55 head sizes except in the Crosmans. Crosman Match pellets were more consistent in head size but the tendency of the 4.5s to trend toward the small end of the head size range for the outliers will probably cause me to use the 4.52s going forward. Or just stick with the slightly cheaper Baracudas. Their range of head size is bigger but they had nothing in the problematic small range. Given the variability in pellets, it is probably safer to pay slightly more to get the 4.52s.
Then I noticed a tin of Crosman 10.5 grain in my collection and tried them, not expecting much. To my surprise they shot as well as the H&Ns. I shot a 184 with this gun on the 30 yard challenge with both the H&N Baracuda Match and the Crosman 10.5s. Since the Crosmans were so much cheaper I got a couple more tins. They don't shoot even close to the same. Why? Suspecting head size, I ordered a PelletGauge. It arrived yesterday and I started testing.
I had 18 from the "Good Tin" of Crosmans left to test. So I tested those and a sample of 20 pellets of several other types:
Good Crosmans were between 4.55 and 4.51 with most pellets at 4.54
First tin of bad Crosmans ranged from 4.55 to 4.46 (the full range of the gauge) with 4.54 and 4.52 being the most common
Second tin of bad Crosmans also had the full range of sizes with 4.51 and 4.46 the most common
Based upon these results I decided there was indeed a head size difference in the Crosman tins. I decided to test the other types I had been shooting.
Baracudas were 4.54 to 4.5 with the highest quantity 4.52.
Baracuda Power were 4.52 to 4.49 with the greatest quantity at 4.51
I opened a tin of Baracuda Match 4.5s I have not shot and they measured 4.5 to 4.46 with 4.5s the most common.
Baracuda Match 4.52s were all 4.53 to 4.51 with 4.52 the most common.
The similarity of the Match 4.52s to the others I thought shot better caused me to retest accuracy and I found they shoot well at this point. I am not sure if the gun has gotten broken in or my previous testing was bad.
Then I took the tin of Crosmans with the most 4.46 head size pellets and sorted out 10+ for a couple more groups. They were bad, well over an inch at 100 feet (which I used for all the accuracy testing). So it seems my gun does not like small head size.
Then I sorted the rest of that tin of nearly 500 pellets. I got usable quantities of all 10 head sizes of the gauge. Today I shot those. I won't go into the same gory detail on that exercise but it seems my gun likes 4.49 through at least 4.54 head size pretty well. I got 5 shot groups around 1/2 inch with all those sizes. 4.55 was not as bad as the small sizes but was a bit bigger. My little 20 pellet samples did not find 4.55 head sizes except in the Crosmans. Crosman Match pellets were more consistent in head size but the tendency of the 4.5s to trend toward the small end of the head size range for the outliers will probably cause me to use the 4.52s going forward. Or just stick with the slightly cheaper Baracudas. Their range of head size is bigger but they had nothing in the problematic small range. Given the variability in pellets, it is probably safer to pay slightly more to get the 4.52s.
