Pellets not making good contact with rifling

[jasons8166]

I Have a Benjamin Varmint .22 NP for a couple of yrs. But I always noticed how the rounds seem to always be off a little. So to day I tested my pellets. shot them into a can of gelled paint. So what I found is that the pellets had little to no contact with the rifling. This explains why air rifles are so inaccurate and random.at times. So the pellets are all crosmans. the Hollow point Premier, hunting pointed, piranha hollow points.

The Premier mad the most contact at the rim of the head. which explains why its the most accurate out of the three. Next the hunting pointed had some and finally the piranha which the only marks on it where from the breech. most of the marks are from the breech on all of them. Basically I'm shooting a smooth bore unless I can find rounds that will make good contact with the rifling.

 

[bill_dd97]

You need to find pellets with a larger head size. The skirts are still expanding into the rifling, but without the heads fully engaging there is a good chance the pellets won't center in the bore. I'm having the same issue with my new Remington Express using CPHP. Luckily my test pack from Straight Shooters should arrive tomorrow.

 

[jasons8166]

Glade to hear that I'm not the only one with this issue. They really need to come up with a solid body pellet for break barrels instead of these diablos, that would solve this issue for good. Is there a company that sale rounds not just by cal. but also by bore size?

 

[hasenpfeffer]

JSB puts a nominal head size in hundredths of a millimeter on some of their tins, but there's still some variance within each tin.

Ideally, the pellet head will ride on the lands, just barely engaging the rifling. I have some JSB pellets that are at least decently accurate, and maybe very accurate in my rifle. They shoot same-hole groups at 15 yards. I recovered a few of them from a trap made of plastic bags, and one of them was undamaged except for the rifling marks. The marks on the skirt are deep, but the marks on the head are barely visible. If the heads were any smaller, they'd probably exit the muzzle off-center like bill said.

 

[jasons8166]

That's the issue with the current pellets out there and why we get 2 or maybe 4 in one spot then a stray or 2. I have tried to stay away from Mods on my pellets, but this has got to me, having a few days off I decided to modify my pellets and have came up with something that is very good. So my mod is based of Pellets like red fire and blue flame from Gamo. But these designs don't real make sense to, lets stick a peace of plastic to the front off a hollow point, I've tried them and was very disappointed.
So here is my mod I took a crosman Hollow point and drilled out the middle with a very small bit ( about the size of the hole already there), this widened the head just enough that the head made good contact with the rifling. Well Now I got a hole in the middle of the pellet, so I took a brads from my finish nailer. They are 18 or 16 gauge nails, put them through the hole cut them to length of the pellet and then cut it a little shorter so it barely stick out into the skirt area. Now I super glued it into the hole to secure it to the pellet.

I tested same as before now I have good rifling marks on the head good accuracy at lest up to 8 yrds and the fpe appears to have increased, shooting at a mudding knife they split the metal ever time and from what I can tell from my back bored turn into Shrapnel as they exit through. while this is not scientific at all it at least solves my issue.
FYI because I use super glue after shooting I need to clean the barrel, like using those pellets that have a plastic skirt.

 

[30cal]

That or you could just buy some H&N Field Target Trophy's or Baracuda's. They come in different head sizes: http://www.pyramydair.com/a/Ammo/Airgun_pellets/384/calibers_0_22/brands_7/hs_5_53

 

[jasons8166]

Thanks for the info I will check them out

 

[RickNZ]

Have you tried Napier pellet lube? May be worth considering. http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/Napier.html

 

[jasons8166]

Since the issue isn't to much friction and is not enough friction I haven't though of that. Thanks tho for the Idea.

 

[30cal]

It seems likely that you have an oversize barrel. That is a fairly common quality control issue with Crosman. It may be that the best solution is to sell it and try another gun. Or you could try a new barrel and cross your fingers that you will get a better one. There is of course no guaranty that the replacement will be better. Good luck.

 

[hasenpfeffer]

"30cal"It seems likely that you have an oversize barrel. That is a fairly common quality control issue with Crosman.

Oh? I have a Benjamin nitro piston springer that shoots 3-inch groups at 10 yards. At first I thought maybe it was me. Then I gave up and bought a PCP, and started shooting same-hole groups on the first day. Maybe I've got one of those oversized barrels. Are there any known oversized pellets I could try? At least then I could honestly say it's decent when I sell it.

 

[jasons8166]

I'm going to order a tin of silver point 17.13 gram .22 see how they work.

 

[DuncanHynes]

My Wildcat hates H&N Spitzkugel 16gr. I was terrified that at 26.5 yards with the 3 shots I took being so bad the 4th shot would fly off into space and hit the ISS. 3 inches off POA...right then down then UP. I just took the magazine out. I will see how the Daystate Wolverine handles them. The Baracuda Match faired well in the FX tbough. Now I am just worried if the Hornet tipped will not do in the Wildcat.