Pellets - what would you do different when first buying pellets?

[orangeokie]

Advice for the new/newer PCPers . . .
When I got started in December '22 I spent several hundred dollars spent on pellets that are hardly worth shooting now, IMO. If I had it to do over again, I would follow the advice of the experienced shooters on the forum and stick to the brands and weights (caliber specific) of pellets that have proven to be the most accurate in most guns, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel and load up on every tom, dick and harry brand and weight, thinking I am going to eventually discover the holy grail! Save your money for more important things.

Any other opinions?

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

My downfall is I like to "collect". So I buy a tin of something(I try to catch them in sale or with coupon) I don't have; hoping something likes them.
No lies here ever; I only really USE(on a regular basis) about 10% of the types that I have collected so far.(but! A good 25% of that is set aside for certain slingers situations/slingers/purposes--i dont just go willy nilly slinging my slugs or expensive stuff);I have a decent stash of..."I gotta just shoot those to get rid of them too."
However; once you find something a slinger likes: stock a few tins of that so that you have a "standard" if you would like to test other pellets in that slinger.
You will also find that some slingers don't give one hoot about what you shoot out of it.

 

[AlanMcD]

I agree wholeheartedly with the OPs advice, BUT . . . .

The problem is, that when it comes to any individual airgun and accuracy, "you'll never know unless you test it." After all, even if trends do hold up over large sample sizes, every barrel is unique and might like something different. I think that is this fact that drives us to get lots of different pellets to try, and there is nothing wrong with that - but it is expensive.

So I think the best thing is to do what the OP says, but also be aware that something else might come along if you are patient and willing to try new pellets. Over time, you will end up with many unused tins of pellets that don't work in guns you have. You can always use that as a reason to get other guns to try and find a user for the pellets you already have.

 

[drpietrzak]

Find what shoots well, practice more and experiment less.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

Fond what shoots well, practice more and experiment less.

I'm working on that
I'll admit; I fell for some of the "gimmicky" types of pellets.
But now I still have some stashed away in the "collection"
its pretty much one of a kinds(only have 1 tin for testing)or they are either stuff to avoid and i cant bring myself to sling them all or the ones that i really like for a certain purpose...some are just expensive

 

[L.Leon]

Not a thing, stuck to tried and true JSBs, then found the Crosman Premier Hollow Points to be accurate enough for pesting and plinking out to 50-60 yards. I came to this conclusion through lots of shooting, plinking and pesting. So in retrospect, I would’ve tried the CPHPs first, because at practical airgun distances, they “git it done”.

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

Generally hard to go wrong with AA or JSB, crosman cphp's often work well too and are pretty cheap which is a nice bonus. Even if the gun doesnt like them they tend to shoot well enough for most causal shooting. That or some of the h&n domes tend to do well.

 

[Filnez]

I did a lot of reading first, searching the webs for any information that I could glean about which pellets would likely perform best from the rifle that I was buying, a Weihrauch HW100S .22 cal. The two most mentioned were the 18 grain JSB and the 21 grain H&N Baracuda Match, both in their largest available head sizes, so that's what I tested first. The JSB bested the H&N slightly in accuracy and shot flatter so that is what I mainly stocked up on. I did also test the Baracuda Hunter which was terrible from the HW. For the power of the rifle pellets in the 18 to 21 grain weight range seem to work best and there aren't many others in that class to try. I thought about the Redesign Monsters but they might be a bit too heavy.

 

[Dairyboy]

I stick to JSB/AA/FX pellets. That's it. Also keep a good number of CPHPs. If a gun doesnt shoot them then bye bye! Which really hasn't happened for my guns honestly.

 

[igolfat8]

I own all .22s except for one .177 and all of the 22s like AA's the best followed by JSB / FX and CPHPs. The .177 is the most finicky rifle I've owned to date but shoots most pellets decent but only a couple ones that it really really likes.

 

[drpietrzak]

Second thing I would tell myself is to sort if I am serious. If I weight sort what generally shoots best then shoots better. Over the last month I learned stay in batch/lots when sorting. I accidentally mixed 2 batches/lot od. AA 10.3 Field Heavy in 4.52mm and found even weight sorted the difference is there. Though one batch does seem like an anomaly from previous experience.

 

[beerthief]

when i was a nubie , i just took advise and started with those pellets . But later lets say i use monsters , then monster redesign came out so i tried those , found out they did not improve any thing so bought monsters again.

 

[JDR]

I am finding so far that JSB Exacts work best in all my springers (FW 124D, HW 35 and RWS 350). All are 177 cal. Am currently testing RWS domes, Crossman Premiers and H&N Field Target (4.5, 4.51, and 4.52). I have a pellet scale and pellet sizer now and eventually will get around to testing the 3 best with uniform pellets.

 

[Geezerhood]

I too have quite a few tins of various pellets - Most of which don't shoot very well in any guns.....

Less than a year since my dive into PCP guns, I don't even bother testing a new gun with anything other than CPHPs, H&N Field Target, JSBs or Meisterkugeln pellets. If it is a 22 cal, I start with the CPHPs and like some others here on AGN, if it won't shoot the CPHPs fairly well, I don't want to own it.

 

[KatoKevin454]

JSB, NSA and Crosman are the only pellets/slugs I use

 

[drpietrzak]

In my .177 I have found AA, JSB, H&N and Zan the most consistent. I am running a springer though.

 

[Contndr35BB]

Good advice from all, I have only one .177 Crosman 1377 pump gun. The rest of my guns are .22's . I have found the CPHP's work well in all of them for feathered pests & vermin ( squirrels down ). JSB's , H&N,& FX 15.89 &18.13 do most of my work now , w/ FX's getting the buy now button more because they cost less than JSB's (?) My Evanix Airspeed dotes on H&N Baracuda Hunter Extremes (good 'cause I bought several before & majority of my guns didn't like 'em). I have taken groundhogs w/ RN pellets from 16 gr to 21gr. but lean towards Hades , (Atomic FX) under 60yrds. Airmaks Katran is set up for KnockOut slugs for -70yrds . Oh and MeisterK's wadcutters do great for -25yrd birding/ratting in my CrosmanDrifter &Kral NP-O3. The KISS theory is good & probably more $$$$ efficient after testing. But have fun on the trip !!


n

 

[jetpopt]

Why is it any different protocol choosing pellets for PCP vs other kinds of airguns? Are you worried that a pellet might actually damage an expensive gun?

My newbie horse sense is to only buy a few tins of one kind at a time before deciding to buy more of the same kind. Get a chance to practice a lot with each kind before making that decision.

One change already made is to not jump between different pellets in one or a few sessions, but to stick with the same kind for at least a couple hundred before switching. Some people might have very specific wishes for a pellet and be able to rule out a pellet earlier than that, but I want to give it a fair chance. Also, my gun does not seem too picky as far as reliably shooting the pellets goes. Not talking about accuracy here, merely being able to load and fire the pellet without trouble.

 

[ctshooter]

As with everyone I have a pile of tins of pellets which never really shot great. More novelty shapes IMO. For the most part I stick with JSB, H&N and Crosman Premiere (if they work). I really like the H&N if they work well as they have thicker skirts which don't deform as easily as the JSB. Crosman are also harder like the H&N.

At the end of the day I have more boxes of slugs laying around that were a bigger waste of money than the pellets.

 

[Headshots]

I usually do some research wind try to find out what people are getting good accuracy with the same airgun. I do have some that aren't great accuracy wise but I use those in the shop pistol , but ya I don't like wasting money on junk pellets . And slugs are worse because the diameter needs to be spot on . Imo